OpTikFiber
- 182
- 18
Heck yeah, I'm glad everyone is still working on this thread! Thanks Blaze and CT Guy especially! And I'm thankful there are some true organic guys still kicking around here ;-)
What are the general thoughts of Vermi T.
Local shop brews and sells for 13 bucks a bag. Bag says its good for 25 gals after dilution but only viable for 1 week at best.
RO = reverse osmosis. DI = deionization.hi i am not familiar with RO water?... also what temperature should i keep the tea while brewing?
Great thread guys! what nutrients do you use if teas arent a complete source of nutes? i have read not to put fert in with your tea, but, i also have a recipe from REV in skunk mag that sez to do so. if you amend your soil and your plants start to lack something later in bud, will adding organic ferts,(straight from the bottle) kill off your bennies? if so, can i bubble something out of the bottle?
i dont know if that makes any sense but i have been reading some contradicting readings and tryin to get a grip on it. thanks fro all this great info!
I could be wrong, but I see no need for the mineral powder, azomite or soft rock phosphate because I don't believe they'll really break down into any usable form by being brewed in a tea. Also, why the peat? Not aware of any benefits to peat, but if there are (other than filtration of hard, alkaline water to reduce alkalinity and pH, but that probably should be done beforehand) then I'd love to learn.Hey farmers. I wanted to share my ACT recipe and see what you think.
I brew in a 5 gal bucket with a 50 lpm pump and a PVC diffuser.
Here's the recipe.
1.5 cups agrowinn ewc activated with powdered oatmeal.
1/4 cup Canadian spagnum peat moss
1 tsp mineral powder
1 tbs azomite
1 tsp soft rock phosphate
2 tbs alfalfa meal
2 tbs kelp meal
1/4 tsp bioag cyto plus humic acid
3 tbs fish hydolysate
1.5 tbs molasses
Brewed for 24 hrs at 68 degrees.
Hoping for fungal hyphae but don't have a scope to know for sure.
Cheers.
I could be wrong, but I see no need for the mineral powder, azomite or soft rock phosphate because I don't believe they'll really break down into any usable form by being brewed in a tea. Also, why the peat? Not aware of any benefits to peat, but if there are (other than filtration of hard, alkaline water to reduce alkalinity and pH, but that probably should be done beforehand) then I'd love to learn.
What I bolded are what I would (and do!) use, except for the BioAg Cytoplus. Also, I use alfalfa sweepings I got from the local feed store for free instead of the meal.
Peat does work for microbial activity, provided you have a good source. I'd get the minerals in the soil mix, rather than add them as a tea.
Are you trying to make a 'nutrient' tea or an 'aerated compost tea'? I think this is something that people get confused on. One has a goal of added nutrients, the other of added biology.
Lastly, I think the claims of humic acid as a good fungal food are highly overstated. Done some testing in conjunction with Tim and neither of us got good fungal growth from the humic acid (I tried a couple of the top US brands). I think it has other benefits though.....
I'd keep the EWC, fish hydrolysate, molasses, alfalfa, and maybe the kelp in my recipe and ditch the other stuff. Make sure to follow Tim's rates or stay below them in your recipe.
Lastly, I think the claims of humic acid as a good fungal food are highly overstated. Done some testing in conjunction with Tim and neither of us got good fungal growth from the humic acid (I tried a couple of the top US brands). I think it has other benefits though.....
Yeah I guess the less is more stance is a good one to take. I'm pretty sure I am at or below Tim's rates for material and foodstocks.
At 50 lpm in 4 gallons I should be able to maintain good DO rates also. (I hope)