Compost tea PH adjustment options

[justiceman]

So depending on your compost tea ingredients and microbial life the PH of Tea varies. I would like to discuss the different options that exist for safe PH adjustment to teas.Some people complain theire teas are too alkaline for instance 8.0 or others complain their teas are too acidic for instance 4.0

I have heard that humates like fulvic, and humic acid help to buffer nutrients so they can be absorbed across a wider PH range, but wouldn't a tea that is very acid hurt the microheard in the soil if you gave it to a plant with a soil ph of 6.5?

PH Down
Generally speaking acidifying(lowering PH) teas is not a problem. Many just add citric acid, lime juice, vinegar ect.

PH Up
This is where the problem arises. How does one raise the PH of their tea. I have heard of only two ways. Adding baking soda or Bubbling the tea for a day.


Considerations:
So does bubbling(aerating) a tea in fact raise PH?

Are there other options to raising PH such as adding Dolomite lime, hydrated lime, oyster shell flour, or coral calcium to Teas?

Yes most of those are soil amendments but is it plausible to use them for PH adjustment?

 

[SSHZ]

Good question. My brew was so acidic it was impossible to keep it in an acceptable range. I use pH up to try and nutralize and let the lime in the pot do the rest.

 

[justiceman]

So does anyone have any idea?

 

[Rolln J]

there is a company that makes organic ph adjusters - seen it in another post here, bt cant remember who makes it...

 

[altitudefarmer]

Earth Juice makes granular organic pH adjusters, but i'm not sure about the effectiveness in a tea mix...

 

[Rolln J]

^^^ thanks - it was earth juice I was thinking of...

 

[Time]

People suggesting bottled organic PH adjusters :icon_dizzy:.

Need store bought plastic bottles the Jedi do not.

Anyhow, I went Jedi a couple of years ago and since that time I've fed my soil nothing but, organic compost teas...

Dissolved oxygen can effect PH. Bennies multiplying because of dissolved oxygen will as well.

Baking soda raises PH but don't use too much too often.

If you're making tea you mos-def need to bubble it for at least 12 hours. Be careful when bubbling your tea air/sugar will feed your bennies but they're not magic. Exponential multiplication of the microbiological life will not occur. Optimal brew time will vary based on what you're brewing.

I'm sure we have all brewed a tea and noticed TONS of foam then 24-48 hours later we notice our tea has a lot less bubbles.... Congrats, you brewed too long and most of the bennies you created are now dead/useless :damnhippie:

 

[Blaze]

It can be hard to get an accurate reading with organics, especially teas when it comes to pH and EC. Mine usually run around 6.0 when I've tested them. The ingredients you use can affect the pH. Do a little research and you can find out what raises and lower the pH of your tea. I would be leery of adding any of the pH up or down to a tea - from what I have seen the people that brew it professionally do not do this.

 

[allwet]

I had a similar problem a while back trying to adjust an organic plant food.
When I spoke to a more informed person I was told that soil tends to naturally
buffer. I ended up not wanting to experiment on my own plants and went back
to my tried and true, general hydroponics which always give great results and
are very easy to adjust, PH. I am now ready to give the organic approach to
growing another go and have chosen the bio bizz line of nutes along with their
allmix soil so it will be a learning experience for sure though I have full confidence
in their line of products. Also my grandfather always used manure teas in the
garden and never even knew what PH. was. His garden was always lush and
healthy leading me to believe that soil can buffer roots somewhat from less than
ideal PH.

 

[Rolln J]

most nutrients are available at a wider rang of ph in soil then in hydro - I think nitrogen is the one exception...

 

[CheechWizard]

I would not manipulate pH. That's up to the microbes. If I noticed plants suffering from a low pH I would attempt to increase bacteria. If the pH became too alkaline I'd attempt to increase fungal volume of the tea.

 

[justiceman]

there is a company that makes organic ph adjusters - seen it in another post here, bt cant remember who makes it...

I have earth juice ph up , however I question weather potassium bicarbonate is truly organic. I have heard its certified for organic crop production, but its a white crystalline powder. It doesn't look very organic to me.

People suggesting bottled organic PH adjusters :icon_dizzy:.

Need store bought plastic bottles the Jedi do not.

Anyhow, I went Jedi a couple of years ago and since that time I've fed my soil nothing but, organic compost teas...

Dissolved oxygen can effect PH. Bennies multiplying because of dissolved oxygen will as well.

Baking soda raises PH but don't use too much too often.

If you're making tea you mos-def need to bubble it for at least 12 hours. Be careful when bubbling your tea air/sugar will feed your bennies but they're not magic. Exponential multiplication of the microbiological life will not occur. Optimal brew time will vary based on what you're brewing.

