Compost Extract

[leadsled]

Compost extract is the ticket. Faster and no brewing needed.
This will save you a ton of money with superior results.
Time to wake up and smell the compost, fish and seaweed.

Compost extract can be made in a few minutes anytime on the fly. No need for expensive air pumps, compost tea brewers, and tanks.
Increase the odds of growing the “correct microorganisms” for your plant by allowing the reproduction of the organisms to occur in the soil and on plant surfaces rather than in a compost tea brewer. Also extended brewing periods will select for organisms that can grow in water, which may or may not be the correct biology for your specific plant. With a compost extract you have much less risk of it culturing anaerobic pathogenic organisms.


I like to pre-treat the compost blend used for the extract 48-72 hours before I make an extract. It will grow a fungal beard like this:

Recipe:
Take 1 cup ewc and 1 cup fungal compost or a composted forest product. (ca humus works well) Then add 4 tbsp insect frass.
Mix together. This is enough "compost blend" for a 5 gallon drench of undiliuted compost extract.

I then take 30 ml of fish hydrolysate and then add about 200-300ml of water to a seedling flat. Add just enough to moisten it down.

Cover and let sit a 48-72 hours.

I then put 5 gallons of water into a 10 gallon bucket.

Get a compost extract bag. If you are in a remote area where they do not have compost bags, you can use a paint strainer.
Put 2 cups of this mix into the bag.

I twist the opening of the the bag to keep it shut. Then put in the water and smash and mead the bag with your hands. Keep doing this for a few minutes until the water is a dark brown.

Then I immediately add 1tbsp kelp powder and 4tbsp fish hydrolysate.
Take both and add to your compost extract. Mix well and drench your plants with it.
Can be used full strength or can be diluted as needed to ensure complete soil coverage.

Recipe is for 5 gallons can multiple up or down for larger or smaller batches.

Here is a foliar extract recipe for 1 gallon. Lower rates are used for a foliar vs a drench.
California Humus = 12ml a gallon - 3 tsp
Worm Castings = 12ml a gallon - 3 tsp
Insect Frass = 5ml a gallon - 1 tsp
Kelp Powder = 3ml - 1/2tsp
Fish Hydrolysate = 5ml - 1tsp

Can be applied weekly if you got the time. Usually see the plants praying for the sky after applying.
Wanted to pass this along. Has been working excellent for many growers.
Hope that helps.

 

[blazer]

Would adding bennies to that mix be beneficial, such as OG bio war or would it be redundant
Thanks for sharing @leadsled

 

[BudBogart]

Compost extract is the ticket. Faster and no brewing needed.
This will save you a ton of money with superior results.
Time to wake up and smell the compost, fish and seaweed.

Compost extract can be made in a few minutes anytime on the fly. No need for expensive air pumps, compost tea brewers, and tanks.
Increase the odds of growing the “correct microorganisms” for your plant by allowing the reproduction of the organisms to occur in the soil and on plant surfaces rather than in a compost tea brewer. Also extended brewing periods will select for organisms that can grow in water, which may or may not be the correct biology for your specific plant. With a compost extract you have much less risk of it culturing anaerobic pathogenic organisms.


I like to pre-treat the compost blend used for the extract 48-72 hours before I make an extract. It will grow a fungal beard like this:

Recipe:
Take 1 cup ewc and 1 cup fungal compost or a composted forest product. (ca humus works well) Then add 4 tbsp insect frass.
Mix together. This is enough "compost blend" for a 5 gallon drench of undiliuted compost extract.

I then take 30 ml of fish hydrolysate and then add about 200-300ml of water to a seedling flat. Add just enough to moisten it down.

Cover and let sit a 48-72 hours.

I then put 5 gallons of water into a 10 gallon bucket.

Get a compost extract bag. If you are in a remote area where they do not have compost bags, you can use a paint strainer.
Put 2 cups of this mix into the bag.

I twist the opening of the the bag to keep it shut. Then put in the water and smash and mead the bag with your hands. Keep doing this for a few minutes until the water is a dark brown.

Then I immediately add 1tbsp kelp powder and 4tbsp fish hydrolysate.
Take both and add to your compost extract. Mix well and drench your plants with it.
Can be used full strength or can be diluted as needed to ensure complete soil coverage.

