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tutorial Beginner's guide to AACT/Compost Tea

temps get about 95 plus here in central florida in the shade. i brew mine in the carport.. is that too hot?

this may be posted already, but i thought some of you may find it interesting

http://www.gardening...aarticle2.shtml


this is from the above site..

There are many recipes available for making AACT. All involve the use of high quality compost. I'll focus on the 5 gallon size, though recipes are available in larger quantities. However, ingredients do not increase in direct proportion to the size of the tank, so please contact me directly if interested in recipes for larger brewers. Recipes are directly related to the amounts of dissolved oxygen in your brewer. As you add more food sources for the microbes, you need to add more air to ensure the tea stays aerobic (above 6 mg/liter dissolved oxygen).
Tim Wilson of Microbe Organics (www.microbeorganics.com) recommends these ratios based on his testing:
2.38% by volume compost or vermicompost (EWC) per gallon = .38 cups or around half a cup max or about 2 cups in 5 gallons max.
0.5 to 0.75% molasses by volume per gallon = 1.28 to 1.92 tablespoons per gallon. 0.75% is the maximum I use. It is a good bacterial and fungal food.
0.063% fish hydrolysate by volume per gallon = 0.16 tablespoon = 0.479 teaspoons or half a teaspoon
0.25% (max) kelpmeal by volume per gallon = 0.64 tablespoon or half a tablespoon
Here's a recipe from Dr. Ingham of Soil Food Web Labs (www.soilfoodweb.com):
  • 5 gal brewer
  • 1 lb. compost
  • 1/2 cup of humic acid
  • 1 to 3 T. of kelp
  • 1 tsp. of non-sulfured, blackstrap molasses
 
2fishminimum said:
yea i dont know if its not enough or not.. the last batch i made i only put in one tbsp, and it foamed better than my previous batches.. i was really just posting that site for people to get an idea of different view points.
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Great. Thanks for the link. This is a fascinating subject to me. I just ordered some good glass air stones and can't wait to try them. :cool:
 
I have a bunch of stuff i want to add into my tea. However i was wondering is it possible to add to much to a batch?
 
HotPeppas,

As long as you don't add anything that is toxic for the microorganisms, I don't think you can add too much (within reason).

That being said, more food and nutrients means more microorganisms that will grow, and a higher potential peak population of microbes in your tea. More microbes means more air required to sustain them. So, if you add more stuff to the tea, you may need to increase aeration by adding another air pump and more air stones.

Rather than continually adding more to your recipe, you could tweak the amounts of your ingredients in order to add a wider variety of nutrient sources without increasing the total volume of ingredients. For example, if you currently add 3 Tbsp of one type of guano, but wanted to add a variety, you could break it down to 1 Tbsp of 3 different types. That way, you introduce a wider variety of nutrients without increasing the total volume. This way, oxygen demand should stay about the same.

Experiment with your setup and find what works best for you.

-Coot
 
Stefan_W said:
I would add that it may make sense to put the bass bits in a blender after you chop them. I believe that an increase in the surface area of bass that is reacting with the tea is a good thing.
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Haha like the bassomatic! Anyone remember that sat night live skit?
Sorry about that. Now back on topic.
And a great topic. Lots of real good info. Thinking I may have to put together a setup myself.
But first I gotta finish reading the topic. Lol still a months worth of posts to read!
I'll be back.
 
Anyone have any before and after or aact results photos they'd care to share?

Thanks you all for supporting this post...I'm glad this could be helpful for everyone's grows this year.
 
bigbodybussey said:
Anyone have any before and after or aact results photos they'd care to share?

Thanks you all for supporting this post...I'm glad this could be helpful for everyone's grows this year.
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That would be interesting. I wished someone would do a thorough test of using it verses not using it because no scientific data exists yet from what I have researched that proves that compost tea does what people say it does. It is all I have been using for several weeks now and although my plants are doing pretty good they still look like they need some fertilizer or something. Many people brew a compost tea that has so much in it that it is more of a compost/fertilizer tea and I can understand the increase seen in the plants. I have been using compost only in my brews and I am not convinced it is doing all that much to be truthful. Maybe with the addition of worm castings a bigger improvement would be seen but considering what some people put in their brew it seems like more of an aerated fertilizer tea than a compost tea. Much more testing needs to be done obviously.
 
