tutorial Beginner's guide to AACT/Compost Tea

bpwilly said:
Just did a quick search of the net and ofund a couple of instructional videos that walk you through the steps to make a small 5 gal brewer for AACT
 
http://permaculturenews.org/2011/04/08/how-to-make-a-compost-tea-brewer-for-under-30/
 
here is another one, and at the bottom they have a very brief bit about using a airlift to create a vortex type action which may mix the AACT better than just the air stones alone.
http://buildasoil.com/blogs/news/8325607-diy-compost-tea-brewer-how-to-make-a-compost-tea-brewer-on-a-budget-under-50
 
Just a couple of ideas, as I use airstones and seem to get a good froth going on my mix.
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Buildasoil.com is one of the absolute best places to get soil amendments from. ;)
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Buildasoil.com is one of the absolute best places to get soil amendments from. ;)
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Thanks PMD,  that is good info to know.    I did download the book you mentioned  (teaming with microbes) so I have some learning to do.  I can say that while I have been making and using AACT several times a year for the past two years, I have no real positive proof that it helps, but given what goes into it, I am pretty certain it must help.  My challenge is I am doing so many things all at the same time, it is hard to know what is causing what effect.  I made my own soil mix this year, as well as added many minerals and inoculants, so it is tough to know what specific item did what. 
 
The only thing I can say is that I have not had any problems with is calcium deficiency this year like I did last year, and I can only assume it was due to the lime admendments I added to the soil mix early this year.
 
This is a great topic and I will continue to follow it as there are folks on here with a load of experience that can only help me improve.
 
Thanks
 
Yeah bpwilly Teaming With Microbes is a good book and about 90-95% accurate according to some people I have spoken to about it.
I guess a few things he says in the book are incorrect and not scientific but I am not sure offhand what it was. He is a lawyer I was told and not a botanist.
I have access to lots of .pdf files on many organic subjects if you need any. I need to get reading but some are written at a little higher level than my pay scale. :lol:
 
solid7 said:
 
They are extremely pricey...
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Their shipping is free and they are top quality. What products did you find pricey and can you get them cheaper locally?
If you can find it cheaper locally go for it but many people can't find many of the things they sell locally especially Neem cake, Karanja cake and Kelp meal.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Their shipping is free and they are top quality. What products did you find pricey and can you get them cheaper locally?
If you can find it cheaper locally go for it but many people can't find many of the things they sell locally.
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For starters, their glacial dust, and the ocean compost.  Both are crazy high.  Look at the quantities they sell by...  Most of it is measured in cups.  I can get crab and shrimp compost locally for $11 a bag, (1cu ft) and have found  50lb bag of rock dust for $24.
 
Sorry, it's a tea thread, but I am always looking for a new source for organic materials.  I'm sure their products are quality, but they don't deny (in writing) that their prices are premium.
 
solid7 said:
 
For starters, their glacial dust, and the ocean compost.  Both are crazy high.  Look at the quantities they sell by...  Most of it is measured in cups.  I can get crab and shrimp compost locally for $11 a bag, (1cu ft) and have found  50lb bag of rock dust for $24.
 
Sorry, it's a tea thread, but I am always looking for a new source for organic materials.  I'm sure their products are quality, but they don't deny (in writing) that their prices are premium.
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It's the shipping cost that kills you and they have that added into the prices obviously. I think I payed $30-35 for a 50 lb bag of Gaia green glacial rock dust at a local landscaping supplier.
 
Apologies if this has been answer but I am late to the tea party and have a question.  Do worm castings contain mycorrhizae?  mycorrhizae are quite hard to source in NZ but I have a worm farm and was wondering if making tea with fresh castings and no added myco would give me the full benefits?  I notice the original recipe on here calls for both worm casting and mycorrhizae.
 
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Robisburning said:
Apologies if this has been answer but I am late to the tea party and have a question.  Do worm castings contain mycorrhizae?  mycorrhizae are quite hard to source in NZ but I have a worm farm and was wondering if making tea with fresh castings and no added myco would give me the full benefits?  I notice the original recipe on here calls for both worm casting and mycorrhizae.
 
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All you need is good castings or compost, a carbohydrate source and water. Anything else added is not AACT.
 
Awesome, thank you for the response.  Just for my own edification, is it likely this will be breeding some mycos? Or should I be trying to incorporate the myco's some other way?
 
A root dressing during initial transplant, from a myco-specific company (ie. little to no Trichoderma). Full colonization can take monthes. If you sourced some of your compost input from garden soil or similar with already existing mycorrhizae, it's possible it will survive the brewing process, but the chances are slim another microbe won't try to consume it first. Direct contact is still the best bet, or recycling innoculated soil.
 
 
Wait wait wait, you're saying my Super Duper Flower Centric Bacterial Dominant Guano Tea isn't AACT? What the hell am I supposed to fertilize my FREAKING PLANTS WITH NOW?
 
Random links - warning, IC and cannabis are gateways. Six monthes down the road you could find yourself strung out in an alleyway, needle in the vein, dribbling drool all over your crusty self. Damn druggies. They'll be the first up against the wall when it's time.
 
ICMag - Tea Sticky
 
Update by CT Guy - Hooray for more posts by CT
 
I read somewhere that if a plant has everything it needs, then it won't establish a relationship with mychorrizae. What do you think about that?
 
Witchcraft? XD
 
 
It's not untrue, but I believe it relates more to the strength of the relationship than whether there is one or not. AMF develop best in nutrient poor soils, particularily with low or inaccessable phorphorus levels. There are still benefits to innoculating when using nutrient rich potting/gardening soils, but the fungal network would not be as extensive nor the plant as dependent on the symbiosis. The benefits would be seen over the long term of consecutive runs, as soil nutrition fluctuates.
 
The only time I believe there to be no relationship established, is in soils with excessive levels of phosphorus, usually seen with conventional fertilization (and probably over-amending organic cannabis/tomato growers). At least in soil-less applications, my understanding was that the association weakens fertilizing at 20-30ppm P, and ends around 50ppm. Similar to how plants fed soluble nutrients are not dependent on microbe nutrient cycling.
 
I knew some one smarter than me would elaborate in layman's terms!

That's pretty much the gist of the article I read if I remember correctly, although you've greatly expanded on it.
 
I was really into AACT last season but I have only made it twice this season as I feel the same microbes it contains are already present in the living soil I mixed.
Adding more microbes to the colony could, in my mind, upset the balance of the soil food web. Maybe I am wrong but it makes sense and this is still a science in it's infancy.
There is MUCH to learn still. I used the AACT to wet my soil with as it "cooked" prior to planting and then I think I made one other batch several weeks back and watered some with it.
None of the peppers look like any deficiencies are really present so I think nature has it all in order.  ;) 
 
Meh, I use leftovers from foliar to water with fairly frequently. It helps speed up breakdown of slow meals, minerals and fresh topdressings. I don't think it will upset anything, many people go nutty when they first get on the AACT train and water with it continuously, MM included. Though he did it from a experimental perspective rather than just overenthusiasm.
 
At worst, you've oversupply aerobic microbes to the soil, wherein the surplus is cannibalized by the survivors.
 
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