Recipe is for 5 gallons can multiple up or down for larger or smaller batches.

Here is a foliar extract recipe for 1 gallon. Lower rates are used for a foliar vs a drench.
California Humus = 12ml a gallon - 3 tsp
Worm Castings = 12ml a gallon - 3 tsp
Insect Frass = 5ml a gallon - 1 tsp
Kelp Powder = 3ml - 1/2tsp
Fish Hydrolysate = 5ml - 1tsp

Can be applied weekly if you got the time. Usually see the plants praying for the sky after applying.
Wanted to pass this along. Has been working excellent for many growers.
Hope that helps.

Thanks. I've got everything but the kelp and fish. I was at least on the right track. I was letting mine soak with air bubbles to get the tea, but I'm going to try your method. Thanks.

 

[slap14]

@leadsled

Could you use KIS's simplici-tea fungus compost or Alaskan Humus or Malibu Compost in stead of the California Humus as they are not in my area.

Thanks Lead

 

[Savage Henry]

That's a badass fungal culture. I just tried using insect frass on one myself and had pretty stellar results: https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/blueberry-bubblegum-dtw.80825/page-2#post-1695834
(Post #37)

 

[leadsled]

Would adding bennies to that mix be beneficial, such as OG bio war or would it be redundant
Thanks for sharing @leadsled

With a high grade earthworm casting and compost source you are covered. Make it yourself and keep the quality control high. The "bennies" CAN BE detrimental not always beneficial. Welcome.

Thanks. I've got everything but the kelp and fish. I was at least on the right track. I was letting mine soak with air bubbles to get the tea, but I'm going to try your method. Thanks.

Welcome. Just passing along the info to save growers time money and potential problems. Priceless.

@leadsled

Could you use KIS's simplici-tea fungus compost or Alaskan Humus or Malibu Compost in stead of the California Humus as they are not in my area.

Thanks Lead

Welcome.
You can get a composted wood or forest product for the fungi.
Biologic systems carryies a composted forest product in the PNW.
http://livebiologic.com/portfolio-item/california-humus/
If you can not get that, then can go with the Cascade Blend compost that is carried at earthfort costs around $25.00 for a cubic foot.That will save you some $$$$$$$.
Many bagged dro shop inputs are garbage and will not grow a beard.
Malibu is good. You can use than in combination with the EWC and then add more diversity. Or alternate between malibu and the woody compost.

 

[slap14]

@leadsled

Thank you much. I will give this a shot with Malibu and castings as I have this already.

Would it help to add some baby oatmeal to help grow the beard or is that unnecessary?

Thanks again Lead, love learning new things I can put to use and will save me time and this does both

Slap

 

[leadsled]

@leadsled

Thank you much. I will give this a shot with Malibu and castings as I have this already.

Would it help to add some baby oatmeal to help grow the beard or is that unnecessary?

Thanks again Lead, love learning new things I can put to use and will save me time and this does both

Slap

Welcome. The oatmeal is a fungal food. Ok to use, That also works well to grow a beard.
It is not needed if adding frass or hydrolysate. I used to use oats but this works as well.
Instead of adding to the compost. I now plant a cover crop of oats.
They have an association with mycorrhizae fungi and as the crop matures it also helps to provide a mulch and a home for the fungi to live.
This is how to you build a healthy soil faster than you can with a single monocrop of cannabis.
Healthy plants help to get the soil microbiology going faster than just a single cannabis plant.
Hope that helps.

 

[Growin Grass]

I thought adding too much hydrolysate could hurt the biology
In the teas I've brewed I've done much better with very small amounts of fish
Is it something different about the process that makes large amounts of it ok in this application?
Not trying to dog you, just scratching my head and thinking out loud...

 

[SpiderK]

earth worm castings for the win ....

w / kelp the single most underrated / important additive. unless you are growing outdoor in a perfect environment that produces loose black dirt built upon the natural worm factory itself, toss all the custom additives in the dumpster ~

 

[leadsled]

I thought adding too much hydrolysate could hurt the biology
In the teas I've brewed I've done much better with very small amounts of fish
Is it something different about the process that makes large amounts of it ok in this application?
Not trying to dog you, just scratching my head and thinking out loud...

