Skully's Crash Course Compost Tea Guide - Tips, Tricks And Chicks With Dicks.

[sKully]

sKully's Crash Course On AACT Brewing

I wanted to write up some compost tea tips for you newer compost tea brewers as well as some tips that will help the OG pro's out there as well. The idea behind this quick guide is to skip the actual learning "How" to brew compost tea, and dive right into the subtle nuances, tips, tricks and methods that come with the art.

"I've had my eye locked into the binocular lenses of my microscope for quits some time now, as any microbiologist would tell you i'm sure, "It's easy to get lost down there" - Rey Mysterio

sKully's Guide ---

• The Simpler the Better. Keep your ingredients simple off the bat until you feel you've grasped the compost tea brewing methodology well enough to venture into more specific, role oriented teas.

Stick with these simple ingredients until you do some research and understand the effects of the additional amendments you wish to add -

• Worm Castings
• Alaskan Forest Humus/Mushroom Compost
• Humic Acid (BioAg has the heat)
• Molasses (Yes it a long chain carbon molecule that would essentially, suffocate or bog down your microbes if used as a soil drench, but while brewing AACT's, its the GO TO for providing plenty of food for the microbes to multiply, and it smells fucking good.
• Rock Phosphate/Rock Dust
• Throw in some kelp if you're feeling frisky. (Highly recommended)

• You can NEVER have enough OXYGEN.

• Add more Air-Stones. When you think you have enough, add another.

• Use a BIG pump. Go with one of the larger ECO pumps on the market, you can never have enough air!

• You can NOT tell if a compost tea is done because of the "Froth", "Head" or Foam created from the brewing process. It can be a good indicator that there is some biological activity in the tea, but in no way can be used as a indefinite indication of compost tea readiness. You will end up with a LOT of foam right off the bat with some tea's depending on the food stock used, i.e - Molasses.

• SMELL is the best indicator of a tea's readiness for those of you without a microscope. Smell, coupled with time brewed, amount of food stock added, gallon of water usage, temperature and elevation. Cooler temperatures affect microbial replication rates drastically. If it's too cold, it will take the biology within the tea a very long time to multiply. If the temperatures fall too cold, the biological life of the tea can go dormant or die. If it's too warm your tea brews can take half as long as you would normally expect them too if they were in a more temperate environment, resulting in expedited food stock consumption, in turn increased oxygen consumption and ultimately, anaerobic conditions. Aka- Some smelly ass shit.

• Do NOT over-feed your teas. Too much food stock and you're microbial replication rates will jump so high that they will over populate the tea and consume all the available food and oxygen causing the tea to go anaerobic.

• The chances of you getting E coli are Slim to fucking NONE if you brew your teas properly and not like a fucking ape.

• Depending on the compost tea brewing setup you are using, make sure to only fill it and leave a generous amount of container volume for the foam/froth to expand without overflowing. (It will probably overflow anyway)

• Add VAM or any other Mycorrhizal Inoculate at the VERY END of the brewing cycle. If you add the spores in the beginning of the brewing process, they will germinate and die as there are no roots to attach too and begin growing. Add Mycorrhizal spores with 8-12 hours left on the brew, they will survive roughly 24-48 hours in the tea, but you should water them in IMMEDIATELY after the tea finishes.

• Use GLASS BONDED air stones, you can find them on amazon, they clean easier and Take a long time to get gunked and clogged up. The "Micro Bubbler " brand on amazon work very well at increasing dissolved oxygen levels in the water. Be prepared to spend a little $$$.

• Use a 400 Micron bag when brewing. No bigger, no smaller. You want the micron count to be small enough to trap and keep organic particulates in, and big enough to let microbial life out.

WASH THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR TEA BREWER AFTER EVERY USE UNLESS YOU PLAN ON BREWING ANOTHER TEA IMMEDIATELY AFTER. YOU FUCKING STONER.

Cleanliness Is Key.

-sK

 

[MirrorZen]

I came for the chicks with dicks?
WAIT!
There is no such thing as that,
It's a guy with boobs!! :crying2::crying2:Anyways good read, albeit a bit aggressive lol.

 

[mandalaman]

Thanks! Learned alot from this, and enjoyed reading it. Well written :)

 

[sKully]

O

Thanks! Learned alot from this, and enjoyed reading it. Well written :)

Appreciate it. If I can help just one person brew better AACT's then i'm happy.

 

[stonestacker]

So sKully what is the ideal temperature for tea?

 

[sKully]

So sKully what is the ideal temperature for tea?

That's somewhat of a loaded question, so let me preface this properly.

Sure you could say there is an "Ideal Temperature" brewing up compost teas. 72-82 Degrees would be that range, but lets look at it a little more in depth.

Bacterial and Protozoan life can survive at a multitude of temperature ranges. For example the bacteria at the bottom of the ocean at the volcanic outcroppings on the sea floor. Pretty extreme shit. Does ALL Microbial life enjoy sitting on the bottom of the ocean in nuclear temperatures? no.

