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

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sKully

sKully

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LoL. So true. I highly recommend waiting to smoke until after cleanup. Just like fishing... wait to burn until after you are done tying your knots.

@sKully , could you speak to the Alaskan Forest Humus & Mushroom compost a little? I use my homemade EW castings, and gather compost from my COLD compost pile, but both are very lacking in fungal hyphae (workin' on that).

I can source organic mushroom compost locally, but would need to order the Alaskan Forest Humus. Are you using both, or one or the other depending on balance you are shooting for?

This looks like a good product from General Organics: https://www.planetnatural.com/product/ancient-forest-humus/


haha completely agree.

GO's Alaskan Forest Humus works (although I don't like supporting the company). I make sure to have a couple different types of compost in my teas to diversify the microbial population. Your cold compost + alaskan forest humus + ewc would be a nice mix.

I use primarily EWC/AFH - if you're not able to get the Alaskan Forest Humus you can use couple pinches of Sphagnum Peat Moss (depending on where its sources from you get some of the same microbials as AFH and It's a bit cheaper too.

-sK
 
kbellfoy

kbellfoy

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Could I use my aero cloner for making a tea? Loads of oxygen? Iv tried in buckets but not had much luck. I absolutely suck at making teas so if I can learn it anyone can lol. I'm a so called organic grower and can't make a tea......:opps: so thank you for posting all this great info.
 
sKully

sKully

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Could I use my aero cloner for making a tea? Loads of oxygen? Iv tried in buckets but not had much luck. I absolutely suck at making teas so if I can learn it anyone can lol. I'm a so called organic grower and can't make a tea......:opps: so thank you for posting all this great info.

I would say no.

The aeroponic cloner will not be able to move the volume of water needed to sustain proper dissolved oxygen levels in the AACT. (Think of how tiny those little sprayer heads are. Yea, the heads are oxygenating a little bit, but think of the rest of the 4.98(or whatever) Gallons that are sitting stagnant below, waiting for the pump to BLAST the microbes through the impeller, chop them to shit, possibly warm them to death and shoot them out the end of a sprayer head)

Always remember you are working with microscopic organisms. What seems like a little drop of water being gently sprayed out of a sprayer head could be a whole another hellacious experience for something on a microbial level.

Think gentle when you think AACT's. Think air bubbles doing the work, or let another form of low friction, low pressure engineering tickle your fancy.

whatever it is, have fun doing it.

-sK
 
Onetwothree

Onetwothree

386
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EcoPlus 728457 5 to 80W Single Outlet Commercial Air Pump, 1300 GPH - Look this one up on Amazon.

You could get away with going a size lower, although If I can teach you anything, go with bigger. You'll always end up needing it for something else as time goes by.

Look for "Bubble Bubba" air stones on Amazon as well. Get yourself 4-6 (recommend 6) and go to town.
That's the same pump I use you fucking stoner!!! Hahaha love the write up man, love the humor and the knowledge all rolled into one. Great thread sir, great thread.

Also, I use this guy instead of air stones:
https://www.amazon.com/Compost-Tea-...7872&sr=8-1&keywords=compost+tea+bubble+snake

Super easy to clean and she gets the job done!
 
kbellfoy

kbellfoy

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I would say no.

The aeroponic cloner will not be able to move the volume of water needed to sustain proper dissolved oxygen levels in the AACT. (Think of how tiny those little sprayer heads are. Yea, the heads are oxygenating a little bit, but think of the rest of the 4.98(or whatever) Gallons that are sitting stagnant below, waiting for the pump to BLAST the microbes through the impeller, chop them to shit, possibly warm them to death and shoot them out the end of a sprayer head)

Always remember you are working with microscopic organisms. What seems like a little drop of water being gently sprayed out of a sprayer head could be a whole another hellacious experience for something on a microbial level.

Think gentle when you think AACT's. Think air bubbles doing the work, or let another form of low friction, low pressure engineering tickle your fancy.

whatever it is, have fun doing it.

