Hello Everyone!
I have been learning a lot from everyone on this site. After reading about compost/worm tea on this thread, I decided I needed to try it out. The results of my first try are shown below:
This is my first time trying to post pictures, so please bear with me if the pictures don't load properly.
Ingredients:
3 cups worm castings
3 Tbsp Mykos
1 Tbsp fish emulsion
1 Tbsp peruvian seabird guano
1 Tbsp indonesian bat guano
1 Tbsp jamaican bat guano
6 Tbsp unsulphured molasses
1 handfull green grass clippings
Dry ingredients combined in a paint strainer:
Aeration equipment:
I aerated the bucket of tap water for 2 hours to remove the chlorine:
Complete setup:
After 12 hours:
After 24 hours:
I applied the tea to my plants shortly after the 24-hour picture was taken. The tea was brewed in my garage, which probably probably stayed between 70-85 degrees F. Overall, the process was rather easy, although I owe much of the credit to everyone who posted recipes and tips in this thread (you guys are awesome!). As you can probably tell, my recipe is a mix between several other recipes posted here, adapted to what I was able to buy at the local Hydroponics store.
Hopefully my plants like the tea, because I will probably be brewing another batch next weekend.
Thanks everyone for all the help!
Follow-up:
My first batch of worm tea (see above) was made this past weekend, but after applying the tea to my plants, I found that I didn't have the initiative (or the daylight) to spread the contents of the "teabag" on my garden. So, I re-filled the bucket with water, added 4-6 Tbsp of molasses, dropped the air stones back in, and put the "teabag" back into the bucket.
That was Sunday night. Now, about 20 hours later, I have this:
My question is: Has anyone ever re-used their "teabag" to make a second batch of tea? Are there any potential problems I should watch out for in the second batch? I would think that the nutritional value of the second batch would be lessened, since a portion of the nutrients would have leached into the first batch of tea. However, the Mykos and beneficial bacteria should all be in there, and that's the important part, right?
It looks like the second batch came out almost as good as the first, judging by the amount of froth. Not bad for a batch of tea that only cost as much as the additional molasses I added. I tend to be rather frugal, so an almost-free second batch of tea is quite appealing, especially since I have plenty of plants to apply it to. Anyway, I can see myself re-using my "teabags" in the future.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Any input is appreciated!
Thanks,
-Coot