tutorial Beginner's guide to AACT/Compost Tea

Ok so I read and understand that the longer run is better for what im going for.
I want to know can you brew too long?
If the microbes and whatnot multiply more depending on the time I brew wouldnt longer be better?
Sry if its been asked and answered already just been wondering for a few days now and figured id ask.
Thanks for the help!
 
ghost scorpion grower said:
Ok so I read and understand that the longer run is better for what im going for.
I want to know can you brew too long?
If the microbes and whatnot multiply more depending on the time I brew wouldnt longer be better?
Sry if its been asked and answered already just been wondering for a few days now and figured id ask.
Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
 
 
there are quite a few folks that have their tea going 24/7 ... they just reload with sugars ... my last bucket was on for like 10 days
 
I understand that there is a certain "dynamic" in teas ... e.g. a 24 hrs tea has a different mix of bac/funghi populations than a 48 or 72 hrs tea...
 
so it seems that every now and then its indicated to brew a fresh one ...
 
cheers, Al
 
Fungi is hard to get going, sometimes it doesn't matter how long you brew the tea, fungi just doesn't multiply. Especially if you don't give them the proper conditions. Fungi reproduction is recommended to be started prior to adding it to the tea and also having things like alfalfa/kelp meal for the fungi to grow on helps.

Another point I'd like to make, is that the foam that shows up, comes from the proteins added to the tea. Just because there's no foam doesn't mean you haven't any microbial action and also Vice versa; a lot of foam doesn't necessarily mean you have good microbial counts in your tea.

The time for brewing these AACT's has been agreed upon by many who have taken a scientific interest to the process. Once you add the sugar and oxygen, the microbes feed and reproduce (hopefully) (temperature plays a role in how fast or slow this process happens as well) once they run out of sugar, they start to eat each other. Once oxygen is deprived, the microbe (arobic that is) count rapidly declines. Also conversely if there's over population to think about, which could be a volitial situation, again, degrading the quality of the tea.

This is where the brew times, ratios of water/oxygen/food sources, etc. have come from. Leaving a tea brew longer isn't a good idea, especially without knowing what is really going on in your tea. I'd say, concentrate on giving the microbes the best conditions they can ask for, so that you have the best chance of healthy and abundant microbes within that range of time.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Even though it was 94 degrees here today the brewing compost is a fantastic 74.2 degres. I keep the 5 gallon brewing bucket on the concrete slab floor in the garage.
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That's a good place to do it. A basement would be a great place too.
 
Ok thanks allot for the input. Yea I figured it might not be the best idea to let it go for too much longer than 48hrs. I dont want to do anything that could potentially harm my plants or bring unwanted bacteria to my hots. But I got 10gal brewing now 24hrs into it and lookin good so far. Only 2nd batch ive made..
And I deff use the garage slab too.. just more peice of mind that nasty shit is outside not inside lol
 
ghost scorpion grower said:
Ok thanks allot for the input. Yea I figured it might not be the best idea to let it go for too much longer than 48hrs. I dont want to do anything that could potentially harm my plants or bring unwanted bacteria to my hots. 
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Let your nose be your guide :-)
 
Al-from-Chile said:
Let your nose be your guide :-)
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Well currently it has almost no smell at all. If it smells is it a sign of bad bacteria?
If anything it smells like molasses lol
And its been goin for 49 almost 50hrs. I briught my pots in under mh light and have a heat fan trying to dry the soil so I can use it asap.
 
If it doesn't smell rancid it's OK and aerobic. Anaerobic bacteria stinks such as what you find in your refrigerator when you have old, decaying fruits and vegetables in there.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
If it doesn't smell rancid it's OK and aerobic. Anaerobic bacteria stinks such as what you find in your refrigerator when you have old, decaying fruits and vegetables in there.
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yup. like sewer water almost.
 
Good Tea will smell like dirt.
 