-sK

Thank you for setting me straight. I'd have gone off half cocked with my cloner lol. Iv just looked at the snake mentioned in the last comment. Imma try me one of them. Also thank you for taking the time to enlighten us and teach us this stuff. I deffo think my issues have been because of the wrong type of aeration. As in not enough. All I used was an air pump and small air ring. I also thought if there was no foam it hadn't worked properly so i would just put it down the bog. Scared of harming my girls.
 
sKully

sKully

52
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Thank you for setting me straight. I'd have gone off half cocked with my cloner lol. Iv just looked at the snake mentioned in the last comment. Imma try me one of them. Also thank you for taking the time to enlighten us and teach us this stuff. I deffo think my issues have been because of the wrong type of aeration. As in not enough. All I used was an air pump and small air ring. I also thought if there was no foam it hadn't worked properly so i would just put it down the bog. Scared of harming my girls.
Also, I use this guy instead of air stones:
https://www.amazon.com/Compost-Tea-...7872&sr=8-1&keywords=compost+tea+bubble+snake

Super easy to clean and she gets the job done!
--

I own a Bubble Snake, as far as dissolved oxygen levels go its only useful for its little key-chain bag hanger, if even.

It's great to use in tandem with multiple air-stones as the bubble snake throws bigger bubbles which break the surface tension as well as helping mix things up.

I would NOT rely on a Bubble Snake ALONE to brew your teas, the way they are designed needs serious reworking.
(this is not to say you can't brew a compost tea with a bubble snake alone, I just don't)

---

Thank you for the kind words. :smoking:

-sK
 
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CelticEBE

CelticEBE

1,831
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Always remember you are working with microscopic organisms. What seems like a little drop of water being gently sprayed out of a sprayer head could be a whole another hellacious experience for something on a microbial level.

Think gentle when you think AACT's. Think air bubbles doing the work, or let another form of low friction, low pressure engineering tickle your fancy.

whatever it is, have fun doing it.

-sK

I'd say my home made vortex brewer is anything BUT gentle. The AP-100 makes things rather violent if you ask me. But according to microbeman, and other tea experts....vortex brewing is the way to go.
 
sKully

sKully

52
18
I'd say my home made vortex brewer is anything BUT gentle. The AP-100 makes things rather violent if you ask me. But according to microbeman, and other tea experts....vortex brewing is the way to go.

When I say "gentle", it is in the terms of using impeller pumps.
I excluded any "Advanced" brewing methods/tools so newer brewers could start from the beginning before jumping into other options. Walk before you crawl if you will.

The Vortex's you speak of run off of an air pump(s)/pressure which is exactly what i'm talking about. Low friction, a rather "smooth" ride, with a consistent high dissolved oxygen content.

No impellers doin' the rippin' and the tearin'

-sK
 
Onetwothree

Onetwothree

386
93
--

I own a Bubble Snake, as far as dissolved oxygen levels go its only useful for its little key-chain bag hanger, if even.

It's great to use in tandem with multiple air-stones as the bubble snake throws bigger bubbles which break the surface tension as well as helping mix things up.

I would NOT rely on a Bubble Snake ALONE to brew your teas, the way they are designed needs serious reworking.
(this is not to say you can't brew a compost tea with a bubble snake alone, I just don't)

---

Thank you for the kind words. :smoking:

-sK
Ah fuck. Good to know sir. Thank you.
 
Perception

Perception

453
93
I use the EcoPlus 728450 which is 793GPH. Tim Wilson's site recommends .05CFM/gallon at a minimum, and .08CFM as an optimum.

So with a 5Gallon Bucket and this pump, you have:
-> 793GPH / (60mins/hour) = 13.2GPM
-> 13.2GPM = 1.76CFM

-> Optimum CFM = .08CFM/Gallon
-> 5Gallon optimum = .08 CFM x 5gal = .4 CFM


So the math says that the 793GPH unit is plenty sufficient (by 3x) for a 5 gallon bucket.

On that note, I'm using the 9.5" aerator from Red Frog ( http://www.redfrogcompostteas.com/products.html ), and I also use an air stone inside of my compost bag. While I feel that it is sufficient for the first 12 hours, I feel like it tends to get clogged up after that, and not bubble quite as much. I need to get a D02 meter to be able to tell.

[I've had too much caffeine this morning]

Tim Wilson's site, and a screen shot http://www.microbeorganics.com/
 
Screen Shot 2017 01 06 at 92415 AM
sKully

sKully

52
18
I use the EcoPlus 728450 which is 793GPH. Tim Wilson's site recommends .05CFM/gallon at a minimum, and .08CFM as an optimum.

So with a 5Gallon Bucket and this pump, you have:
-> 793GPH / (60mins/hour) = 13.2GPM
-> 13.2GPM = 1.76CFM

-> Optimum CFM = .08CFM/Gallon
-> 5Gallon optimum = .08 CFM x 5gal = .4 CFM


So the math says that the 793GPH unit is plenty sufficient (by 3x) for a 5 gallon bucket.

