CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Can't tell who is having more fun with the garden Paul... You or Bub... 
The Garden Thread
- Thread starter sotc
- Start date
- Replies 297
- Views 24K
sotc
Dormant hero!!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #177
How are you brewing Jay? Did you make the compost? The air is required to keep the tea aerobic, once the oxygen is depleted the aerobic bacteria die and anaerobic takes over. Part of the lure and magic of tea is the biotic life that you are adding to what may be near useless soil. The biotics are what break down the nutrients into a useable form for the plants
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Willie, I have a big ceramic urn, about five gallons in size that I use, though most folks use a five gallon plastic bucket, or so. I put in a scoop of active compost (leaf mold and manure content mostly), add water from a creek nearby, (water has to be free of chlorine, be it that way from the start or allowed to sit). I don't make my own compost, get it from a friend who buys it commercially. Any active compost they say will do, though they have broken it down to whether your tea is going for vegetables or ornamental plants or lawns, as there is apparently some diversity in whether different plants will be greater wanting more bacteria or more good fungi content for their growth. It can differ with the type of compost. Greater bacteria is good for vegetable I picked up. Added to the mix I put in two tablespoons of molasses to feed the bacteria, and molasses, particularly backstrap, has a lot of good things going for it with plants, two tablespoons of epsom salts for the magnesium, two more of fish powder, and then since I can't find any seaweed emulsion around, I just throw in some crushed up dried seaweed. I might throw in some bamboo leaves to seep in there, as bamboo has good nutrient content. Then I stick in an air hose from my compressor and weight it at the bottom, enough flow for a relatively mild bubbling action. I let it brew like that for 3 three days, mixing it up once or twice a day, but the air action does seem to keep the mix moving about pretty good. After a day or two the mix mostly losses it's smell from the fish powder, and takes on a nice sweet earth yeast odor, not offensive at all, I suspect it is the bacterial activity that does this. It is a very mild smell, I have to stick my nose right on top to smell anything. A friend of mine checked out my garden and started to do the tea too, but he didn't aerate, and his stew really started to smell bad. I believe that you are correct, the aeration supports the aerobic bacteria, which is what you want to have going. Once brewed, within a short time I either strain and use it as a foliar spray, and or ground water with it. Correct, the bacteria will did rather quickly once the aeration is stopped. If spraying, the tea can be diluted for greater coverage. My garden is small, so I just put it on full strength.
I have done a whole lot of reading about how plants process nutrients and stuff, and bacteria are really important for both food transfer and plant growth, defense against pathogens in an antibiotic kind of way, etc, generally speaking, essential for creating a healthful environment for plants to thrive within.
After about a week or so, my plants tend to start to appear sluggish (relatively poor soil), so I give them another shot of the soup and it spurs them right up. i read where foliar spraying of the tea will help plants to increase flowering and setting fruit, and I believe that I have much observed this as well.
What I really like about tis method of fertilization, is that you can't give the plants too much, except if you ground water excessively, and foliar spraying can lead to mold and fungi if not done during the part of the day where the leaves can dry out. I have a little fungi showing up, previously watering at at the end of the day to begin with when first starting doing this. The waste that gets left at the bottom of the brewer, I mix in with the mulch around the plants bases, and it now seems a milder state than when in the only composted form, so the plants haven't shown any problem with the stuff contacting them directly. You can toss it back on the compost heap, but I don't have one currently. Everything gets utilized, and quick and easy to do. Many folks just use a fish tank pump for their air supply. The compost has to be active to begin with, sterilized stuff isn't recommended. i also take a bit of my soil and toss it in too, the dirt being full of bacteria as well, so wanting to enhance what is already there.
A knowledgable guy looked at my plants yesterday and said to me, "I can't believe that you aren't using chemical fertilizers". I have been really attentive about doing the brewing once per week, though some folks do it quite a bit less regularly. i suspect that the frequency required depends on the existing soil conditions.
i totally concur about it being a real plus for poor soil conditions. I am hardly an expert, but my reading up has gone into a lot of different areas, and the benefits are pretty well documented, and my results seem to affirm this.
Oh yeah, lastly, after the tea is brewed I put in a slight amount of the liquid that gets left over from the process of turning bamboo or wood into charcoal. It is sold commercially here. The strong smokey smell is said to repel insects, and it also has nutrient value. It has been used for a long time in Asia as a fertilizer, sold as wood or bamboo vinegar. apparently it has a very similar chemical content to vinegar, hence the name. I don't put it in the brew during the fermenting process, as it has some anti-bacterial content, and not sure if it might be harmful to what has developed in the mix. Some things kill bad bacteria and leave the good ones alone, and it is hard to get clear on what is what I find. I even tried to put some bamboo vinegar on my head to grow more hair, but it isn't working so far.
