tutorial Beginner's guide to AACT/Compost Tea

[fishing4fun2]

From what i have read you want to keep your tea in the 65 to 70F deg. optimum (different microbs strive at different temps and will multiply then die off as the temp changes up or down and then different microbs will then multiply and so forth etc...( its Summer now so i do mine in the basement where i can manage the water temp of the tea) also uv light kills the micros so applying it either very early in the Am or late in the evening it best along with trying to apply it with near the same temps outside as what you made you tea at.. ( i was waiting until near midnight applying mine to the plants)
The foam in my opinion can be a mess, i use a small amount of veg oil and it reduces it to near nill i used like 3 tablespoons for 25 gallons .

 

[Stefan_W]

I've been meaning to put up some pictures of my compost tea in the works, and I finally had the chance to take them this evening.

This is the corner of my back yard. We are in the middle of the worst drought to hit this area in decades, so please excuse the dead grass. The rain barrels collect the water for the tea, and I just brew it up in the bucket. I stir vigorously several times a day with the stick to which the tea bag is tied.

This is the froth just over 24 hours after starting the tea. The last time I made it I waited until the third day before using it, and by that time the head on it was climbing well up the side of the pale.

Nothing too much to show, aside from making the general contribution that the tea can work out fine even if a person is not using air pumps or air stones to aerate the water. This way of doing things means that it takes a bit longer to get results, but the results do come.

 

[Beelzeboss]

so OZORCONLECHE sent me a xtreme gardening brewing packet and this is how it looked, quick too, it got to the top almost overflowing.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

Brewed some last night and put in 5 tsp of Cal Mag for the heck of it. Hardly any foam on the top but I am sure it will be beneficial.
I used it as a soil drench on my Begonias, Canna and a few others.

 

[HotPeppas]

Could you use horse poo in tea??? Also im in a nevada grocery store and i came across this. Thought id add it to everything else in my tea

 

[emon069]

Could you use horse poo in tea??? Also im in a nevada grocery store and i came across this. Thought id add it to everything else in my tea

Where in nevada did you find that HP?

 

[Stefan_W]

I'm not an expert, but I wouldn't use horse manure unless you can guarantee that it has been aged very well.

 

[Jamison]

Could you use horse poo in tea??? Also im in a nevada grocery store and i came across this. Thought id add it to everything else in my tea

This I use. Its in the pics on the last page. GOOD STUFF! cuRIOUS, how much is it by you?

 

[HotPeppas]

I paid 8$ here

Good to hear its good stuff!!! How much do you use?

Found it in the town of yerington

 

[Joseph Stalin]

Guys I can't get a head to my tea. Or froth or whatever. Ive tried everything but nothing. Im using a 20-60 gallon pump for a three gallon bucket and two airstones.

I use 3 tablespoons of unsulfured mollasses
3 gallons rain water
2 cups worm castings
1 handful grass clippings.

Ive tried in a shirt in a sock free roam everything but still no lasting froth on the tea. Any ideas? I have enough stuf to make one more. Atch and i want to get it right

 

[HotPeppas]

How many airstones? What size pump? That could be the prob

 

[fireface]

any chemicals on the grass clippings? are the airstones working properly? thats all i can think of.

 

[Cayennemist]

Try to it with de-chlorinated tap water just for fun.

 

[HotPeppas]

Well water ftw!

 

[ChiliHeadInTheMaking]

Not much froth on my batch about 45 hours, some rich compost, molasses for bacteria and fungi, grass clippings for the protozoa, sugarcane mulch for the fungi.

The reason I think mine didn't turn out the best is because of the temperature. I only have one place to brew and it was a constant 14c 57.2f

Will do another batch in warmer weather with the same mix and post results.

 

[Cayennemist]

Not much froth on my batch about 45 hours, some rich compost, molasses for bacteria and fungi, grass clippings for the protozoa, sugarcane mulch for the fungi.

The reason I think mine didn't turn out the best is because of the temperature. I only have one place to brew and it was a constant 14c 57.2f

Will do another batch in warmer weather with the same mix and post results.

Yeah I'm sure that is too cold for them to get crazy.

 

[fireface]

Does anyone know of any ingredients to use to stave off aphids? I just had a terrible infestation, I had to blast my plants with insecticidal soap then wash them all down with water. I'm gonna brew up a batch of tea today to re-coat the leaves in biofilm, just wondering if there are any aphid repellants that I can incorporate.

I'm gonna try some used coffee grounds, I've read that aphids hate the alkaloids in coffee.

 

[HotPeppas]

Neem oil

 

[Cayennemist]

Neem oil

I think neem will kill off some of the good stuff including myco if it gets in to your soil.

 

[HotPeppas]

Ivory soap
H2o2
Water