tj Wise
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Aerated Composted Tea not only provides good microbes, bacteria and fungi, who feed the plants, but those microbes also occupy the space and consume the food that would otherwise encourage bad microbes and larger pests. I have no experience using ACTs, but here is what I've found from googling pretty hard.
There are a few kinds of ACTS:
1) General Feeding: Worm castings and black strap molasses alone. For a 5 gallon bucket that's 2C WC and 1/2C BSM.
2) Veg Nutrient Tea: Many people consider this to be an entirely different thing. Start with earth worm castings, black strap molasses,, and then frequent additional ingredients: fish hydrolysate (high quality), alfalfa meal, Canadian sphagnum peat moss, soft rock phosphate, High N Bat Guano (Mexican), and a little kelp.
3) Fungal Nutrient Tea: Some people like to give an occasional batch which has more fungi, which uses more kelp -- at the expense of the bacteria.
4) Bloom Nutrient Tea: Some people brew a separate nutrient tea for the flowering phase. This might use high P guanos, such as High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican) instead of the hign N Bat Guano.
5) Foliar Tea: I think I can use general tea, strained and undiluted. I need to read more. It seems to be more about crowding out bad microbes and not attracting pests than actually feeding the plant.
*Note: You can find 99 different recipes in all shapes and sizes. Not many people categorize the teas like I did above. I listed the most common stuff that I observed.
Any of these teas need to be bubbled VIGOROUSLY for 24-48 hours, and a "pretty good" aquarium pump won't be enough. Remember to clean the air filter stones. The brews should also be stirred vigorously at least twice a day. Some people filter out the floating material, some don't. If you do, don't use a mesh so fine that it removes the beneficial fungi. Most pillow cases are woven too tightly. A 5-gallon paint strainer from a hardware store works well. I won't strain the nutrient tea, not sure about the general tea.
I'm growing in soil bags, 100 gallons of "pretty good" well-draining composted soil.
HOW MUCH? I've read as little as one cup diluted for 60 square yards! I'm skeptical, so I plan on using 12 cups per tree-sized plant, approximately one square yard. That is 720 times more than that. I'll dilute with as much water as the plants need.
HOW OFTEN? I've read one feeding every 1-2 weeks. Again, I'm skeptical. I plan on feeding every 3rd day, using the general tea for 3 feedings, and then using a nutrient tea on the 4th feeding; repeat.
PS: I have zero experience with compost tea, sorry. I've read for about 20 hours and this was my attempt to make cliffnotes from what I learned. I hope it helps! Maybe some comments below will correct, clarify, and extend this post.
There are a few kinds of ACTS:
1) General Feeding: Worm castings and black strap molasses alone. For a 5 gallon bucket that's 2C WC and 1/2C BSM.
2) Veg Nutrient Tea: Many people consider this to be an entirely different thing. Start with earth worm castings, black strap molasses,, and then frequent additional ingredients: fish hydrolysate (high quality), alfalfa meal, Canadian sphagnum peat moss, soft rock phosphate, High N Bat Guano (Mexican), and a little kelp.
3) Fungal Nutrient Tea: Some people like to give an occasional batch which has more fungi, which uses more kelp -- at the expense of the bacteria.
4) Bloom Nutrient Tea: Some people brew a separate nutrient tea for the flowering phase. This might use high P guanos, such as High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican) instead of the hign N Bat Guano.
5) Foliar Tea: I think I can use general tea, strained and undiluted. I need to read more. It seems to be more about crowding out bad microbes and not attracting pests than actually feeding the plant.
*Note: You can find 99 different recipes in all shapes and sizes. Not many people categorize the teas like I did above. I listed the most common stuff that I observed.
Any of these teas need to be bubbled VIGOROUSLY for 24-48 hours, and a "pretty good" aquarium pump won't be enough. Remember to clean the air filter stones. The brews should also be stirred vigorously at least twice a day. Some people filter out the floating material, some don't. If you do, don't use a mesh so fine that it removes the beneficial fungi. Most pillow cases are woven too tightly. A 5-gallon paint strainer from a hardware store works well. I won't strain the nutrient tea, not sure about the general tea.
I'm growing in soil bags, 100 gallons of "pretty good" well-draining composted soil.
HOW MUCH? I've read as little as one cup diluted for 60 square yards! I'm skeptical, so I plan on using 12 cups per tree-sized plant, approximately one square yard. That is 720 times more than that. I'll dilute with as much water as the plants need.
HOW OFTEN? I've read one feeding every 1-2 weeks. Again, I'm skeptical. I plan on feeding every 3rd day, using the general tea for 3 feedings, and then using a nutrient tea on the 4th feeding; repeat.
PS: I have zero experience with compost tea, sorry. I've read for about 20 hours and this was my attempt to make cliffnotes from what I learned. I hope it helps! Maybe some comments below will correct, clarify, and extend this post.