Said to be good for skin, though. 
I have done a whole lot of reading about how plants process nutrients and stuff, and bacteria are really important for both food transfer and plant growth, defense against pathogens in an antibiotic kind of way, etc, generally speaking, essential for creating a healthful environment for plants to thrive within.
After about a week or so, my plants tend to start to appear sluggish (relatively poor soil), so I give them another shot of the soup and it spurs them right up. i read where foliar spraying of the tea will help plants to increase flowering and setting fruit, and I believe that I have much observed this as well.
What I really like about tis method of fertilization, is that you can't give the plants too much, except if you ground water excessively, and foliar spraying can lead to mold and fungi if not done during the part of the day where the leaves can dry out. I have a little fungi showing up, previously watering at at the end of the day to begin with when first starting doing this. The waste that gets left at the bottom of the brewer, I mix in with the mulch around the plants bases, and it now seems a milder state than when in the only composted form, so the plants haven't shown any problem with the stuff contacting them directly. You can toss it back on the compost heap, but I don't have one currently. Everything gets utilized, and quick and easy to do. Many folks just use a fish tank pump for their air supply. The compost has to be active to begin with, sterilized stuff isn't recommended. i also take a bit of my soil and toss it in too, the dirt being full of bacteria as well, so wanting to enhance what is already there.
A knowledgable guy looked at my plants yesterday and said to me, "I can't believe that you aren't using chemical fertilizers". I have been really attentive about doing the brewing once per week, though some folks do it quite a bit less regularly. i suspect that the frequency required depends on the existing soil conditions.
i totally concur about it being a real plus for poor soil conditions. I am hardly an expert, but my reading up has gone into a lot of different areas, and the benefits are pretty well documented, and my results seem to affirm this.
Oh yeah, lastly, after the tea is brewed I put in a slight amount of the liquid that gets left over from the process of turning bamboo or wood into charcoal. It is sold commercially here. The strong smokey smell is said to repel insects, and it also has nutrient value. It has been used for a long time in Asia as a fertilizer, sold as wood or bamboo vinegar. apparently it has a very similar chemical content to vinegar, hence the name. I don't put it in the brew during the fermenting process, as it has some anti-bacterial content, and not sure if it might be harmful to what has developed in the mix. Some things kill bad bacteria and leave the good ones alone, and it is hard to get clear on what is what I find. I even tried to put some bamboo vinegar on my head to grow more hair, but it isn't working so far.
Said to be good for skin, though.
sotc
Dormant hero!!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #179
I have been reading alot on teas this year as well but have yet to use it. I'm suprised the liquified seakelp is hard to come by there, I mix it in when doing mychorizae applications or foliar spray it on aspen trees, seems to perk them up a bit
Paul B
I dig hammocks.
Willie, for liquid kelp consider Nitrozyme AKA Growth Plus. Its a cold harvested, non pasteurized kelp goop made from Ascophyllum nodosum on the eastern seaboard. The kicker is the cytokinin content, usually over 400 ppm, GREAT growth regulator, the indoor farmers up here swear by the stuff. Its a stress reducer and growth promoter in low dose, in high dose it can be a growth retardant. check here for some interesting study results from university of Guelph, Ontario.
http://www.agriorganics.com/soldagry.php
http://push2buy.net/stores/fearless_rolodex/docs/AgriGrowth/Growth Plus & Increases Misc.PDF
http://www.agriorganics.com/soldagry.php
http://push2buy.net/stores/fearless_rolodex/docs/AgriGrowth/Growth Plus & Increases Misc.PDF
sotc
Dormant hero!!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #182
Not much detail here
http://www.maxicrop.com/pages/product_3.html
http://www.maxicrop.com/pages/product_3.html
Paul B
I dig hammocks.
looks like the same base ingredient, the only one I have ever seen that provides a guarantee of cytokinin % is the Nitrozyme. Supposedly they are one of the only labs that know how to test for it. From what I was told years ago it had to do with culturing a certain fungi as an exemplar.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
That is good advice, Paul. I'm on the hunt for some quality seaweed emulsion.
The tea is said by some to help plants protect against disease, but studies haven't so much confirmed this with some specific pathogens. You can't really generalize about the complete results of using tea, because there are a lot of options in terms of things that can be added. In some cases it doesn't seem that the ingredients are killing the pathogens, but rather are making the leaf surfaces stronger to resist invasion. I see a lot of blight and Septoria around that is very negatively affecting tomatoes for example, but my plot has so far remained almost completely free of disease. It is a first time planting on this plot of ground, probably a factor in my favor as well. Powdery mildew on squash i do have, but that is pretty much a given around here without chemical fungicides applied, and I had some not so great watering practices going to begin with. It has been a rather hot year, a lot of organic gardens have been really suffering from disease. Have to admit though, many folks appear very half azzed about their approach, and talking to them about alternatives is a useless enterprise.
