Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

compostteas - RE: [Compostteas] When is the brew finished?

compostteas AT lists.ibiblio.org

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

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: John Boegman <john_boegman AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Tea Listserv <compostteas AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc: Jeff Lowenfels <jeff AT gardener.com>
  • Subject: RE: [Compostteas] When is the brew finished?
  • Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 00:03:42 -0700 (PDT)

Thanks for the feedback Jeff!

I knew I would end up getting questions I can't answer in response to
my question -- I guess that's the danger of seeking information!

I'm an experienced composter and vermicomposter, and I've been able to
keep my compost aerobic and biologically active, but I'm still a
backyard composter. Testing my compost and vermicompost is cost
prohibitive for the amount of gardening I do. Nevertheless, I am a
master composter volunteer in the community, and I want to learn about
making compost teas so that I can incorporate it in my compost
workshops.

I have monitored the temperature of my brewing tea, and it has stayed
around 70 degrees F as it brews in the garage. I use an aquarium air
pump designed for use in 50 gallon aquariums with two outlets and I
have two 6" air stone bars. (I've ordered a couple of the flexible
rubber air diffusers from PetDiscounters.com, but I haven't received
them yet.)

One ounce unsulphured molasses was the food source for the bacteria.
After two days, the tea was not showing any foam, but was not smelling
anaerobic either. I strained the tea today and put it back in the
5-gallon bucket to percolate another day, and then foam began to
appear. (Not a very dense foam, but sort of a dirty, bubble bath kind
of foam.) I interpreted this to mean that I didn't have enough air
circulation originally to generate foam or perhaps had too much compost
in the bucket. Since the tea did not go anaerobic, though, I think the
pump was mostly doing the job.

I think my next batch of tea will be made with mostly vermicompost
sifted through a 1/8" screen. The compost in the first batch wasn't
sifted at all, so there were some twigs and such included. I'm hoping
the sifted material will be easier to circulate, and I'll probably use
less in the bucket.

In a perfect world, I'd be sending samples off to the Soil Foodweb lab
on a regular basis, but since we're stuck in the real world, I'll have
to rely on tips from other tea brewers and the ol' proboscis. Any
additional suggestions or comments you have will be most welcome.

Regards,

John Boegman


--- Jeff Lowenfels <jeff AT gardener.com> wrote:
> Welcome John, You are going to have great tea....worm castings and
> good
> compost.
>
> You asked how do you know when your tea is finished? But first you
> have to
> answer what is the temperature of the water and the environs? How
> much air
> are you putting into the mix? How did your worm and compost mix test
> before
> you put it into the mixer. What nutrients are you going to use?
>
> These and, I am sure, more questions come to mind.
>
> I take my teas' temperature. I look for it to start going up a few
> degrees.
> I look for foam when there has been no foam and they type of foam if
> there
> has been foam all along. I smell it and compare to what I put into
> it. If
> it starts to smell bad, I know I have gone too far.
>
> HOWEVER, I think an oxygen probe to tell you what is going on is the
> best
> way. Look in archives on this list, use the "find" in the edit tool
> bar
> thingamabob.....
>
> I am sure Dr. Elaine will jump in here (please!) but unless some one
> on this
> list screams different, I would say give your tea between 24 and 36
> hours if
> you have great aeration and temperature over 70 degrees outside. The
> tea
> will probably get to 74 -75 degrees.....
>
> As for Chlorine, I once asked this question: What good does putting
> the
> soil foodweb back out on my lawn if I water it with a sprinkler that
> has
> chlorinated water. The answer I got was that the water was
> de-chlorinated as
> it traveled through the air. I did not ask in the context of a drip
> system
> where the tea is presumably siphoned into chlorinated water and
> mixed. I
> suspect that this will kill the critters as there is no declorination
> and
> the dilution is the wrong way! Anyone else?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff
>
> ______________________________________________
> PLANT A ROW FOR THE HUNGRY: Through PAR, over 3 million pounds of
> food have
> been donated by home gardeners like you to feed the hungry. Ask me
> how you
> can join the effort.
>
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page