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

["Jeff Lowenfels" <jeff AT gardener.com>]

Am I dreaming to think I can make good tea in a thirty gallon bubbler?

I am using a 30 gallon, Rubbermaid garbage pail and a second hand Dayton
Speedaire  HP1 3/4 hp air pump I picker up for 115 dollars. This puppy
really pumps the air. It is noisy but it pumps! I am blowing air through
about four feet of special rubber hose I found through an internet pet
supply house that produces very, very tiny bubbles and lots of them. I think
I paid 4 dollars for each length. the duct tape I used to connect them is an
Alaskan staple and free. Total machine cost 131 US dollars.

 In short I have a garbage pail full of water that looks like it is in a
heavy boil. There is really good circular current of bubbles into which I
have suspended "two legs" of panty hose filled with TESTED compost ( about
two gallons). Oh, yeah, I tossed in some 6 oz fish hydrolyze, 6 oz tea of
stinging nettle, one cup powdered kelp and one cup soluble seaweed and 4
ounces of molasses.

Wayne, who is a subscriber here and also making tea tonight, I believe, has
dubbed this the "Lawrence Welk-anator bubbler." It makes a bit of noise, but
I think it does every bit as much air and movement as the big boys' 2,000
dollar jobbies. Am I dreaming. After all, isn't it just about air and gentle
circulation/agitation?

Am I dreaming. Anyone out there make bubblers this big?  Is the only way to
know for sure to test?  Guess I answered my own question......


Cheers,

Jeff L


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