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Ankeny, Iowa

I'm new to the compost tea scene and I was wondering what type of bioactivater would be the best to use for my brewer?

Junior

3/28/2010 6:38:27 PM

Seattle, WA

When you say "bioactivator" are you referring to a food source for the microbes in your tea?

3/30/2010 2:16:55 PM

Ankeny, Iowa

Yes, I was wondering which food source would be the most effective?

3/30/2010 6:42:21 PM

Seattle, WA

Junior,

You have a lot of options. Some of the most popular are seaweed, unsulfured molasses, blood or bone meal, humic acids, alfalfa meal, and rock dust, just to name a few....

Some companies sell a comprehensive food source already that you could just add to the tea, and I can send you some links if interested.

3/31/2010 2:00:57 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Tad 12, I think I might have asked this before...but will do it again. Does what you feed it make a difference, on what it produces? Maybe, you could post a link to a site w/ good info? LOL Peace, Wayne

3/31/2010 11:04:30 PM

Ankeny, Iowa

Tad12,

Thank you for your help. I'll probably use a mix of bone meal, alfalfa, and uslsufured molases for my brewer. Hopefully it works.

Junior

4/2/2010 1:40:42 PM

Seattle, WA

Junior,

Try to find an organic alfalfa meal. Let me know if you need help with amounts of ingredients.

Wayne,

What you feed it does make a difference in what it produces. However, we can only look at the morphology of the organisms and can't identify indiviual species without culturing out the bacteria or having devoted our lives to fungal hyphae and writing a doctorate on it. What I look for in a qualitative analysis allows me to determine 2 things:

1. That the tea stayed aerobic (here's where the dissolved oxygen meter comes in handy)

2. That there is good diversity and quantity of aerobic microbes and all the types are present (bacteria/archea, fungi, and protozoa). You can also see if any one type has taken over the tea, rendering it less effective.

How about a site I'm working on. www.gardeningwithmicrobes.com

Cheers,
Tad

4/2/2010 4:19:50 PM

Murray, KY

not having a lot of luck with the links posted concerning teas. So far I've been through pages and pages of scientific explanations of how beneficial it is, how it makes nematodes/bacteria/protozoa/fungi love up on each other and produce offspring, where to buy plastic buckets, but little useful information as far as what to put in the stuff! lol
Is 2-year-old horse manure that has been piled and allowed to compost work to make tea? Problem is, I buried every bit of the my compost, but I've got an almost endless supply of the horse manure. Redworms like it, and I've always been fairly convinced that if redworms like it, it must be good compost. Just wondering...I figure someone has experimented with the horse poo.

4/5/2010 5:52:04 AM

Seattle, WA

Post your questions on here, and I'll try and tackle them. :)

In theory, any type of compost works for making compost tea. Keep in mind that compost, by definition, is a finished product and contains no pathogens. Therefore, if the horse manure has been properly composted to remove the pathogens (heated to 131F for 3 days or processed by worms) then it would be fine.

We don't use any manure based composts for brewing just to avoid this complication.

Keep in mind you don't need very much compost either.

1.5 cups for a 5 gal. brew. 3 gallons for a 100 gallon brew. A little goes a long way!

You could try the horse manure, but to be safe I wouldn't spray it on anything you plan on eating, and be sure push a ton of air into your brewer.

4/5/2010 12:25:01 PM

Redmond, Washington; U.S.A.

simplici-tea.com works GREAT for me. Its very nice for me to have them so close by here in town. I brew there 5 gallon kis brewer kit all summer and I am a believer! Ryan E

4/6/2010 12:38:20 AM

Owensboro, Ky.

Tad12, if I remember correctly??? Prbly not!!! LOL Disolved Oxygen Meter, is a fairly costly piece of equipment!!! Any recomendations for where to purchase one (good quality) at a reasonable price? Peace, Wayne

4/8/2010 12:20:36 AM

southwest MO

Wayne, You'd be better off putting your money into all the air you can afford and don't get to greedy on the inputs... (sugars and such)

4/8/2010 9:28:21 AM

Seattle, WA

Wayne,

A dissolved oxygen meter is going to run you around $250. If you follow the .08 cfm/gal. rule you're probably okay not getting one, provided you don't put in too many food resources like Boy genius suggested.

~Tad

4/8/2010 1:26:33 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Okay, once again...going to ask for links to sources for a small air pump. I brew in a 10 gallon size trash can, any suggestions...to get me to the .08 cfm/gal? I know I have asked this before...but, alas!!! LOL Is too much air, a bad thing? Peace, Wayne

4/10/2010 1:36:48 AM

Pleasant Hill, Or

Lots of pumps available on this site that would work; Here's one; http://www.horticulturesource.com/irrigation-pumps-reverse-osmosis-ro-water-chillers-sprayers-tubing-filters-pond-etc-c30/ecoplus-ecoplus-commerical-air-5-80-watt-single-outlet-p916/?osCsid=e352ae53ade91ec79c6d835bf2c99a3a

Here's another; http://www.horticulturesource.com/irrigation-pumps-reverse-osmosis-ro-water-chillers-sprayers-tubing-filters-pond-etc-c30/general-hydroponics-dual-diaphram-air-pump-p929/?osCsid=e352ae53ade91ec79c6d835bf2c99a3a

I don't think you can add too much air (to a point) just don't add so much you boil the water out of the bucket. It is critical to diffuse the bubbles so they can absorb in the water. If the bubbling action is too rough, it will be counterproductive to the health of the tea.

Thad

4/10/2010 11:21:25 AM