Phing Tea?

[Gamechanga12]

Hi I was wondering when I brew a tea do I ph it before or after I put the tea in my res?

 

[FlyinJStable]

@Gamechanga12 Welcome to the farm Bro
A great place to source anything you ever wanted to know about the great green plant we all love to grow...
There are a few great reads one is
@Capulator
Nutrients and Fertilizers
Capulators beneficials

The thread rocks and The use of the tea is straight up grow gold.........
take a look at it and your sure to find what ya need as far as PH is concerned I always PH prior to making my ACT but do not
after its ready
Thats just me IMO
Good searching
and again welcome
FlyJ

 

[heavydutykevork]

Is it ok to ph the next day? I'm drain to waste in a 30 gallon Rez all is good when I mix nutes ph and add tea but next day ph is reading high? Can I adjust or just leave alone?

 

[Capulator]

Is it ok to ph the next day? I'm drain to waste in a 30 gallon Rez all is good when I mix nutes ph and add tea but next day ph is reading high? Can I adjust or just leave alone?

You can adjust, but it's best to put concentrated pH in a separate bucket of water, and then add, as opposed to putting in concentrated pH. Either will work though.

 

[pugliese63]

I copied this from the site www.microbeorganics.com. This site has some very good information although its laid out as a single page which can be a little frustrating. Some may be familiar with it already. I'd also like to state that nothing is written in stone and there are a lot of ways to brew compost tea and apply it.

I had read that many growers and landscapers were adding some of these amendments into their ACT just before applying and I believe this process was endorsed by SFI. Anyway we decided to try saving some time and money and dumped 5 gallons of fish hydrolysate into a 1200 gallon batch to pump out. I had, as usual examined the finished brew microscopically and out of curiosity took another sample after mixing in the fish hydrolysate. To my astonishment and dismay I had wiped out or put to sleep almost half of the microorganisms. This was the last time we did this.

We always apply amendments separately from ACT and this is what I recommend unless using the most minuscule amounts. I surmise that adding anything to a finished brew can have similar negative results. The amount of FH we used was 0.4%. If you have a microscope, go ahead and experiment.


From my experience compost tea generally comes out well above 7 on the pH scale. Fish hydrolysate is very acidic would drop the pH the same way pH down would.

After reading this I've since stopped adding anything to my finished teas. With that said, I don't use a microscope and can't definitively say if that is true or not. But, I do have a tendency to follow what I consider salient advice from those who have taken the time to do this type of research.

I'm sure there are amendments you can add that won't disturb or inhibit but may also encourage the microbial populations.

Like many I'm always open to ways I can more effectively harness the forces of nature and use them to their fullest.

 

[Seamaiden]

Tim's a good guy and always does his diligence, I feel his information is good, solid information. Too bad he and CT Guy were driven from here, but that's life. In any event, I'm curious to know when he might have researched this because just a couple or three years ago he was saying that you *can* put fertilizers in the tea and make it a nutrient tea as well as an AACT, which was counter to what I was doing. Seems that I've been doing it right all along...?

 

[pugliese63]

Tim's a good guy and always does his diligence, I feel his information is good, solid information. Too bad he and CT Guy were driven from here, but that's life. In any event, I'm curious to know when he might have researched this because just a couple or three years ago he was saying that you *can* put fertilizers in the tea and make it a nutrient tea as well as an AACT, which was counter to what I was doing. Seems that I've been doing it right all along...?

Like yourself, I'm disappointed he no longer posts here. As far as when he did this research I'm not sure. I know I read it maybe two years ago but not sure if has done further testing since then.

As far as nutrient/fertilizers in ACT I've always used various guanos as an input in the beginning. It seems to me that if most amendments or supplements (not sure which is correct) are treated as inputs, i.e. added in the beginning, they are utilized as a food source and much more compatible than if added in the end. This is just a speculation on my part.

I'm still curious if ACT were added to an equal amount of aerated water with a simple food source such a molasses would it continue to thrive and multiply? Could you then use it as a complete nutrient solution?

A number of years ago I used a similar method for several cycles and was quite pleased with the results, especially since it was being run through a drip irrigation system. My understanding of ACT is a lot greater now and I may revisit this method again in the near future.