tutorial Beginner's guide to AACT/Compost Tea

theghostpepperstore said:
So here is my final design up and running.
 
First video is a straight run and a view of the whole system, the second video is running with a brick in the bottom of the barrel to disrupt the vortex to an extent. I actually think the brick it helping to get more air into the pump. I skipped the venturi fittings for now, mostly because I haven't received them yet, but I am not convinced they are necessary either. Seems like I am getting quite a bit of bubbling.
I am going to start my first batch tomorrow, right now it is running just to de-chlorinate. Anyone have any suggestions as to how much of the following I should add to make a 40 gallon batch?
 
Blackstrap Molasses
Kelp Meal
Worm Castings
Compost (homemade)
 
We are supposed to have some really cool weather, highs in the mid-70s, this weekend so it should be good to go?
let me know how it goes.looks cool. to be able to make a big ole batch in one shot. for all my house plants
 
2i10f8z.jpg
This was after two hours. followed the original recipe minus the fish emulsion

xctc14.jpg
this was finished product 48 hours
 
I was wondering about the effect your brew had on your plants. Was it a good one? Did it increase yield? Because I'm interested in making your recipe but probably will omit the fish guts. But I really want to use bat guano on my future plants.
jlacosta said:
Recently tried adding fish gutts to my brew and it started to smell like dead fish in 20 hours. The recipe I used is 200 grams fish gutts, 1 cup worm castings, 1/2 cup bat guano, 1 tbsp molasses, 2 tbsp EM1 in a 5 gallon bucket.
 
It did froth in less than 20 hours but I'm concenrned about the smell. Did I put too much fish or the smell is supposed to disappear after a while?
 
TIA! -JL
 
usery said:
Following publication was a big help to me, cutting through the blah blah around AACT and providing a science-based approach - may help other forum members too:
 
http://washington.osu.edu/cuyahoga/topics/agriculture-and-natural-resources/cuyahoga-composts/Compost%20Tea%20Brewing%20Manual.pdf
I used some AACT last year, but no science on it's value. Still I think it make good sense, so I'm thinking about bubbling again this year.  The link above looks like it will be an excellent guide from what I read of it.
 
I have most of the critical parts to build a Turbillion and have a lot of garden that could probably use that kind of volume.
Using an airstone in a bucket worked fine and a good place to start.
But that vortex style just twerks my inner mad scientist too much to let it pass. :D 
 
Here is a fairly cheap vortex style build.
 
Enjoy your microbes.
 
I haven't gone through every page here, so, apologies if this idea has already been raised.
 
Does it make any sense to add this tea directly to your garden (in my case, a raised bed) periodically during the months leading up to plant out, to give the soil added microbes before your plants ever go in the ground?  Or, would the shock of the Winter soil be too cold, or harmful to the microbes you would be adding from the warm bucket?
 
Rogue, I read pretty much start to finish the study that Usery linked.
It was a bit tedious but actually not that bad compared to a lot of studies I've tried to tackle.
From a bacterial stand point, and probably fungal too, warm weather would probably be much better for application, spray or drench, even a little full strength right in the transplant hole was fine. A misting spray was bad during the day on account of UV killing the microbes. Applied with too much pressure was bad because impact killed too many microbes. 
What surprised me most in the study, if my interpretation is correct, it didn't give much credence to the bucket-bubbling method. In fact the only brewer they tested that got reliable results was the Earth Tea Brewer, one of several commercial apparati they tested.
 
One significant drawback to a bucket or barrel was that the shape seemed prone to lots of anaerobic growth which is a no-no if not down right toxic to the soil.
 I'm more baffled than ever about the best, cheapest and quickest way to revitalize garden soil. 
 
I may re-read it, but it looks more complex than I thought when I made a few bubble-bucket batches last year.
 
JJJessee said:
Rogue, I read pretty much start to finish the study that Usery linked.
It was a bit tedious but actually not that bad compared to a lot of studies I've tried to tackle.
From a bacterial stand point, and probably fungal too, warm weather would probably be much better for application, spray or drench, even a little full strength right in the transplant hole was fine. A misting spray was bad during the day on account of UV killing the microbes. Applied with too much pressure was bad because impact killed too many microbes. 
What surprised me most in the study, if my interpretation is correct, it didn't give much credence to the bucket-bubbling method. In fact the only brewer they tested that got reliable results was the Earth Tea Brewer, one of several commercial apparati they tested.
 
One significant drawback to a bucket or barrel was that the shape seemed prone to lots of anaerobic growth which is a no-no if not down right toxic to the soil.
 I'm more baffled than ever about the best, cheapest and quickest way to revitalize garden soil. 
 
I may re-read it, but it looks more complex than I thought when I made a few bubble-bucket batches last year.
So, what were your own results?  The pepper and tomato plants in the local hydro shop that were fed a bokashi tea exclusively, were very healthy, in full bloom, and fruiting.  The peppers were actually root bound, but didn't seem to mind.  They apply that particular tea after 24 hours.  I will say, they had a ring bubbler that caused quite a bit of turbulence.
 
I didn't kill anything that I could tell, but no science was rendered so I can't say. I mainly remember putting on my garlic shoots in early spring, could have been too cold.
Hydro would be an easier environment to control and test, but I'm still a dirt guy.
 
Started my first compost tea today using a compost tea brew from an xtreme gardening sample kit. Looking good so far I think. This was after only a couple of hour's bubbling-
20140315_151841_LLS.jpg

 
 
Thinking of trying again in a couple of weeks time using stuff that I have on hand. I currently have mushroom compost, black kow composted manure and worm castings on hand along with xtreme gardening mykos and azos. Would this be a good base along with some grass clippings and molasses for a tea?
 
Ordered some bat and seabird guano to add along with the rest of my ingredients. My next question is, would the Azos be worthwhile adding in along with the mykos? And I only have a little of the mykos left, but do have a bag of Jobe's organics tomato and vegetable fertilizer that has michorrhizae in it. Can I use this instead of buying more michorrhizae?
 
Is the "Happy Frog" Bat Guano sufficient enough with mycorrhizae to use in the AACT? My thoughts were to use the Bat Guano, Fish/Seaweed fert, mushroom compost, molasses.........


 
Honestly, thats almost over doing it. Those products are good I'm sure, but I'd use that for a soil mix.
 
just use a hand full of each to get it started and then let nature do its thing.
 
IMHO local humas from a untouched LOCAL forest will probably be the best thing for an AACT.
 
Just an added thought
 
 
Think of manure more as a source of food for the microbes that you are going to be inoculating, vs grass, mico, fungi, compost, that are the actual sources of microbes.
 
Poop goes in to the soil then you make a AACT to help break it down to an absorbable level. Almost like a septictank
 
 
Worm castings are an exception as they are a great source of microbes. I'm not saying manure doesnt have benificial microbes, more like it shouldn't be the main ingredient of aact and may be more benificial mixed in to the soil. Would I put manure in my AACT? Yes, but not much and only if I had excess.
 
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