More on ACT; I know most of you guys are pro's at making ACT but for the new people I will detail the steps we take to make the tea's. This post will be about making the tea and basics concepts of using a tea as an additional supplement to your existing nutrient system.
I will post the actual tea batch testing results and procedure in a separate post after the data is ready.
Using ACT in a system like the UC for example or any DWC or RDWC system for that matter is an art form almost. You must try and keep and maintain a almost perfect balance to keep things healthy. It is not rocket science by any means and ANYONE can learn how to use the tea's correctly. It will take a bit of practice for new users to hydroponics to find that "balance". But when you find it you will notice huge gains in plant health and yield and be using less nutrients than ever before.
Users fail in hydro using tea's usually because the bacteria will over run the system, or the opposite happens and good bacteria die out and the bad bacteria takes over the system.
To use biology effectively in a hydro system you need to have a bio filter to make a home for your colonies. Most hydro users fail to take this into consideration. I will not go into detail here on bio filters as there is lots of information on bio filters already out there.
When used correctly the additional ACT inputs plus a bio filter will make your water so crystal and clear you will want to drink it! It will also produce a huge white mass of healthy roots as shown in the picture below (last picture).
If you guys have not tried making tea's I strongly urge you to give it a shot. It is one of the least expensive ways you can increase every aspect of your growing plants.
It is ironic because making tea's and the hardware needed is cheaper than most ANY brand nutrient and yet the tea will give the maximum payback or "bang for your buck"!
We will start with the basic concepts of making the tea using Capulator's root pack. The investment plus the cost of the products will be money well spent and you will be able to make MANY batches that will last you a long time!
This will save you money in several ways; you will need less nutrients in general as the Tea's will also be supplementing nutrients for the plants and the biology itself produces food for the plants as a byproduct.
You will no longer need to use toxic poisons for bug control as well as disease control which are ALL benefits from using tea's. The natural way in harmony with nature is ALWAYS going to be your best bet. Use your resources in a BETTER way which leads to efficiency as well as healthy plants and most cases you should be able to cut your supply cost by as much as 50%! That is huge, no?
You will need the following:
(1) 5 gallon bucket (black if possible to shield the contents from light)
(2) Root Pack
(3) Food for the microbes to eat
(4) Small Aquarium air pump
(5) Small air stone
(6) 1/4 inch air line hose
(7) RO water
A note about the water you use to make your tea's with. We are learning more and more about water everyday. I urge you to google "magnetic water vortex" or "water charging".
It seems water can hold memory like a ram chip in your computer. You can also "program" your water. Sounds crazy I know but I assure it is all backed up by sound scientific principles and many test can be performed to prove this stuff is not "mumbo jumbo".
Just using a magnetic array that the water passed through on its way to the crops, improved that crop's yield by 20%! The crops also used less water or needed less water to remain healthy. This test was done on acres of farm land and there is a video available detailing the procedure and results.
A member here (Natural Therapy) posted a link to a documentary about water from 2006 in a thread in the smokers lounge. It is a bit outdated but still a excellent doc to watch on water, just keep in mind that this video is from 2006 and we have learned TONS more since that time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=79pnJusCSbo
I can not tell you how important your water is and how much you can improve your plants JUST by improving your water ALONE!
I can post a separate thread on water if anyone is interested. We have done extensive research on water treatment using magnetic field arrays with reversing polarity as well as "vortex" design and benefits. We do these studies and research as I think there is LOTS to learn about water and it seems like it is very relevant to hydroponics when your entire media and all is based on water alone (meaning no soil). We are MISSING a lot I think and most people on average just assume they know all about water, I mean hell we have been drinking it all our lives, right? Turns out we know very little about water.
To make the tea use a gallon of water (to make more just multiply the amounts given below), and keep in mind that the inputs do not need to be exact and there are several products that can be substituted for your favorite choice, the directions are not written in stone in other words!
Add to the gallon of RO water the following:
1 teaspoon of Capulator's Root Pack (1 teaspoon of nute pack and 1 teaspoon of the foliar pack can also be added or omitted)
1 Tablespoon of Earth Syrup or you can use non sulfured molasses.
Cant say enough how much we like these products from Progress Earth for microbe food, The Earth Kelp and the Earth Syrup are GREAT products for making ACT, matched with Capulator's packs, you honestly need NO other products or inputs to create and produce some seriously potent and diverse tea's. Capulator has done his homework and provides ALL the microbes needed in extreme concentrations.
1 Teaspoon Earth Kelp
Optional inputs are almost limitless.
Liquid Karma is a good add, as well as any kelp based product. Keep it simple at first and add to your tea's one or 2 components at a time.
Careful not to add to much fulvic as it will cause deformed leaf growth!
Now add air stone and bubble for 48 hours, no more than 72 hours without additional inputs (Microbes will need more food).
The shorter bubble times will produce more limited types of bacteria. If your going for more fungi species and diversity then longer bubble times are needed. No shorter than 14 hours bubble time is suggested and no longer than 72 hours.
Remember that bacteria multiply but fungi in general do not but instead grow larger and expand, which is why it takes more bubble time to get good strong fungi colonies going.
Also note that hydro users need to make sure and filter any "carrier" product out which is usually sand or clay and will never dissolve in the water. This is a MOST important step to be done correctly. Make sure your filter does not have holes in it that are too small and will actually filter out the bacteria as well.
The best way to "filter" your tea is to wait until your done bubbling the tea and all the carrier product should have settled to the bottom, turn off the air pump and wait a few minutes then collect the top water only leaving the sediment behind at the bottom of the bucket.
This is a for sure way to make sure you get all the biology and end up with a very clean and pure product (tea) that is super potent!
DOSAGES;
The ACT dosage can be 1 cup to 5 gallons of water. This dosage can vary depending on how strong you want your tea's to be (bubble time) and if your applying to maintain as opposed to applying to treat a problem.
Maintenance Dosage is usually around:
5ml per gallon
1 Cup Per 5 gallons
Average brew or "bubble" time is minimum 14 hours and suggested about 18 to 24 hours for max potency.
Run them for 72 hours for max diversity of species (advanced users)
PICTURES;
The first picture below was taken right after mixing the inputs for the tea.
The 2nd picture shows the same bucket 12 hours later.
The 3rd picture shows how super clear the water is in a system after it exits the bio filter, crystal clear and super clean! (The bio filter itself is not shown)
The last picture shows a healthy root system that was maintained with tea's in addition to the nutrient system.
Cheers!