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Subject: Compost Teas: 24 hour, EM, IM, BD & fermented plant extracts

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  • From: m.norsen AT attbi.com
  • To: compostteas AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Compostteas] Re: Nutrients and brewing Tea
  • Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 06:14:07 +0000

Recent messages have asked about why did the brewer run
low on O2 when nutrients were added to a brew. This
experience may shed a glimmer of quantitative light on
this subject.

Normal brew in a 250 gallon brewer was completed but the
tea wss not needed for another day. So on a hunch that
some added nutrients and tea base would extend the life
of the brew. Just a lttle more is better. Right? 1/4
the original amount of tea base ( a special compost)
1/4 the initial amount of nutrients ( kelp and
molasses ) was added to a brew already rich in
bacteria. The brewer dropped rapidly to low O2 = 2.4.
Anaerobic at O2= 2.+- To stop the anaerobic condition
the compost was removed, three times the original air
injectors were turned on. In 12 hours the O2 was back
to normal 6.7.

To find some quantitative measure of the effect of
nutrients I added just 4 oz molasses to the 250 gallon
brew. That is 1 part molasses in 8,000 parts of the
brew. Couldn't have much effect ?

O2 dropped within an hour to 2.4 with the three times
normal air jets all putting in a storm of air in little
bubbles. It took 8 hours for the bew to come back to
the normal 7.3 O2.

At no time were there odors to tell me that the brew was
running low on O2. Only clue was the O2 meter.

Message: use a tested recipe, tested brewer. stay right
with the details. Don't trust intuition unless equipt
with instruments that tell you what is going on deep in
that vat. Then get what you do tested enough to know
from experience that what you do, works.

We were thinking about this in our local bull session.
Making TEA is like making bead. You have to put all the
goodies together in the right way and the right
quantity, Then at the recipe temperature you have to
wait for the bread to rise and then to bake. Then you
test it with aroma and butter
My mouth waters just to remember grandmas results.
Especially her tall cinnomon rolls !!
Tea is working with the same microscopic life. Got to
mix the right stuff and treat it the right way to get
the right results. Now if there was just a viual rise
and texture to admire. If there was an aroma and if it
tasted SOOoo good with butter TEA would be easier to
learn about what and how. Only from an O2 meter, a PH
meter, some lab reports and after a few months some
reaction in you garden does your skill in making TEA
become evident. Farmers have lived by this kind of
skill and faith for centuries. If you will succeed with
TEA you gotta -like- learn to enjoy playing golf wearing
a blindfold. Do it exactly as perscribed and expect
better than par. With tea make it per a tested recipe
of tested compost crafted to form a good TEA BASE add
the right nutrients run a proven cycle in a proven
brewer, apply while fresh and 'live', under the right
conditions. Watch in wonder as your garden grows.
That is the test




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