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Flat Rock, Michigan

i made my own brewer (copy of bobolator ) am going to use it inside a 30 gallon drum, any opinions about how the air is mixed inside the brewer. is it good or? should i add another difusser inside the bottom of barrel.any one have a recipe to start with and when finished brewing should it be dilluted or used straight from barrel. thanks john

4/8/2008 9:07:55 PM

Seattle, WA

You should have a diffuser in the bottom and in the 400 micron bag with the compost and foods.

4/9/2008 1:35:13 PM

Colorado Springs, Co (wtmanc3mc3@hotmail.com)

Along Comes “Air Activated Tea!!
In the past five years, research at the University of Oregon and other institutions has revealed that when you set up that pail with the bag of compost or worm castings and you add large volumes of air into the liquid, the value of the tea for plants is increased to astounding levels.
When this Aerated Tea is sprayed on plants or used as a drench to the soil around plants every two or three weeks during the growing season, many good things happen:
Plants grow bigger, their color is brighter, and the flowers or the fruits are bigger.
The soil around the roots of the plants experiences an increase in the population and effectiveness of beneficial soil microbes.

You do not give the plants Aerated Tea as a replacement for fertilizer, however, plants getting a regular dose of Aerated Tea tend to need less fertilizer during the growing season.

How Does Aerated Tea Work?
The non-technical answer is when the compost or worm castings tea is exposed to large amounts of oxygen from the aerating process, there is an enormous increase in the population of beneficial bacteria, fungi, and other plant and soil microbes in that tea solution. If the tea is applied to the plants within 24 hours of being aerated, those beneficial microbes are transferred to the plant and to the soil around the plant.

This is a little excerpt about aact or aavct. I make sure my vermicompost tea has plenty of air!! I use three 12" aquarium stones hooked to 6 pumps. So it's brewing and bubbling very well. I also use a 45 gallon drum with this set up. I put about 6 pounds of vermicompost and castings and about 1/4 cup of honey or black strap molasses (to feed the exploding population of Beneficial microbes) in the bag and tie it shut. then i brew it for 24-36 hrs and use it straight or diluted either one. Some folks add kelp meal and other ingrediants but i never have. All sorts of recipes out there. stay organic and you wont go wrong brewing it

4/14/2008 2:41:42 PM

Sioux Falls, SD

So do you add 6 pounds of each vermicompost and 6 pounds of castings?

10/5/2008 9:54:45 PM

Sioux Falls, SD

nevermind, that was a dumb question. but really all you add is 6 pounds of castings and 1/4 cup of molasses, and that makes compost tea!!! That's easy enough.

10/11/2008 9:18:17 AM

Seattle, WA

sdreefers,

There is a bit more that goes into it than just throwing some compost and molasses in a bucket. You can potentially make something damaging to the health of your plant. Check out this site as a good starting point!

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/03_about_us/approach_pgs/c_03a_aerated_tea.html

Cheers,
Tad

10/11/2008 11:36:52 AM

Sioux Falls, SD

Tad,

Thanks so much for all the information! That link is awesome and I will read everything there!

Thanks,
Nathan

10/11/2008 10:48:49 PM