Yea when I used it today the garage smelled as if I had a fish tank out there lol
Didnt use any fish ferts though but wasnt close to a rancid smell. They got a hefty foliar feeding too.
 
started composting by putting rotten fruit/grass clippings/coffee grounds in the paint strainers I bought for my tea, it's been raining a lot but the compost process is going pretty well, coffee grounds have a lot of nitrogen but I've been reading on the weed forums that 1 tablespoon of molasses per gallon during flowering is good enough to feed soil/get more nodes

I don't really see a need to buy guano or anything since coffee grounds/rotten fruit have a lot of nutrients and are neutral PH because of being boiled (unused coffee grounds are a different story) or from the composting process.
 
Wish I knew that before I went out and started buying all this stuff when all I needed was blackstrap molasses and stuff from my trash
 
So I'm changing my tune for next season.  I'm going to grow with Ramial Chipped Wood (RCW) like Gary (Windchicken) does.  From what I've seen, once the initial decomposition of the chips in the soil is well underway, no further interaction is needed as far as feeding the plants/soil goes.  But my question is, do you think it would still be beneficial to apply compost teas to this process?  I initially thought it wouldn't be a big deal.  However, I'm now rethinking that.  My thought is that the fungi/bacteria that does the job of decomposition of the RCW may not be the same that grows inside of a compost tea.  If that is the case, then all I'll be doing is causing competition for the RCW microbes.  Thoughts?
 
compmodder26 said:
So I'm changing my tune for next season.  I'm going to grow with Ramial Chipped Wood (RCW) like Gary (Windchicken) does.  From what I've seen, once the initial decomposition of the chips in the soil is well underway, no further interaction is needed as far as feeding the plants/soil goes.  But my question is, do you think it would still be beneficial to apply compost teas to this process?  I initially thought it wouldn't be a big deal.  However, I'm now rethinking that.  My thought is that the fungi/bacteria that does the job of decomposition of the RCW may not be the same that grows inside of a compost tea.  If that is the case, then all I'll be doing is causing competition for the RCW microbes.  Thoughts?
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Yess and no...
foliar spray with aact and RCW for the roots? or just use the humus to make AACT ;)
 
So since I haven't gotten much feedback over in "Grow Tech", I thought I would post this here to see if anyone had any helpful advice. I plan to start working on this tonight, so hopefully I will get some initial results very soon.
 
 
So I am in the design stage of putting together a compost tea brewer. I have a bit of experience brewing compost/worm tea, but nothing on this scale. I know that most everyone uses large air pumps for gas diffusion, but I have a different idea. I am hoping some of you that brew AACT a lot can give me a sanity check.
 
Here are the requirements for the brewer:
  • Needs to be overkill - 5 gallon buckets are not enough, but I probably wont go through 40-50 gallons either
  • Needs to be cheap - I realize I can buy a kit for around $600, so I need to be way under that number
  • Final product needs to be pumped directly out to the garden - I don't want to fill a backpack sprayer 10 times, or carry buckets around, plus since I already have irrigation, makes sense to just pump it straight into the system. (Maybe figure out a way to dilute in the process?)
 
Here is a diagram of what I am thinking
brewer.jpg

 
Now, I know the first thing that everyone is going to jump all over is the lack of an air pump. The way I figure, I have to put a water pump into the mix to accomplish requirement #3, so with venturi carburetor, the vortex, and breaking the surface tension, I think I will be able to get the gas diffusion I need. I am open to arguments on this, but if I have to buy a $100 air pump AND a $100 water pump, that might blow requirement #2.
 
I plan to hang the tea bag from a piece of 3/8" threaded rod running through the top of the bucket. The pump I am looking at should be able to handle a small amount of solids, but nothing larger than coarse sand.
 
Like I said, this is all in the design stage right now, so if anyone has thoughts, I would love to hear them before I start working on the construction.
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I managed to get a free pump and it is probably way too powerful, but from what I understand, I can limit the outflow without hurting the pump, but I cannot limit in inflow without causing damage. Below is the flow rate chart for the pump (XKP450).
 
6-1-2.jpg

 
ProudMarineDad already had some thoughts about turbulence being too high and destroying the microbes, I am hoping the ball valves will allow me to reduce the flow enough, but I am still concerned about the churning in the pump itself. I am also looking at wiring a motor speed switch into the pump to allow me to turn down the RPMs.
 
Make the returns hit the sides going the same direction to create a cyclone.
 
There is a comercial brewer that works just like that. Lemmy see if I can find it again.
 
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