How valuable is my tea in super soil?

Seamaiden · Jul 11, 2014

Dunge said:
I would have thought that this report would generated more interest.
With all the effort I and others put into brewing tea, the thought that our plants are not benefiting from the attention should stimulate some controversy.

First off, we can question my tea formulation and habit of using it in every watering start to finish.
This is not that hard a demonstration to duplicate.
I'd like to see an example of a soil/tea formulation that does show improved plant performance.
It is my conclusion that my soil formulation is fully populated with microbes and that the plants are getting all the nutrients they can use without tea.

I didn't really want to say anything at this point, but I've wondered just how useful constantly applying teas really is. I'm a fairly lazy grower and only use teas a few times through the season. I've never been diligent enough to make and apply weekly as I'm "supposed" to, but I've also figured that if the goal is inoculation and culturing of soil microbes, then I've already inoculated and as long as I keep living roots around, I should still have my host suite of microbes... shouldn't I?

fishwhistle · Jul 11, 2014

I think if you have a strong soil mix,like a super soil and deriving your feed from it,the teas are not as neccesary because your soil is living already but teas do make a difference when you are using a light soil mix and feeding nutes.I do an experiment every year with plants in my yard getting extra leftover teas,this summer my room is torn apart for remodel but i have a couple small plants in my soil mix outside and the runoff from my mix is just like a damn tea so im using it to feed the lily of the nile/agapanthus.My mix this year is 1/2 my own homemade amended compost and half ocean forest that i was trying to use up,these plants just get normal irrigation water but one side gets the Runoff (tea) from my supersoil,can you tell which one?

Dunge · Jul 11, 2014

I was spending lots of time brewing tea. It's not much work, but it is constant small tasks, like molasses additions. And tea forces me to hand water. Now that I made a manifold, watering is so much simpler and precise.
I also weigh my plants to monitor water use and replenish accordingly on 3-4 day intervals.
Spring clips grasp pot edge, string over top, fisherman's scale to measure.

Dunge · Jul 13, 2014

Seems I neglected to post this pic on harvest day (one week ago).
Water only plant is on the left.
Both are bodacious.

Another week of hanging and they should be ready to strip and weigh properly.

Dunge · Jul 13, 2014

fishwhistle said:
I think if you have a strong soil mix,like a super soil and deriving your feed from it,the teas are not as neccesary because your soil is living already but teas do make a difference when you are using a light soil mix and feeding nutes.I do an experiment every year with plants in my yard getting extra leftover teas,this summer my room is torn apart for remodel but i have a couple small plants in my soil mix outside and the runoff from my mix is just like a damn tea so im using it to feed the lily of the nile/agapanthus.My mix this year is 1/2 my own homemade amended compost and half ocean forest that i was trying to use up,these plants just get normal irrigation water but one side gets the Runoff (tea) from my supersoil,can you tell which one?

I can't stop thinking about your pictures.
Does the bigger plant get runoff as additional water to normal irrigation?

fishwhistle · Jul 13, 2014

Dunge said:
I can't stop thinking about your pictures.
Does the bigger plant get runoff as additional water to normal irrigation?

Yes,i just dump the runoff from my plant trays on it.Last year i did pretty much the same except i gave it the extra tea instead of plant runoff with pretty much the same result,i do have pretty poor soil,heavy clay.

infocus · Jul 14, 2014

Seamaiden said:
I didn't really want to say anything at this point, but I've wondered just how useful constantly applying teas really is. I'm a fairly lazy grower and only use teas a few times through the season. I've never been diligent enough to make and apply weekly as I'm "supposed" to, but I've also figured that if the goal is inoculation and culturing of soil microbes, then I've already inoculated and as long as I keep living roots around, I should still have my host suite of microbes... shouldn't I?

that's my thinking..

kuz · Jul 14, 2014

Dunge said:
I was spending lots of time brewing tea. It's not much work, but it is constant small tasks, like molasses additions. And tea forces me to hand water. Now that I made a manifold, watering is so much simpler and precise.
I also weigh my plants to monitor water use and replenish accordingly on 3-4 day intervals.
Spring clips grasp pot edge, string over top, fisherman's scale to measure.
View attachment 421924 View attachment 421930

Thats hardcore, weighing the plants. Maybe worms are the key, somehow encourage the mycros to flourish, the ones we pay big bucks for.

LexLuthor · Jul 15, 2014

I honestly did not expect those results, but im kinda glad it happened lol...im gonna start guerrilla growing again and thought about bringing an ACT concentrate out once in a while for the plants, well now im not hahaa

I'll just amend the soil good enough for them to get water only, you use Caps bennies right?

Dunge · Jul 20, 2014

lex0415 said:
I honestly did not expect those results, but im kinda glad it happened lol...im gonna start guerrilla growing again and thought about bringing an ACT concentrate out once in a while for the plants, well now im not hahaa

I'll just amend the soil good enough for them to get water only, you use Caps bennies right?

I was using caps in my tea brews, but now am using the foliar as a external preventative.
I'm happy about these results too, as I much prefer water only.
This little test is not the last word on the subject.
It just tells me, that in my soil, tea is not required.

LexLuthor · Jul 20, 2014

Whats your soil mix? If its not proprietary lol

Dunge · Jul 21, 2014

lex0415 said:
Whats your soil mix? If its not proprietary lol

I have experimented with telling the formula to people who are not interested in plants, but they just loose interest no matter how much I tart up the story.
Seems dirt is just not very interesting to some people.

