Hobo Stew AACT (Tea)

[Max Frost]

From time to time, when money has been tight, I've been known to search the freezer and pantry...and sometimes I've come up with some really good meals that I would have never considered had I not been broke and hungry! Like a Hobo Stew. Necessity is the mother of invention as they say!

Well... money's gonna be a bit tight again for a while. I'm going to have to hold off re-supplying on tea making ingredients. In the meantime, I've just gone thru the nute shelf, and came up with this, which I've thrown in the brewer to bubble. I used: (For 3 Gallons of water):

2 cups Fox Farms Big Bloom
3 TBSP Bush Doctor Kangeroots
4 TBSP Botanicare Liquid Karma
6 tsp G. O. Cal/Mag
A BIG dollop of Molasses

Bubble in the brewer for about 36 hours before I need to use it.

My thinking is that while this is certainly not a world-class tea recipe, that it would be better than nothing until I can afford to resupply the worm castings and guanos. My plan is to use it as a concentrate and cut it at a 50-50% application rate. My questions are...

1. Am I kidding myself with this, or do you think there's enough microlife in the Big Bloom and Kangeroots to get things started reproducing?

2. Do you think I should use this at a 50-50% dilution ratio, or would a different ratio be better?

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

Best,

Max

 

[Max Frost]

I also have some powdered Earth Juice "Rooter's Mycorrhizae" on hand. Would it help or hurt anything to dissolve some into a solution and add it to my Hobo Tea? Thanx!

 

[Max Frost]

Really?? Nobody at all???

(Take a guess then...lol).

 

[mastacheeser]

I'd add that myco product.
The myco specifically will die but I'm sure there's other stuff in there that will thrive while brewing

Also get some castings or humus in there

 

[Max Frost]

I'd add that myco product.
The myco specifically will die but I'm sure there's other stuff in there that will thrive while brewing

Also get some castings or humus in there

Thanks for your reply, masta! I'd LOVE to get some castings in there, but it's going to be awhile before I can. Do you think the Big Bloom and mix above will be worth doing, or am I really just wasting the products?

 

[organicozarks]

You are calling this AACT (actively aerated compost tea), but you have no compost in it. You are making a liquid nutrient. Compost tea is cheaper to make than what you have here. I know you already own these, and using them is "free" at this point, but a cu. ft. of compost can make a shit ton of tea. You can get a yard of quality compost for $40. Do you know how much tea you could make with that?:)

Something to keep in mind also, without a scope you might very well be wasting your time. The only way to know if you are making "quality" tea is by using a scope. The biggest thing I see with people is they use to small of a pump. That would be the thing to not cheap out on.

For a 5 gallon bucket I would suggest the Eco1 commercial air pump.

I do like that you are brewing for 36 hours. At 24 hours most people will have a shit ton of bacteria, and little to no protozoa. That extra 12 hours can really help to build up the protozoa count. Which will then increase nutrient cycling.

Having a higher rate of nutrient cycling will be like pulling nutrients out of the reserves. It is a way of "unlocking" more nutrients that are already present in your soil. There by getting higher yields with less inputs because you have made your soil more "efficient."

It's like free organic fertilizer!

 

[Max Frost]

You are calling this AACT (actively aerated compost tea), but you have no compost in it. You are making a liquid nutrient. Compost tea is cheaper to make than what you have here. I know you already own these, and using them is "free" at this point, but a cu. ft. of compost can make a shit ton of tea. You can get a yard of quality compost for $40. Do you know how much tea you could make with that?:)

Something to keep in mind also, without a scope you might very well be wasting your time. The only way to know if you are making "quality" tea is by using a scope. The biggest thing I see with people is they use to small of a pump. That would be the thing to not cheap out on.

For a 5 gallon bucket I would suggest the Eco1 commercial air pump.

I do like that you are brewing for 36 hours. At 24 hours most people will have a shit ton of bacteria, and little to no protozoa. That extra 12 hours can really help to build up the protozoa count. Which will then increase nutrient cycling.

Having a higher rate of nutrient cycling will be like pulling nutrients out of the reserves. It is a way of "unlocking" more nutrients that are already present in your soil. There by getting higher yields with less inputs because you have made your soil more "efficient."

It's like free organic fertilizer!

Thank you so much! That's excellent information, and is greatly appreciated! What kind of scope would be needed for this? I'm just getting into making teas, and it looks like this is going to be a necessary piece of gear. Thanks again!

Best,

Max

 

[organicozarks]

Something like this will work

 

[Max Frost]

Something like this will work

Thanks so much for the link...and your time!

I just looked in on my "nute stew". Right now it's been bubbling for about 30-ish hours. Last time I looked in at about 24 hours, there were just the bubbles from the airstones, but no real foam. However when I looked just now, there is foam bubbling up everywhere! WoW! Isn't this indicitive that the micro-beasties are "blooming"?

 

[organicozarks]

Foam has nothing to do with microbes. Not trying to burst your bubble or anything. :)

 

[Max Frost]

Foam has nothing to do with microbes. Not trying to burst your bubble or anything. :)

Cute one! :p Really?!! I watched a You Tube vid on AACT's, and the guy said the foam was a by-product of the microbial reproduction, and the more foam...the better your tea. The internet is chock-full of information, unfortunately not all of it is spot on! Thanks for correcting me on that Ozarks! Being new to organics, I'm trying to learn as much as I can, but it's frustrating when you're not getting accurate info.

