Questions Compost tea , super soil.

Posted by: @zellisorange

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let that bubble with an air stone ?!

Thats about it really mate. Get yourself some good compost, preferably homemade, and let it sit in some dechlorinated water for around 24 hours with an airstone bubbling the whole time. Then use that on your plants. Water them or foliar feed if in veg, they will love some compost tea 😉 

 

Dope man thanks Mackie.. what's the fish stuff is it liquid kelp or fish emulsion I should put in it ... and mollasses ornsonetuing does that sound correct at all?

@zellisorange it depends on what stage of growth you're at really. I would just use some good compost and not add the other tuff... sounds stinky lol 😉 You can add the fish emulsion sure, the microbes will love it, but it isn't necessary as there should be plenty of life in the compost if you're using decent stuff. Just make sure the water you're using is dechlorinated because the chlorine will kill a lot of the microbes, which you want to avoid. SO let water sit for 24 hours before adding anything to it, or use rain water

Beauty thanks brotha appreciate it ..... stoked for this year's outdoor grow

The clones I have are from.my purple#1 grow  I made some clones of the best pheno and considering this strain is an outdoor strain I am extra stoked to see how it comes out organically vs DWC the clones are a tad pale RN.. but in a few weeks they should pop back  especially with some.nice compost tea thanks for your help ! 

Just to add to the mix here. I grow indoors in a living soil bed and on my 6th cycle with it now. 

 

Theres actually been a lot of debate about compost teas recently on the soil podcasts etc. I have actually been speaking with a few soil scientists as I've been looking at changing a few things and getting a soil biology test. What I've heard from everyone recently is that compost in its fresh form has a lot of life and bio diversity. But when you try to grow these microbes in a compost tea you will end up with some biology becoming dominant which isn't what you're looking for. Also you dont know whats becoming dominant and if thats a good thing. 

 

I've been advised against going into the forest and collecting leaf mould to use for teas or to add to my compost to. I was advised that its good to have local biology if you're growing outdoors but in an indoor environment not so much.

 

Theres a company called Soil Smiths (UK) that make inoculation grade compost and they have different batches for you to choose from (bacterial vs fungal in different ratios) and Eco Thrive have partnered with them to. So now you can buy small tubs of inoculation grade compost from Eco Thrive thats actually aimed towards growing cannabis (more fungal dominant). If you get a soil biology test then you could make sure you get the exact mix you want directly from Soil Smiths but I think you need to get a bigger bag of it. They make what they call "compost extract" from this and they simply add some of this compost to de-chlorinated water and wizz it with a paint mixer for a minute or so then strain through a pod mesh filter bag. They've shown results of using the same compost but in a compost tea and there was less diversity. 

 

I actually haven't used teas since my 2nd cycle and NPK test my soil after every run. My soil now barely needs any amendments just chop and drop and mulch. This has all been from top dressing regularly in my first cycles and then adding some diverse inputs more for fun really. I've made some JADAM ferments. FAA fish aminos, Silica Extract, Humic and Fulvic, Wine Cap mushroom spawn. The point being that I just try some different inputs to feed the soil diversity and not feed the plants directly. 

Ferments are great if you're worried about having a nutrient deficiency as they act like bottled nutes but they aren't really needed and can be used sparingly. They are also super simple/cheap to make.

 

I would say top dressing is really important if your talking about living soil as well as worms and a good thick mulch layer. Chop and drop your leaves on the surface and then if your not trying the No Til method you can pull back that mulch after each run and re-ammend your soil. 

 

I have found using a good wetting agent really helps with living soil. Something like RAW Yucca Extract Powder is good and lasts longer than you'd think. LABs (lactic acid bacteria you can make from some rice and milk) helps to breakdown some of that organic matter in the mulch layer (I've found) and FAA fish aminos I tried for the first time on my last cycle as a foliar and a little drench in veg and my plants loved it and were very lush and dark green. 

 

Bit of a long winded answer that wasn't really about making teas but just putting out there that there are other ways to go that can be less hassle. 

 

 

When I use any of these microbial teas I add about a tablespoon of molasses (sulphur free) before bubbling to give the microbes some food to reproduce faster. For me it’s the same wether it’s Lactobacillus, compost tea, or worm tea. Even JMS has food in the mix (cooked potatoes). The microbes appreciate a little food and make a more active tea.. 

This works well for me, what’s everyone else saying?

@zellisorange I'm new to using teas also. I have been bubbling 1 gallon of h20 for 24hours to Dechlorinate. Use a little bit of that water to dilute about 1 table spoon of unsulfurated molasses. I dump that in. Than add 1 cup of worm castings, give it a good stir and let that bubble for another 24 to 36 hours. After that I strain, than dilute with another gallon of dechlorinated water. PH and water in. Don't know if it's right or wrong just what I've been suggested to do and I'm seeing some positive results.

Oh dude that's amazing thanks I'm going to try 5 different small batches of tea ... I want to test and see which ones work out the best just 1. compost and water... 2. compost and worm casting . 3. The compost worm casting with mollasses 4. compost water worm casting liquid kelp and mollasses. 5 compost, mollasses fish emulsion worm casting and liquid kelp ... see how these play into the microbial development ... thanks for sharing dude 

the more people tell me their methods the more confident I feel it's probably the right way to do it!!

@monkeydo Awesome that makes alot of sense thanks bro stoked to giver a shot ! @yoshi oh man that's a dope recipe thanks for sharing my grows are going to be LIT now !