Aerated Compost Tea

[top_dollar_bread]

before HG post i noticed that my tea's were giving me a slight anaerobic odor. So i began to stir my tea more often till i realized that my cheap air pump wasnt performing as well as when i got it.
(thnx HG) 2 years this pump worked well but since HG post i decided to get me a new better pump.
You get what you pay for and my pumps were 5$ so 2 years of good aeration is ok by me but i want more air!
My brother use to work at petmart so i went ther and talked to a friend of his. He pointed me to these powerheads and said that they will also help aerate your water if you add a cheap air pump to them
he also just gave me the 20-25$ pump for free man i love nice people.
so i went home and connected the powerhead to my old air pump and WOW!!
this power head not only stirs my water for me but throws all kinds of air bubbles threw out my tea brewer..definitely worth the $ i didnt pay
so i got this power head submerged underwater with my cheap air pump helping pump air and stir my brewer nicely.
The powerhead is silent and IMO worth using, i believe now i truly am making AACT!!!
ill be putting this to the test after my water has been stirred for a day and i will see just how good this performs with tea's.
heres a link for more info, i got the 550 model that pumps 145 gallons per hour!!
ther are bigger ones for those who are interested but this works for my 5 gal brewer.
penguin power head

[tedln]

I remember some folks discussing the correct water to use in brewing ACT. The common theme seems to be avoid chlorine. We have a water well which provides very good, very soft water, so I am not concerned about using our well water. About every two weeks, I pull the plug on the water trough our cattle drink from and let it refill with fresh water. Cattle are not the most sanitary animals and don't mind a little vegetation hanging from their mouths when they drink. After a couple of weeks, the water gets pretty rank from the rotting vegetation and algae in the trough. I can almost imagine using the water as compost tea, but I am wondering if it might serve better as the water I brew my tea with. It certainly has a high and varied aerobic bacteria content. What do you think?

We also place the large, round hay bales inside a metal ring for the cattle to eat. As they eat the hay, they pull small amounts of hay which drop to the ground. As they eat, they are leaving manure and urine in the dropped hay around the feeding ring. As time passes, their hooves grind the manure, urine, and hay into the mud resulting in a mix which I think should work well in a compost pile and possibly as a starter for the ACT. What do you think?

Ted

[GeorgiaGirl]

Thanks for the encouragement... this morning I diluted the compost tea with dechlorinated water and applied it to my lawn, mainly the parts that seem to be affected by dollar spot or some other type of fungus. I took a peek a few hours later to see if it looked any different ... I think I need to grow some PATIENCE!! Can't wait to see if it makes a difference... I think I'll start another batch of tea, this time for my flowers... I can see how this could be addictive!!

T$B, interesting idea to just mix the UCGs with water and apply without brewing... I may try that too (I just picked up three more bags from Starbucks).

[stella1751]

Wow. What a difference five days makes! I got ill, quite ill, seriously ill after making my last batch of ACT. Nothing to do with ACT, just stupidity in ignoring the early signs of illness. Anyhow, if anyone was waiting for results on that one, I Gixxed it. I lost all mobility and balance, couldn't even water my plants. (I think I lost two squash plants, maybe more.)

I'm still pretty sick, so I don't when or if I will be starting that recipe again. I think I'll have more fun sitting back and watching GeorgiaGirl play with hers

[gixxerific]

I'm sorry to hear you are sick! I really hope you get better.

I'm getting ready to start another batch myself here in a bit, so it will be ready sat morning. I will make it in your honor.

Nuff said, Get well
Dono

p.s Did you have to turn my screen name into something that means you goofed on your tea.

[Sage Hermit]

Eww don't drink that!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Ted, that sounds like a good watering for a compost pile, and it could be a START fopr aerobic brewing (brewing back from an anaerobic state favors facultative anaerobes, which I have long surmised could actually be beneficial in compacted soils). Still, the safest thing would be to water a compost heap with it and turn regularly; best of both and humus to boot...

Remember, tea is innoculant, so a little goes a long way. Drenching obviously diseased areas is great, but a gallon of good tea should innoculate 1000 sq. ft. of turf (half that in gardens where we are covering more vertically). But the beauty is there is no too much, and it's just Nature to begin with...