I JUST got my hands on a copy of "Teeming With Microbes" and have just started reading about the soil/food web. (Fascinating stuff!) Other than this, can you recommend any good (accurate) reference material? Thanks again so much for your assistance!

 

[organicozarks]

Teaming with microbes is a great start. That is what got me going into compost tea. Microbeman's website has tons of info as well www.microbeorganics.com . Both of those can point you in the right direction.

Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there. In the beginning it can be hard to wade through, but give it some time and you will see the light.

A couple of more resources that I would recommend

http://www.amazon.com/Soil-biology-...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380544530&sr=1-2


http://www.amazon.com/compost-tea-b...=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380544530&sr=1-9

Also if you are going to purchase a scope then I would advise purchasing microbeman's DVD. It is better than awesome.
http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-A...=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380544530&sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-I...=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380544530&sr=1-7

 

[Max Frost]

Wow...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Looks like a wealth of information! That should keep me busy (and out of your hair...lol) for quite a while! Again...thanks!

 

[Seamaiden]

Cute one! :p Really?!! I watched a You Tube vid on AACT's, and the guy said the foam was a by-product of the microbial reproduction, and the more foam...the better your tea. The internet is chock-full of information, unfortunately not all of it is spot on! Thanks for correcting me on that Ozarks! Being new to organics, I'm trying to learn as much as I can, but it's frustrating when you're not getting accurate info.

I JUST got my hands on a copy of "Teeming With Microbes" and have just started reading about the soil/food web. (Fascinating stuff!) Other than this, can you recommend any good (accurate) reference material? Thanks again so much for your assistance!

The guy on YouTube is wrong. See my post in Capulator's section on what causes foaming in presence of so many organic molecules.

The folks who wrote Teaming with Microbes are putting out another book (I think Amazon just notified me that it's now available via Kindle) called Teaming with Nutrients, still gotta read. Also, if you run across the name Hussey in relation to organic cultivation, it pays to pay attention to what they have to say, because they Keep It Simple. ;)

 

[organicozarks]

Teaming with nutrients sucked balls. I could not even finish it. Literally the only book I can say that about.

That being said a lot of people have enjoyed it, so I am most definitely in the minority. Motherfuckers are racist and shit! :)

 

[Seamaiden]

Whoa... seriously? Well, I pre-paid for the Kindle edition. Care to expand on the 'ism' issue?

 

[Max Frost]

The guy on YouTube is wrong. See my post in Capulator's section on what causes foaming in presence of so many organic molecules.

The folks who wrote Teaming with Microbes are putting out another book (I think Amazon just notified me that it's now available via Kindle) called Teaming with Nutrients, still gotta read. Also, if you run across the name Hussey in relation to organic cultivation, it pays to pay attention to what they have to say, because they Keep It Simple. ;)

Thanks Sea! I'll check it out! I'll also keep an eye out for "Hussey". The simpler the better...especially for me!

Teaming with nutrients sucked balls. I could not even finish it. Literally the only book I can say that about.

That being said a lot of people have enjoyed it, so I am most definitely in the minority. Motherfuckers are racist and shit! :)

Don't hold back, bro! How do you REALLY feel about it? LMAO. Did you not like it because of the racism you perceived, or because you didn't like the information? I haven't picked up on anything racist in the book (well...except for certain anaerobic beasties), but I'm still early in it. Is the racism in the book, or something they've said or done somewhere else?

 

[Max Frost]

Also...just thought I'd post up the outcome here in case anybody else is considering anything like this...

I used some of my brew after about 34 hrs brewing. The plants really seem to have enjoyed it. They're very happy with fans pointed to the sky! I only used about a half gallon, so I decided I'd bubble the rest for 48 hrs. Well...I checked on the brew at about 44-45 hours, and it was smelling VERY funky! The best way I can describe it is like a minnow bucket -- after you've run out of minnows -- that's sat in the sun all afternoon! No real fishy smell, but it had that "other" component that I can't quite describe. Not really a rotting odor...but not pleasant either.

I have no idea what happened or why, but my best guess is that I just encountered my first anaerobic bacteria. I dumped the rest of the brew. I wasn;t going to take a chance using it with it smelling like that. So much for saving money...ha!

I'd love to use this as a learning opportunity. Does anyone have an opinion on what happened and why? I guess I'd call this a failed experiment. I don't plan on doing it again. Next time I'll wait for some compost or castings. Thanks again to everyone contributing and helping me learn!

Best,

Max

 

[organicozarks]

Thanks Sea! I'll check it out! I'll also keep an eye out for "Hussey". The simpler the better...especially for me!




Don't hold back, bro! How do you REALLY feel about it? LMAO. Did you not like it because of the racism you perceived, or because you didn't like the information? I haven't picked up on anything racist in the book (well...except for certain anaerobic beasties), but I'm still early in it. Is the racism in the book, or something they've said or done somewhere else?

The racist joke was because I said I was a minority. Maybe only funny to me.

Sounds like your brew went anaerobic. Could be lack of oxygen, food source, etc.. I have had successful 48 hour brews. Honestly I have had very few "bad" brews ever. Less then 10 out of hundreds if not the low thousand's.

Although I did just remember that you don't have compost in your brew. So who knows what the fuck happened. :)