Check out my nine soil side by side that is currently two weeks into flower.
https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/six-super-soil-variants-run-side-by-side.63549/
Originally named a six soil test, it became a a nine when I did a cutting inventory and found three more of my favorite Alien Rock Candy plants.
This tea test was done on my current 'standard' soil, which is #2.

ProMix
EWC
compost
blood meal
bone meal
high P bat guano

Exact quantities and trade name sources are specified and modified in the test thread.

At this writing, the shocking results are starting to look like it doesn't much matter what I put in the blend.
Two weeks into flower, and each plant looks like all the others, but for a few miner observations.

So check out the thread.
@greyarea has thousands of reads of his thread in less time than it has taken me to generate a few hundred.
Sure, he has mad skills, giant plants, and cool attachments.

On the other hand, my readers get to plow through bad photography, rotated images, stilted writing, and misspellings.

Extra credit here of effort?

Tnelz · Jul 21, 2014

Dunge said:
I brew an alfalfa tea one gallon at a time for four days between watering and continue to harvest.
One little fish tank bubbler, inoculated with caps, and fed molasses.

Looks awesome bro and great experiment. Just food for thought. I'd be worried about the alfalfa tea in later bloom stages due to the nitrogen content. I would think u wouldn't c much difference but on a general overall health id say the tea plants would be better. However I'd worry that alfalfa in late bloom would actually work against u. I'm no expert and u seem to be quite good at ur craft bro just throwing it out there. Good luck!

Medusa · Jul 21, 2014

fishwhistle said:
I think if you have a strong soil mix,like a super soil and deriving your feed from it,the teas are not as neccesary because your soil is living already but teas do make a difference when you are using a light soil mix and feeding nutes.I do an experiment every year with plants in myThe second pic yard getting extra leftover teas,this summer my room is torn apart for remodel but i have a couple small plants in my soil mix outside and the runoff from my mix is just like a damn tea so im using it to feed the lily of the nile/agapanthus.My mix this year is 1/2 my own homemade amended compost and half ocean forest that i was trying to use up,these plants just get normal irrigation water but one side gets the Runoff (tea) from my supersoil,can you tell which one?

the second pic getting the tea?

Dunge · Jul 21, 2014

THIS JUST IN

water only 63 g
tea only 81 g

What's that, over 20% better bud production with tea?

Rethinking the results of this test.
The plants looked identically sized at harvest, and the harvest wet weight was almost the same.
To get over 20% more bud after two week cure is shocking.

Now I am forced to work tea into my watering system.
Oh joy.

ronvmpc · Jul 21, 2014

Nice test. Did I you post your tea recipe?

Dunge · Jul 21, 2014

ronvmpc said:
Nice test. Did I you post your tea recipe?

I brew an alfalfa tea one gallon at a time for four days between watering and continue to harvest.
One little fish tank bubbler, inoculated with caps, and fed molasses.
This is what I posted, but it looks a little thin, what with a result like this.
There was an active tea thread not long ago that I used to devise my method.
It's in line with my stacking worm bin into which I put kitchen scraps, and tea solids.
The worms swarm fresh additions.
Fluid runoff from the worm bin is mixed with tea just before application.
The tea itself is a fist full of alfalfa, pinch of kelp, big pinch of neem meal, and a small spoon of Caps (alternate formulations).
Fill to one gallon and drop in bubbler stone.
Prep cup of sugar water with large dollop of molasses.
Make one addition (small glug) of Alaska Morbloom.
Make daily additions of molasses from dilution cup.
Make additions of Alaska Fish Fertilizer as needed to suppress foam on the theory that foam consists of chemicals I wish to have in the bodies of my tea microbes or at least suspended in the fluid.
All of my tea efforts have focused on building a richly populated microbial soup.
Molasses additions are guided by my wish to avoid causing a yeast bloom.
I have a microscope, and have spent many hours exploring the world of microbial tea.
I enjoy many of the creatures I have come to recognize.
I like my bacteria motile, more fun to watch.
The snake is very thin, and tremendously long.(and agile)
Flounder (or flying leaf) are thought to be anaerobic and thus less desirable.
The strange thing is that after years of brewing tea, and countless hours at the microscope, I feel constantly presented with changing populations.
And they don't seem to follow a predictable sequence.
So I strive for maximum bio density and maximum diversity.
Then I let them fight it out with the soil ecosystem.
This result has revitalized my interest in tea. I now need to learn how and when to use it.
"All the time" is the default I landed on.
Lots of logic behind tapering off late in flower to promote senescence.

The solids.

The inoculates. (Gnatrol {BTi} in the jar is added before use as needed)

Worm world & tea factory.
(note feed grade molasses)

The lab.

Seamaiden · Jul 22, 2014

Have you scoped the teas before and after the addition of the Morbloom?

Tnelz said:
Looks awesome bro and great experiment. Just food for thought. I'd be worried about the alfalfa tea in later bloom stages due to the nitrogen content. I would think u wouldn't c much difference but on a general overall health id say the tea plants would be better. However I'd worry that alfalfa in late bloom would actually work against u. I'm no expert and u seem to be quite good at ur craft bro just throwing it out there. Good luck!

Not the N, the triacontanol. ;)

Tnelz · Jul 22, 2014

Seamaiden said:
Have you scoped the teas before and after the addition of the Morbloom?

Not the N, the triacontanol. ;)

As always thank u. So it would actually have negative effects correct? I cut alfalfa out of my teas as soon as bloom begins.

Seamaiden · Jul 22, 2014

I would be concerned about the P depressing fungal growth. :)

How valuable is my tea in super soil?

How valuable is my tea in super soil?

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