Hey, please DO ask questions. That is an excellent question.

Helps to clarify the difference in rates of compost and fish/kelp in an extract vs active aerated compost tea (aact)

You are correct, if doing an aact higher rates could cause the aact to go bad/go anaerobic.

Please note we are not brewing a tea with air, I am just putting the bag into the water and we are doing a compost extract manually with our hands, vs brewing a tea with air.
That is why the rate is a little higher.
20-30ml per gallon is all that is used. Max applied is 1x a week.
This is a tried and true recipe, has been inspected via microscope just like when doing aact.
Hope that helps.

 

[Savage Henry]

A place near me sells a fish-based compost. Maybe it can be used instead of the ewc/other compost and negate the need for fish hydroslate?

 

[Capulator]

Going to try this. @leadsled can I use forest humus from my local soil supply co? They sell by the yard...

 

[Patanjali]

Hey, please DO ask questions. That is an excellent question.

Helps to clarify the difference in rates of compost and fish/kelp in an extract vs active aerated compost tea (aact)

You are correct, if doing an aact higher rates could cause the aact to go bad/go anaerobic.

Please note we are not brewing a tea with air, I am just putting the bag into the water and we are doing a compost extract manually with our hands, vs brewing a tea with air.
That is why the rate is a little higher.
20-30ml per gallon is all that is used. Max applied is 1x a week.
This is a tried and true recipe, has been inspected via microscope just like when doing aact.
Hope that helps.

Curious if you could compare and contrast what you are seeing under a microscope as far as microlife? It was my understanding microbes breed exponentially faster with O2. And if you are brewing an AACT, I'm not sure why Fish hydrol would make it go bad?

Just curious,

P-

 

[Patanjali]

A place near me sells a fish-based compost. Maybe it can be used instead of the ewc/other compost and negate the need for fish hydroslate?

Fish hydrol is never needed when brewing an aact. What is needed is a highly diverse and dense microbe population in your starting medium (EWC, compost, etc), air, water and a food source, which molasses is most commonly recommended.

hth,

P-

 

[leadsled]

A place near me sells a fish-based compost. Maybe it can be used instead of the ewc/other compost and negate the need for fish hydroslate?

All depends on the compost. Sometimes the fish compost can contain excessive sodium. That is why each input should be tested rather than asume it is good.

Going to try this. @leadsled can I use forest humus from my local soil supply co? They sell by the yard...

Excellent!! Try it out and scope it. The ca humus is not cheap . For a small grow in big city it works well because sometimes the options are limited. Lets say someone lives in Oregon vs California, compost sources can vary quite a bit.

Healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy cows, healthy poop, healthy compost. Garbage in Garbage out.

 

[Patanjali]

All depends on the compost. Sometimes the fish compost can contain excessive sodium. That is why each input should be tested rather than asume it is good.


Excellent!! Try it out and scope it. The ca humus is not cheap . For a small grow in big city it works well because sometimes the options are limited. Lets say someone lives in Oregon vs California, compost sources can vary quite a bit.

Healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy cows, healthy poop, healthy compost. Garbage in Garbage out.

How do you get the same microbes in an anaerobic compost extraction as you do from an aerated AACT? Same microbes/microbe density? I'm asking b/c you said you scoped it, and I'm pretty sure this is different information than I have read from Microbeman and Elaine Ingham.

P-

 

[SpiderK]

how does one measure the breakdown of said n.p.k / chem term before unlocked - ( in the " cast " itself ) vs time it takes for plant(s) needs / wants at the time upon introduction of tea's ..... & how long will tea activity last regarding micro breakdown over this timeline as the plant slowly feeds over time.

not sure the overall depth of activity matters at the start as long as it's happening unlocking goodness. but i have no degree so on with the show. testing is always key because everyones casting contain different ratio's anyhow & n.p.k within the cast itself is very high -

 

[keiksweat]

Looks like areal good population of bennies growing,I'm gonna definitely try this.thanks.i use charge,beetle frass.good shit....haha..

 

[slap14]

@leadsled
Do you have to use a mesh bag or could you put the two cups right into your 5 gallons and give it a real good mix? Also could you use this to brew tea with? Thanks man

Slap