Compost Tea Catalyst, Yucca, etc

[mrbong73]

ITB,
What's your take on the addition of kelp/seaweed (in whatever form) to an ACT as a food source?

 

[InTheBeginning]

ITB,
What's your take on the addition of kelp/seaweed (in whatever form) to an ACT as a food source?

Kelp is a good addition to soil, compost and ACT but in moderate amounts. If used in compost tea, one can expect it to delay a little bit the bacterial division [I believe because of the plant hormones] but it does have a benefit as a food source, especially for fungi [from my experience] in the end result. If you are using kelpmeal in ACT, brew for a little longer if it is a diverse nutrient cycling tea you are looking for. If you are going for a fungal tea with very few bacteria, usually around 18 hours is good [provided you have fungi in your compost]. I use a maximum 0.25% kelpmeal and that is just with the regular livestock grade stuff. If you are using more potent kelpmeal, like the water soluble or liquid concentrate, then back off on that maximum even more.

You know, one thing about compost tea is that you really can't go wrong as long as you are not putting some evil crap in there, overloading it or unless it smells putrid. You can even make a good compost tea by stirring (vermi)compost and light foods with a stick over a period of 4 to 8 hours. It just gets better from there up as one learns to use efficient methods to boost the dissolved oxygen and extract and multiply the organisms.

 

[Hasher]

I joined the site just to say thanks for this thread. It's excellent information, just superb.

 

[CT Guy]

Kelp is a good addition to soil, compost and ACT but in moderate amounts. If used in compost tea, one can expect it to delay a little bit the bacterial division [I believe because of the plant hormones] but it does have a benefit as a food source, especially for fungi [from my experience] in the end result. If you are using kelpmeal in ACT, brew for a little longer if it is a diverse nutrient cycling tea you are looking for. If you are going for a fungal tea with very few bacteria, usually around 18 hours is good [provided you have fungi in your compost]. I use a maximum 0.25% kelpmeal and that is just with the regular livestock grade stuff. If you are using more potent kelpmeal, like the water soluble or liquid concentrate, then back off on that maximum even more.

You know, one thing about compost tea is that you really can't go wrong as long as you are not putting some evil crap in there, overloading it or unless it smells putrid. You can even make a good compost tea by stirring (vermi)compost and light foods with a stick over a period of 4 to 8 hours. It just gets better from there up as one learns to use efficient methods to boost the dissolved oxygen and extract and multiply the organisms.

Definitely need different rates with using a soluble seaweed extract powder vs kelp meal. Just setup a test with some kelp hydrolysate I got from Clack, I'll know more tomorrow! :)

 

[Blaze]

So when you say you want 0.25% kelp meal, are you going by volume, or weight? I had always weighed my soluble seaweed. After reading the above posts though I'm thinking I may be using more than I should. My original amounts were based off the recipes in "The Compost Tea Brewing Manual." I am using 5 grams per gallon of 1-0-17 soluble seaweed powder - is that too much you think?

 

[mrbong73]

So when you say you want 0.25% kelp meal, are you going by volume, or weight? I had always weighed my soluble seaweed. After reading the above posts though I'm thinking I may be using more than I should. My original amounts were based off the recipes in "The Compost Tea Brewing Manual." I am using 5 grams per gallon of 1-0-17 soluble seaweed powder - is that too much you think?

Blaze,
I'm pretty sure it's by volume. The kelp extract I have says 1TBS per gallon but I feel if I went that much I would instantly kill my plants. I go more like 1/2 tsp per gallon and for an ACT I keep it at around 1 tsp per 5 gallons. I usually use kelp meal for soil mix and ACT though.

 

[mrbong73]

Definitely need different rates with using a soluble seaweed extract powder vs kelp meal. Just setup a test with some kelp hydrolysate I got from Clack, I'll know more tomorrow! :)

Is that the Eco Nutrients product by any chance?

 

[InTheBeginning]

All my measures are by volume. e.g. percentage of the volume of water used; like 0.25% (MAX kelp) of 5 gallons.

If using measures in weight (mass) one can encounter problems, especially with amounts of (vermi)compost which varies according to moisture content.

 

[Hasher]

All my measures are by volume. e.g. percentage of the volume of water used; like 0.25% (MAX kelp) of 5 gallons.

If using measures in weight (mass) one can encounter problems, especially with amounts of (vermi)compost which varies according to moisture content.

That's one reason the stupid metric system is superior to the imperial units of measurement. It's much easier to differentiate between grams (weight) and milliliters (volume) than it is between ounces-by-weight and fluid ounces. Imperial measurements can cause all sorts of problems, and even in the best of circumstances, they can cause moments of uncertainty as to the correct unit of measurement. I usually make my choice between ounces-by-weight and fluid ounces based on context - if the rest of a recipe is dealing in volume, then consistency would demand that the ounce requirements for a particular ingredient also be in volume. The same logic is applied conversely to weight. Problems arise, though, if a recipe mixes weight and volume measurements, and that's one I just kind of play be ear.