HG

[applestar]

I was about to post these photos of my current batch (well actually last batch when the 1/4" soaker tube aerators went in to show how well the bubbles are swirling) :


and the current batch containing drowning weeds (as well as punky brown apple bits, crab rich compost, and molasses) to show how the foam is pushing up the floating cover lid. I have two aerators in this one (a triple coil 2000 in the bottom and a double coil 1000 near the top) to compensate for the weeds stuffed in the bucket obstructing bubble-flow.


... and my brain finally made the 2+2=? connection to wonder if this orange bucket, prominently marked "all purpose...paint bucket" is really what I want to be using. Shouldn't I be using at least a "Food Safe"/"Food Storage" bucket?

A quick google yielded this thread at a home brew forum: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/5-gallo ... -ok-54937/

I think I'll be heading to a nearest bakery or bakery dept. for a 5 gal frosting bucket or two ASAP.

OK -- I was looking for that plastic bucket discussion we had earlier this year (spring?) I thought I opined quite coherently against use of plastics at the time -- well perhaps *I* didn't but HG certainly did -- (Like I said -- ) Definitely re-thinking AND REPLACING the container for brewing my AACT's before starting up a new batch

[tedln]

Scott,

Thanks for your comments on my thoughts about the ACT and compost.

I have also been curious about the recommended brewing times for ACT. I simply don't know what the reproductive rate of the beneficial organisms in the tea is. Has anyone to your knowledge performed a bacterial count on ACT at the beginning of the process and 24 / 36 hours later?

Ted

[stella1751]

Gixxerific wrote:

Did you have to turn my screen name into something that means you goofed on your tea?

No, no. To gix [gix, gixed, gixing] your ACT merely means to let it go anaerobic. Remember that early on HG said the best in the field often do this deliberately, just so they can bring it back to an even higher aerobic state. I look for your screen name to become synonomous with excellence when it comes to ACT.

In the meantime, my recovery is slow. While I'm writing this, in the cool, cool of the morning, I have slick sweat pouring down my face. Therefore, I am learning by watching this time around. Doing is still beyond me.

Once I am able to trust my stomach, I will dump what I have. Right now, it frightens me. Aerate on, my garden friends!

[applestar]

Oh, Stella. When I saw you'd posted, I was SO hoping that meant you were feeling better.... Get better soon! I miss your enthusiastic posts. Sending healing thoughts.

[soil]

I have also been curious about the recommended brewing times for ACT. I simply don't know what the reproductive rate of the beneficial organisms in the tea is. Has anyone to your knowledge performed a bacterial count on ACT at the beginning of the process and 24 / 36 hours later?

12-24 hours looks about best under a microscope from my experience.

edit: that is with a compost tea, this thread is titled aerated manure tea so the range could be slightly off. i don't like using manures and prefer plant based compost.

[a0c8c]

... and my brain finally made the 2+2=? connection to wonder if this orange bucket, prominently marked "all purpose...paint bucket" is really what I want to be using. Shouldn't I be using at least a "Food Safe"/"Food Storage" bucket?

Did you clean the bucket real well? You'll come to find that most paint buckets are just as safe as food grade buckets. Main thing they do is make sure fuels(mostly diesel[used in manufacturing plastic]) don't leach out of the plastic, which would ruin paint just as much as food. Otherwise food grade buckets aren't all the much different. It's only been in the last few years that we've learned about things like BPA in plastic and so food safe buckets still haven't removed things like that. My dad owned a restaraunt and some of the buckets we got were the same as my brother inlaw got at his dads auto shop.

I could be wrong, but I'm sure the bucket's safe.

[tedln]

From the internet, "Food grade plastic does not contain dyes or recycled plastic deemed harmful to humans.".

This does not mean food grade plastic can not contain dyes or recycled plastic. It only means it can not contain dyes or recycled plastic deemed harmful to humans.

It is also required that specific plastics be used to contain specific foods. This is normally based on the acidity of the food to be stored. Some plastics have higher porosity than others. Lower porosity plastics are best for long term food storage.

Which plastic to use for ACT is something we really don't need to be concerned about. The only concern should be what the bucket was used for before it was used to make ACT. Some products commonly sold in plastic buckets could leave toxic or harmful residues in the plastic.

Ted

[The Helpful Gardener]

Even most commercial brewers utilize a plastic tub; I haven't found it to be detrimental as long as you keep it clean of biofilm...

HG