Finally had a chance to read this whole topic. And I have got to say. I definatly want to try this out. And I do like the idea of putting an airstone in your t bag. Seems like a great way to get things from the inside out. But air stones on the outside would still seem like a must.
My only problem is cool nights where I am. Although I my shed is insulated. Pretty sure the night temps don't drop below 15c in there
 
i dont have any pics, but ive made about 5 batches so far. while i dont seem to get quite the same head formation that most people seem to get on this thread (even though i am using what appears to be the same ingredients as most) I have some plants that are just growing like mad from it. one cayenne in particurlar seems to be growing a couple of inches a week, and is putting out peppers that are 6 to 8 inches long. ive never had a cayenne look so good. as for my other plants they all seem to like it, but most of them fruited heavily, and now seem to be in grow mode. which is fine :)
 
Just read through all 13 pages. Wow, lots of great info.

One point I'd like to ask about. I've noticed some people say their tea stinks badly, and others say an earthy smell. The latter I wouldn't mind, particularly if I have to do this in the garage. Even if I brewed it outside, I get along well with my neighbors and I'd like to keep it that way. ;) So if the fish products are omitted, is the smell less strong? It seems like plenty of people are using a tea recipe without fish products.
 
Yes DnR. You can totally go veganic and have a kick ass tea. I don't use any fish, but I do use a little bone meal and guano so I can't say mine is veganic.
 
I don't understand why people would put other things in the tea while brewing anyhow?
Are there living organisms in bat guano, kelp meal, fish emulsion, etc that you buy off a shelf?
If not, aerating them in the tea doesn't serve any purpose at all.
Dr. Elaine Ingram recommends putting in the micronutrients after the tea is brewed.

She also brews her tea for 3 days which I have not tried.

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/brewing-compost-tea.aspx
 
OK, have read all 13 pages between last night and this morning. Fascinated and all set to go, already have the Mycos from Xtreme on hand etc. BIG question for those of you using city water (sure wish I had a well or a pond on hand LOL), you talk about "bubbling" the city water anywhere from 4-24 hours to remove the chlorine. My city and I believe most in the US, have had to switch the water treatment from Chlorine to Chloramine in the last year to 18 months, and I understand its a lot harder to remove. I've heard from tropical fish people, that you have to let it sit for 5-6 days, and from the hospital I work at, they had to change out the whole water pre-treatment for the dialysis unit because of it. Are those of you using city water finding 24 hours or less is enough pretreatment to be rid of the Chloramine? I thinking about going the whole 5-6 days just to not risk failure on my first attempt. Or was actually going to fill out about 3 5 gallon buckets and have them "preconditioning" themselves in the yard. Any opinions?
 
cndij said:
OK, have read all 13 pages between last night and this morning. Fascinated and all set to go, already have the Mycos from Xtreme on hand etc. BIG question for those of you using city water (sure wish I had a well or a pond on hand LOL), you talk about "bubbling" the city water anywhere from 4-24 hours to remove the chlorine. My city and I believe most in the US, have had to switch the water treatment from Chlorine to Chloramine in the last year to 18 months, and I understand its a lot harder to remove. I've heard from tropical fish people, that you have to let it sit for 5-6 days, and from the hospital I work at, they had to change out the whole water pre-treatment for the dialysis unit because of it. Are those of you using city water finding 24 hours or less is enough pretreatment to be rid of the Chloramine? I thinking about going the whole 5-6 days just to not risk failure on my first attempt. Or was actually going to fill out about 3 5 gallon buckets and have them "preconditioning" themselves in the yard. Any opinions?
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i cant comment on the chloramine but if you can collect rainwater

Or you could always go to your grocery store and buy some distilled water at 80cents or so a gallon
 
Jamison said:
Yes DnR. You can totally go veganic and have a kick ass tea. I don't use any fish, but I do use a little bone meal and guano so I can't say mine is veganic.
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I'm an obligate carnivore so I see no reason for my plants to be vegan. :) I'm happy to use animal products, I just don't want an awful smell around.

HotPeppas said:
Dnr the fish stinks to heaven high. I can still smell the oder 3 weeks after a brew in the garsge. Do not add it to your tea!
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Awesome! I will NOT add it to my brew. Glad to hear that without fish there is no stink.

I just might give this a try.
 
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