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

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

<What is the foam that forms on the tea.  Someone told me you know when the
tea is finished by a head of foam.  Is this true?>

imho IT IS NOT True. SOmetimes you can even have a good tea with out any
foam at all. THe foam is usually proteins from things in the compost like
worms.


<Has anyone tried making tea with the compost loose in the brewer and not
adding any extra food source.  It seems like there would be plenty of water
soluble food and appropriate chunks for the continued growth of bacteria and
fungi.  Is this faulty logic?>

No, it is not faulty and there are lots of people, myself included, who do
just that...make loose tea.



Can there be too much air in the brewer in terms of damaging organisms due
to turbulence?

<Yes. Too much turbulence can splatt organisms......if you wouldn't want to
be there, they wouldn't....Nice and gentle with lots of air. Otherwise, why
not use ultra-sonic systems?

Cheers,

Jeff

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