Just like in our little compost tea "Eco-system", many of the microbes prefer a certain temperature range. Staying in this range prevents the microbes from dying or going dormant.

So in short, keep the temps around 75-80 Degree's. If you wan't to speed things up, invest in an aquarium heater and turn the heat up to 82-85.

Keep in mind microbial activity while brewing will also raise the temperature of the tea.

If temperatures fall too low, you risk an ultra slow brewing process and potentially dormant or dead microbial life.

If you haven't brewed teas before, try to keep the range as neutral as possible. Only experiment with increasing temperatures when you've fully grasped the concept of brewing balanced AACT's.

Goodluck!

-sK

 

[stonestacker]

That's somewhat of a loaded question, so let me preface this properly.

Sure you could say there is an "Ideal Temperature" brewing up compost teas. 72-82 Degrees would be that range, but lets look at it a little more in depth.

Bacterial and Protozoan life can survive at a multitude of temperature ranges. For example the bacteria at the bottom of the ocean at the volcanic outcroppings on the sea floor. Pretty extreme shit. Does ALL Microbial life enjoy sitting on the bottom of the ocean in nuclear temperatures? no.

Just like in our little compost tea "Eco-system", many of the microbes prefer a certain temperature range. Staying in this range prevents the microbes from dying or going dormant.

So in short, keep the temps around 75-80 Degree's. If you wan't to speed things up, invest in an aquarium heater and turn the heat up to 82-85.

Keep in mind microbial activity while brewing will also raise the temperature of the tea.

If temperatures fall too low, you risk an ultra slow brewing process and potentially dormant or dead microbial life.

If you haven't brewed teas before, try to keep the range as neutral as possible. Only experiment with increasing temperatures when you've fully grasped the concept of brewing balanced AACT's.

Goodluck!

-sK

Thanks sKully.

 

[mandalaman]

O


Appreciate it. If I can help just one person brew better AACT's then i'm happy.

Don't worry. Be happy. #foambrigade

 

[sKully]

Don't worry. Be happy. #foambrigade

View attachment 653122

You've got grit! Over the carpet like a Boss! Looking good!

Warning, those bubbles are going to keep popping and throwing micro particles of whatever is in your tea, all over the room. So if you got something funky in that tea, I would recommend a little plastic sheet of polly, some newspapers, a couple garbage bags, whatever you got just to keep all of that aerobic stuff from splashing and becoming anaerobic all over the carpet. (peeeyewwww)

Unless of course you don't give 2 shits about the carpet, then I stand corrected. :smoking:
keep frothin'!
- sK

as a side note that i'll add to the guide...(@Seamaiden) can you re open my original post to allow editing? Is that possible? Thanks :)

Do you use Reverse Osmosis water? If not is it city or a well? If it's city, do you know if your city adds Chloramine or Chlorine to the water supply?

Any sort of Chlorine will kill our little microbes and prevent us from brewing our tea.

Before you add ANY ingredients, let water sit and bubble for 12-24 hours. This will help evaporate the chlorine out of the tea and into the atmosphere, rendering it usable for our tea. The more oxygen running through your tea while you're "Off Gassing" it, the quicker it'evaporate out.

The reason I asked if you had an RO is simply because the, "Sit and forget" method stated above DOES NOT evaporate CHLORAMINE.

Nothing worse than putting all your perfect ingredients together and working your ass off to brew your tea and ending up with a tea void of any life. If you don't have a microscope and you want to get serious about making AACT's I highly recommend picking one up. Pick up a beginner level microscope and dig in. I have even seen little USB Cameras/Microscopes that take wonderful pictures for cheap.

 

[tinderthumbs]

so u say don't brew like a ape plz do tell more how do I not get sick that is key lol see a lot about bat poo making u sick

 

[mandalaman]

I use RO water. And that picture is from two batches ago :smoking: and that's down in the basement. Am I being a fucking ape!! :mushtache:

 

[jumpincactus]

And like skully has indicated you can never have too much DO in your brew. To be contrary I see a lot of folks use basic aquarium pums and that doesnt even come close to providing enough O2 for a good brew.

Tim Wilson recommends pumps that are capable of, see the quote below.

" We did almost a year straight of research (at a cost of thousands of dollars) building almost every conceivable compost tea brewer design and size, ranging from 1 to 1200 gallons. These included every type itemized on my webpage in the design section and more. We measured the dissolved oxygen (DO2) religiously at all hours of day and night, eliminating configurations which failed to maintain the DO2 at or above 6 PPM. This is close to the minimum level required to support aerobic organisms.