The tea is said by some to help plants protect against disease, but studies haven't so much confirmed this with some specific pathogens. You can't really generalize about the complete results of using tea, because there are a lot of options in terms of things that can be added. In some cases it doesn't seem that the ingredients are killing the pathogens, but rather are making the leaf surfaces stronger to resist invasion. I see a lot of blight and Septoria around that is very negatively affecting tomatoes for example, but my plot has so far remained almost completely free of disease. It is a first time planting on this plot of ground, probably a factor in my favor as well. Powdery mildew on squash i do have, but that is pretty much a given around here without chemical fungicides applied, and I had some not so great watering practices going to begin with. It has been a rather hot year, a lot of organic gardens have been really suffering from disease. Have to admit though, many folks appear very half azzed about their approach, and talking to them about alternatives is a useless enterprise.
Thor's Hammer
Wolfish. Sometimes Bites.
Really enjoying this thread. Thanks for all the info on the compost tea Jay, very interesting. I'll post up some pics of our garden . I really want to get a pair of good polytunnels for growing, as we live in such a windy spot.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Interestingly, I see a number of home weed (as in spleef) growers, mentioning the tea to increase their yield.
Definitely post up some pics, Ed, love to see how things look in your part of the world. I can picture windy conditions being a real hindrance. I don't have that problem, but with the garden behind my shop and the structure almost completely blocking the prevailing north wind, some better air passage would be nice. I try to help prevent the development of mold and fungus by removing lower leaves and thinning out some of the upper tomato leaves as well, to allow some better air flow. With the rainy season coinciding with the growing season here, too much moisture can really be damaging. Once the mold sets in and the spores move into the soil, it can be a continuing problem every year.
Definitely post up some pics, Ed, love to see how things look in your part of the world. I can picture windy conditions being a real hindrance. I don't have that problem, but with the garden behind my shop and the structure almost completely blocking the prevailing north wind, some better air passage would be nice. I try to help prevent the development of mold and fungus by removing lower leaves and thinning out some of the upper tomato leaves as well, to allow some better air flow. With the rainy season coinciding with the growing season here, too much moisture can really be damaging. Once the mold sets in and the spores move into the soil, it can be a continuing problem every year.
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
Finally as I first suspected the large tomatoes are becoming ripe on the vine .Because of growing conditions caused by the weather they are about two weeks later than usual .It's hard to beat the flavor of a vine ripened beef steak tomatoe .With any luck and a late frost they should produce up to the later part of October .Although those later tomatoes aren't as large and can get rather tough skins .
N
NeTree
Guest
Seems like everybody's tomatoes are a little late this year, Al.
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
Yes it's been odd weather to say the least .
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Same here... Late late late.
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
That doesn't make any sense either .Parts of California grow produce nearly year round .It looks like El nino is messing with all of us this year .
Same here. We've had soo much rain that every cellar in Copenhagen hsa been flooded. The insurance companies are going bancrupt.
I won a 5 year contract on clearing waterways, so the water can run free, but so far we haven't been able to even get near the creeks, for flooding.
I won a 5 year contract on clearing waterways, so the water can run free, but so far we haven't been able to even get near the creeks, for flooding.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Just brought home two full truck loads of duff from around a shop and some pondos for composting.. Whoo hoo 
I harvested a whopping 15 pds of Jalapenos from the greenhouse this morning.
I have been canning them all day.
Not bad to live in a Scandinavian climate and be able to eat homegrown jalapenos all winter.
I'm a pretty happy little vegetarian right now
I have been canning them all day.
Not bad to live in a Scandinavian climate and be able to eat homegrown jalapenos all winter.
I'm a pretty happy little vegetarian right now
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
How do you eat those jalapenos? I grew some hot peppers too, but they aren't turning red.
I had to bend the tomato leaders and get them growing sideways, the fruit is out of reach.
I had to bend the tomato leaders and get them growing sideways, the fruit is out of reach.
Sliced in sandwiches, mostly.
Or as condiments to whatever we are having for dinner.
I love hot stuff.
N
NeTree
Guest
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
Where's the beef .
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
Well beef aside but let me tell you about hot peppers .If you don't watch it the damned things can cross with green or banana peppers .Talk about hot,wow . Been down that road .
