Making first compost tea and want to use fish head to enhance it... Help

JoeFish

JoeFish

I want to make compost tea.  I have never made it but I have homemade compost in my tumbler that is perfect and I also have some trout heads that have been in a bucket of water for 2 weeks...  the original plan was to use the fish heads and compost tea separate.  Now I want to combine.  Is this a good idea?
 
Secondly I want to make it today but I cannot find unsulfured molasses.  Can I use local honey?
 
JoeFish said:
Secondly I want to make it today but I cannot find unsulfured molasses.  Can I use local honey?
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did you check the baking isle of your grocer...most carry
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sorry not sure on the fish heads, good luck
 
JoeFish said:
I want to make compost tea.  I have never made it but I have homemade compost in my tumbler that is perfect and I also have some trout heads that have been in a bucket of water for 2 weeks...  the original plan was to use the fish heads and compost tea separate.  Now I want to combine.  Is this a good idea?
 
Secondly I want to make it today but I cannot find unsulfured molasses.  Can I use local honey?
Click to expand...
 
Take a look under number 2 about the 7th line:  http://thehotpepper.com/topic/32001-beginners-guide-to-aactcompost-tea/#entry648060
 
Good to go :)
 
beerbreath81 said:
did you check the baking isle of your grocer...most carry
attachicon.gif
0007240071124_500X500.jpg
 
sorry not sure on the fish heads, good luck
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Yeah I live in a small town and our grocery store isn't the greatest but there is a walmart in my home town 30 minutes away.  I was ready to get started so I used honey!!  Im  going to post a picture of how its doing below.
 
RocketMan said:
 
Take a look under number 2 about the 7th line:  http://thehotpepper.com/topic/32001-beginners-guide-to-aactcompost-tea/#entry648060
 
Good to go :)
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Awesome Thank you!!
 
Seacowboy said:
Gonna take awhile to break the fish head down (weeks) but it may benefit some. Pepper Guru makes a fish brew for his garden, can check out his glog from last yr explaining it.
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Yeah the heads have been broken down over a couple weeks, there are no solid pieces and it doesn't stink much anymore.  I got the whole thing rolling check it out.
 
r9lldt.jpg
 
I'm not so big on that guide ie. what exactly are mycorrhizae going to do in a brew but feed other microbes? And the ingredients are all over the place, most of which are more effective as a top dress. KISS and AACT are good buddies :P Following recipes from brewers that observe and document results, ie. Tim Wilson or Tad Hussey is a good place to start.
 
If you're going to substitue honey.. it's a bit up in the air. It's antimicrobial (natural wound dressing), a problem actually compounded by mixing in solution, but less so with age and pasteurization. The only people I see stating it works fine tend to use a clusterfunk of ingredients or substitutions that in most cases dampen microbial growth.
 
I'm not trying to come off as a downer, brewing tea is one of the most beneficial things you can do in the garden (or basement :rofl: ). But if you're brewing microbes, something you can't generally observe, the best you can do without being able to quantify the results of differing ingredients is to follow recipes from people that do.
 
There's a wealth of information online about AACT, a lot of good information, and at least twice that in subjective advice :P
 
Seacowboy said:
My bad I missed that in the OP that they had already been sitting.
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No problem I just appreciate the help.
 
Roguejim said:
Report back on how the plants respond to it.
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Certainly!
 
miguelovic said:
I'm not so big on that guide ie. what exactly are mycorrhizae going to do in a brew but feed other microbes? And the ingredients are all over the place, most of which are more effective as a top dress. KISS and AACT are good buddies :P Following recipes from brewers that observe and document results, ie. Tim Wilson or Tad Hussey is a good place to start.
 
If you're going to substitue honey.. it's a bit up in the air. It's antimicrobial (natural wound dressing), a problem actually compounded by mixing in solution, but less so with age and pasteurization. The only people I see stating it works fine tend to use a clusterfunk of ingredients or substitutions that in most cases dampen microbial growth.
 
I'm not trying to come off as a downer, brewing tea is one of the most beneficial things you can do in the garden (or basement :rofl: ). But if you're brewing microbes, something you can't generally observe, the best you can do without being able to quantify the results of differing ingredients is to follow recipes from people that do.
 
There's a wealth of information online about AACT, a lot of good information, and at least twice that in subjective advice :P
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Thanks for the help but I just went for it!  Hopefully it doesn't hurt my plants.  I am a simple kind of guy and used what I had.  We will see what happens.
 
Thanks cayennemist (:D)
 
Any compost tea is better than no tea, even anaerobic tea has its place and that fish juice is gold anyway you can get it. The first few batches I made were "doped up" with guano for extra ass-kickery until I realized it was better to just mix into the top layer before rolling with the tea.
 
Cayennemist said:
Like miguelovic
stated above, honey is anti microbial. I think its that way to protect hives from infection.
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miguelovic said:
Thanks cayennemist (? :P)
 
Any compost tea is better than no tea, even anaerobic tea has its place and that fish juice is gold anyway you can get it. The first few batches I made were "doped up" with guano for extra ass-kickery until I realized it was better to just mix into the top layer before rolling with the tea.
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I need to read more about it . I guess I could have messed this batch up.

Stay tuned I have plenty of home brewed compost.
 
Got some of it on some plants today to see how they react.  Hopefully its not poison!?!?
 
Pictures soon my friends!
 
Test subjects.  My wife didn't mind they are not doing so well and I think she wants to redo them anyway.
 
Applied 6-13-14.  2:00 pm
 



 
In other cultures its common to make a pit in your yard somewhere and throw all your food waste in there.  This turns into a sticky soupy mess which stinks to high heaven but that is what they fertilize there plants with.  I know a gentleman of Asian ethnicity who still does this, you have to keep a lid on this pit of course.  His tomato plants are usually enormous and beyond ridiculous.  Just gives them a scoop around root base once a week. 
 
point being all the waste including fish heads and carcasses will make fine fertilizer for growing vegetables.  This has been done for centuries, who am I to question it. 
 
 
cheers
 
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