On that note, I'm using the 9.5" aerator from Red Frog ( http://www.redfrogcompostteas.com/products.html ), and I also use an air stone inside of my compost bag. While I feel that it is sufficient for the first 12 hours, I feel like it tends to get clogged up after that, and not bubble quite as much. I need to get a D02 meter to be able to tell.

[I've had too much caffeine this morning]

Tim Wilson's site, and a screen shot http://www.microbeorganics.com/

I need a cup!

Tim's site is a great resource of knowledge and I highly recommend any new brewers to read through all of the information on there.
--
Sounds like you're brewing to win perception.

Those little custom red-frog "air stones" are pretty cool looking.

I used the same perforated hosing in a drip system, as the watering ring around the stock of the plant. They suck in that case. They look like they work pretty well with just oxygen being blasted through them.

How are the perforated lines with cloggage? Any?
-

-sK
 
Perception

Perception

453
93
How are the perforated lines with cloggage? Any?

The Red Frog "air diffuser/air stones" are just lengths of soaker hose webbed together, so they are more like a sponge then a perforated tube. I'm having doubts about it's efficacy after say... the 12 hour mark. They tend to start getting covered in sludge. When I take it out to clean at the end, the hoses definitely have sludge all over them.

My perception is that after 12 hours, the bubbling is less aggressive. In regards to Do2, I have no idea if it's actually changing. It could be that the dispersal of sediment in the water just create less of a boil on the surface. I'm not really sure. So I'm questioning it now.

But in the mean time, I'll keep using. I don't really know if it's a problem, and Red Frog IS a Compost Tea Brewing company, so I'm trusting (for now) that they've done their due diligence.
 
Onetwothree

Onetwothree

386
93
I use the EcoPlus 728450 which is 793GPH. Tim Wilson's site recommends .05CFM/gallon at a minimum, and .08CFM as an optimum.

So with a 5Gallon Bucket and this pump, you have:
-> 793GPH / (60mins/hour) = 13.2GPM
-> 13.2GPM = 1.76CFM

-> Optimum CFM = .08CFM/Gallon
-> 5Gallon optimum = .08 CFM x 5gal = .4 CFM


So the math says that the 793GPH unit is plenty sufficient (by 3x) for a 5 gallon bucket.

On that note, I'm using the 9.5" aerator from Red Frog ( http://www.redfrogcompostteas.com/products.html ), and I also use an air stone inside of my compost bag. While I feel that it is sufficient for the first 12 hours, I feel like it tends to get clogged up after that, and not bubble quite as much. I need to get a D02 meter to be able to tell.

[I've had too much caffeine this morning]

Tim Wilson's site, and a screen shot http://www.microbeorganics.com/

How's the cleanup on those aerators? Looks look they'd be a bitch to clean...but looks can be deceiving.
 
Perception

Perception

453
93
How's the cleanup on those aerators? Looks look they'd be a bitch to clean...but looks can be deceiving.

Not as bad as you might think. I use a nylon bristled brush and meticulously scrub it. I mean, it probably takes 5 minutes longer than scrubbing four air stones, but it's really not as bad as it would seem.

I've been using SaniStar ( http://www.northernbrewer.com/saniclean ) which is a sanitizer for homebrewing beer/wine. Not sure if it's the best thing to use, but seemed to fit the bill. I fill my bucket about halfway, add the Sanistar, then clean everything in the bucket. I run the air diffuser in the SaniStar a little too, before it bubbles over. Then scrub it. Then I scrub the bucket last.
 
Onetwothree

Onetwothree

386
93
Not as bad as you might think. I use a nylon bristled brush and meticulously scrub it. I mean, it probably takes 5 minutes longer than scrubbing four air stones, but it's really not as bad as it would seem.

I've been using SaniStar ( http://www.northernbrewer.com/saniclean ) which is a sanitizer for homebrewing beer/wine. Not sure if it's the best thing to use, but seemed to fit the bill. I fill my bucket about halfway, add the Sanistar, then clean everything in the bucket. I run the air diffuser in the SaniStar a little too, before it bubbles over. Then scrub it. Then I scrub the bucket last.

Thanks for the info man! Yea it looks like a bitch to clean, and I'm super OCD about a clean workspace. But if it's not much worse than airstones....
 
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