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We on the same page. For instance , let’s take DTE Bat Guano 7-3-1 & Seabird Guano 0-11-0 + Ca 20% in an AACT.... We likely need to look at each element individually. Of the 7% N, 1.8% is soluble. Does that mean the 1.8 will dissolve in water, become readable on a TDS meter, and will readily uptake into the plant? Same question for P, K, and Ca....Depends on the nutrients you are using as some are more soluble than others. Maybe I am not understanding though.
Not the response I was hoping for, but helpful. So when I start with RO and 2 ppm , Brew my tea for 24 hours, and end up with a TDS reading of over 1000, where is this EC building up from. I assumed it’s water soluble nutrients, but not necessarily readily available for plant uptake? Also, if compost is used, are nutrients in an ionic form not being extracted, as the compost would have created them while the compost process was occurring?AACT feed microbes in order to break down organics, not a means of dissolving nutrients in water. Mineral salts (synthetic fertilizers) break apart in water to reveal their ionic nutrients - which is the only way plants absorb nutrients (both organic and salts). Plant roots then absorb the dissociated mineral salts as ions. Organic fertilizers don’t readily dissociate in water and why they need to be broken down by soil organisms to reveal their ionic, plant-available elements. The length of time required for mineralization may take years after application.
This isn’t to say you can’t add nutrients to your tea, but the organisms aren’t going to be making these nutrients plant available in the couple days it takes to brew (and they’re primarily chowing down on the sugars not the fertilizer). So no advantage to making teas with fertilizers and best to brew your organisms by adding ingredients that help the microbes (like kelp - which surface area is a good environment for organisms, not that they’re eating it.) Then adding your dry fertilizers directly to your soil and your AACT as separate steps. By soaking the ferts you may be making them easier for organisms to break them down, but not at a molecular level.
(Check out the NFTG bible which might give you some ideas of what you’ll need for creating your own soluble ferts. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1298/4199/files/Unofficial_NFTG_Growers_Bible_v4.0_FINAL.pdf)
Not the response I was hoping for, but helpful. So when I start with RO and 2 ppm , Brew my tea for 24 hours, and end up with a TDS reading of over 1000, where is this EC building up from. I assumed it’s water soluble nutrients, but not necessarily readily available for plant uptake? Also, if compost is used, are nutrients in an ionic form not being extracted, as the compost would have created them while the compost process was occurring?
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