The outcome of this research was, the estimation, that the minimum flow required from an air pump to make compost tea while maintaining the DO2 at 6 PPM, is 0.05 CFM per gallon while the optimum flow is 0.08 CFM per gallon or greater. (the only exception was when utilizing airlifts)

This means that most aquarium pumps will not work with a 5 gallon ACT maker, no matter what a couple of guys from Texas say. Two gallons, perhaps."

http://microbeorganics.com/

 

[sKully]

so u say don't brew like a ape plz do tell more how do I not get sick that is key lol see a lot about bat poo making u sick

The only time you're going to deal with Bad Bacteria, is going to be when you allow your tea to go Anaerobic. (Without Air)

If over-feed your tea and you allow the micro-organisms to multiply at such a staggering rate, that they consume all dissolved oxygen available, then you will end up with Anaerobic conditions and a potentially hazardous tea.

Now, with that being said. Let's say for some off reason, you're not at home and the air-pump fails? (Please remember to keep all pumps ABOVE the tea at all times. If your power get cut or shut off and the air pump is below the tea container, it will flow down the lines into the air-pump and destroy it so Be Warned.

All compost tea is going to have some bad bacteria in it.

Do not let that scare you. If you brew your Tea's properly you will end up with an overwhelming amounts of Good Microbial life. This Good life will over populate, over-power and out-eat, ultimately beating the competition - aka the bad micro-organisms.

Also, A good rule of thumb for steering clear of E. Coli would be to not brew your teas with COW SHIT.

I personally have brewed tea's WITH and WITHOUT cowshit and I'm not a fan.

#1. It's cow shit
#2. Depending on what part of the world you're in, you don't know what they've been feeding/injecting those cows with.
#3. It's cow shit.
--

I've also had several accounts where I've seen some inter-nodal stretching and elongating after brewing up a frothy cowturd latte, but that's a story for another time.

Long story short, kinda..

The microbes do the work, so you don't have to worry. Just make sure they have plenty of oxygen and food, and they'll take care of the rest.

-sK

 

[sKully]

I use RO water. And that picture is from two batches ago :smoking: and that's down in the basement. Am I being a fucking ape!! :mushtache:

I see no ape like activity at this time. I just wanted to make sure you were not too attached to that carpet :shockedninja:

and hey, I admire you for making it work. Keep up the good work.

 

[mandalaman]

I see no ape like activity at this time. I just wanted to make sure you were not too attached to that carpet :shockedninja:

and hey, I admire you for making it work. Keep up the good work.

Haha! I just looked at the picture again. That's cement bro :cry: if that was carpet I would have definitely gone ape shit.

 

[tinderthumbs]

so say could u make tea next to your bed if u got a ton of air going in the mix?

 

[sKully]

And like skully has indicated you can never have too much DO in your brew. To be contrary I see a lot of folks use basic aquarium pums and that doesnt even come close to providing enough O2 for a good brew.

Tim Wilson recommends pumps that are capable of, see the quote below.

" We did almost a year straight of research (at a cost of thousands of dollars) building almost every conceivable compost tea brewer design and size, ranging from 1 to 1200 gallons. These included every type itemized on my webpage in the design section and more. We measured the dissolved oxygen (DO2) religiously at all hours of day and night, eliminating configurations which failed to maintain the DO2 at or above 6 PPM. This is close to the minimum level required to support aerobic organisms.

The outcome of this research was, the estimation, that the minimum flow required from an air pump to make compost tea while maintaining the DO2 at 6 PPM, is 0.05 CFM per gallon while the optimum flow is 0.08 CFM per gallon or greater. (the only exception was when utilizing airlifts)

This means that most aquarium pumps will not work with a 5 gallon ACT maker, no matter what a couple of guys from Texas say. Two gallons, perhaps."

http://microbeorganics.com/

Absolutely.

Aquarium pumps WILL NOT brew QUALITY compost teas.

Trust me, when I was first learning about tea's I made my own unit with about 8 aquarium pumps. It brewed teas, but nothing as micro-biologically alive as teas brewed with a serious pump and good air-stones.

 

[sKully]

Haha! I just looked at the picture again. That's cement bro :cry: if that was carpet I would have definitely gone ape shit.

oh wow, that's fucking hilarious.

One of those days bro, one of those days....
:cry:
That's why I said you had grit. I was thinking.. "Fuck, this dude is dedicated, he's throwing down AACT's in his fucking living room, what a boss."

Thanks for the laughs dude, my bad!

-sK

 

[tinderthumbs]

happy I read all this I was just going to get a reg old put and air stone but I was going to get a strong one and get a spilter and use more then one air stone

 

[sKully]

so say could u make tea next to your bed if u got a ton of air going in the mix?

I would Not Recommend brewing AACT's near your bed, no.

#1. It's gonna end up frothing and the bubbles will pop and splash little micro-particles all over the room.
#2. Regardless of how much air you put through the tea, it DOES NOT guarantee your safety from harmful pathogens and biology. If you don't have adequate room and are only brewing near your bed, I would recommend waiting until summer so you can do it outside and not have to worry about the mess/health hazard.