I'm sure we have all brewed a tea and noticed TONS of foam then 24-48 hours later we notice our tea has a lot less bubbles.... Congrats, you brewed too long and most of the bennies you created are now dead/useless :damnhippie:

Thanks for the info man. I heard that PH was affected by dissolved oxygen but wasn't sure. I also heard it was affected by microbial life but it didn't really click until you guys started talking about it. Interesting that the foam diminishing means your microheard is diminishing. could it just mean that its not diminishing but changing into a different ratio of fungi/bacteria?

It can be hard to get an accurate reading with organics, especially teas when it comes to pH and EC. Mine usually run around 6.0 when I've tested them. The ingredients you use can affect the pH. Do a little research and you can find out what raises and lower the pH of your tea. I would be leery of adding any of the pH up or down to a tea - from what I have seen the people that brew it professionally do not do this.

That's what I'm saying. I am very leery of adding PH up or down to tea. I have heard that a higher ratio of worm casting raise PH. I will see if it does it. Ill have to do more research on different ingredients.

I would not manipulate pH. That's up to the microbes. If I noticed plants suffering from a low pH I would attempt to increase bacteria. If the pH became too alkaline I'd attempt to increase fungal volume of the tea.

Very interesting concept. I really like that. I read in Teaming with microbes that fungi like acidic environments whereas bacteria like basic environments. That must be why EWC have a higher ratio of bacteria, and a basic ph level instead of acidic. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Revolt!]

I would not manipulate pH. That's up to the microbes. If I noticed plants suffering from a low pH I would attempt to increase bacteria. If the pH became too alkaline I'd attempt to increase fungal volume of the tea.

Thats what I was going to point out! The ph of your compost tea is that ph for a reason, the fungi/bacteria in the team make them that way. I've read to never adjust the ph of your compost teas, but just add either more fungi or bacteria to your tea to stablize it. Using Humic Acid will also allow the fungi to absorb the nutrients in a wider ph margin. Once you start adding ph adjusting agents, the entire ecosystem that your fungi/bacteria created in your tea will be pretty messed up. It will throw them all out of wack and make your tea less effective in the long run.

Plus, if you only feed them a tea once every 10-14 days or so, you shouldn't run into any problems.

 

[lurch]

dont adjust ph in your teas for micos will take care of that as cheech & revolt have pointed out. doesnt do any good unless youre looking for a headache. thats the beauty of organics. only time i ph anything while doing organics is my plain water to start.

 

[ogtealover420]

Wow I have the ame concerns and i just get " I never ph my tea" "not needed" well I agree that it is not that important to get a healthy crop.But I do however wonder if I could raise the ph and see better results. So I am going to add more dolomite to my soil this time. Has anyone any idea how much lime i should add to my foxfarm happyfrog ?

 

[BUDOGHI]

1 tab. spoon wood ash per gal. for starters then take it from there give it at least 24 hrs and bubble with air stone all ways.

 

[dmc65]

i've been wondering about this too. I'm trying indoor now after many outdoor runs. so now i have all this equipment including a ph meter that revealed my tap water being at 7.8 and over 600ppm, So i use ro water that is 6.2 but after i add a bit of cal mag and some vegan veg nutes it drops to 4.8 or so. My hydro guy sold me the purple bottole of GH ph up. I use a FFOF/FFHF blend. Sounds like i'm doing the wrong thing here with general hydro ph up solution. Experts please help!! i got my hands full with this indoor learning curve :headbang

 

[dmc65]

thats good advice Franti. i hate returning things but that shit can burn a hole right thru 6mm plastic with one drop. the roots cant be enjoying it

 

[kroonboon]

ok , from personal experience i have found that brewing your tea does raise the ph like someone has already pointed out , but i must warn you that some organic growers spread the idea that no ph adjustment is necessary if you make your own organic teas , even though it does work that way to a certain extent it does make a massive difference if you take the time to get your ph between 6.3 and 6.5 , if your ph is to low brew it , if your ph is to low and you need to water straight away add the tap water with the higher ph to balance it , if the ph is to high add molasses (think the ph is around 5.5 or something) the microbes love it ,

either way there is only one way and that is experiment and experiment a bit more

dmc65- i dont think the roots mind what you use as long as the ph is within the acceptable range , i use phosphoric acid (when making a clean water solution) for ph down and that shit is corrosive , but if the ph is between 6.3-6.5 they love it as long as there are nutes in the soil to feed them.

happy brewing

 

[ogtealover420]

Well i see that no one knows how to raise ph of organic teas...i also would like to know as well:(