I Zimbra Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 Forgot to say not to let your heap go over 155f/68c as it will start to burn off carbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkjazz Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Glad I read this. My compost bin is just the standard black bin composter from the council. Have no idea what the temps would be, but I would imagine pretty cold at this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkjazz Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Regarding the smell, is it really obvious if the tea has gone off? If you stuck your face in and gave it a big ol Tony Montana Scarface sniff, would you know straight away? Can you overdose the plants of tea? Are there any tell tale signs of too much bacteria? Is a half litre of tea per plant (15l pots) every week ok? Along with a good foliar spray? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Zimbra Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Yep a good sniff will tell you, it smell bad like sick, shit or urine smells. You just want it to smell of what you put in it really. Bacterial brew is better for folier but a balanced one would suit the soil better, to know what's in your brew you could have it analized in a lab but that costs. I never have prob never will unless I got a good heap going and a farm to use it all on! It's just trial and error, I generally use castings for a bacterial brew and compost with fungi grown prior to the brew for fungal. As to how much and how often it's up to you but you can't od with it as the microbes battle it out and eat each other etc, I've added it neat with no probs. When I first started using aacts I got carried away and used loads of them now I tend to just use them as boosts at different stages, I'm brewing one now to treat some compost before I take some cuttings into it just to make sure it's alive and healthy, when in veg I tend to apply them as folier quite often and give them a fungal at pot ups and every few weeks in flower, towards the end in flowering I'll give them a bacterial feed. I'm still experimenting with it but as a rule of thumb bacteria will cycle nitrogen and fungi the potassium and a shed load of other things between them. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Zimbra Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Just wanted to say that I've used the blood from the beef joint on a few brews and it sets it off lovely! Sorry to the veggies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkjazz Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Thanks for all your help regarding the teas, it is much appreciated Gave them a 48hr bubbled allmix/molasses/maxicrop tea last week. Finally managed to be in when the delivery man came so I have some worm castings to give a try now . Is there normally a noticeable difference after a tea feed? Didn't really notice much last time. Everything is looking nice and healthy so maybe that is the sign I guess shall find out in about 6 weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Zimbra Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 No problem, I think you'll have more joy with your castings, I wasn't really sold on biobizz doing the job nor maxicrop anymore. Perhaps it was quite fungal, they take a little longer to show a difference, day or two maybe. But the teas I've made using castings give an instant hit, well within an hour anyway. It gives a huge boost especially as a folier application, lush green plants and you can almost watch it happen it seems. What is you brewer made from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkjazz Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 No problem,I think you'll have more joy with your castings, I wasn't really sold on biobizz doing the job nor maxicrop anymore. Perhaps it was quite fungal, they take a little longer to show a difference, day or two maybe. But the teas I've made using castings give an instant hit, well within an hour anyway. It gives a huge boost especially as a folier application, lush green plants and you can almost watch it happen it seems. What is you brewer made from? Gave a good foliar of the castings tea this morning at 6.30am (ouch) just as the lights went out. Just under a couple of hours before can see how they have reacted. The tea definately looked better (well was more frothy). My brewer is pretty basic, an 8 litre bucket, with a 100l per hour pump pushed through two airstones, (but one airstones takes about 90% of the air) I try and get the airstones to sit in the middle of the bucket (they are not attached to anything and just hang down) but they keep moving. I bought a new pump this weekend, a two output 300l per hour beast, so am going to be using that from now. Will use the old one just for bubbling the buckets of pure water before watering to aeroate the water and remove any chlorine (usually i use the water straight from the top. I did get a 25l plastic box to make a mega brewer but it had a couple of tiny holes at the corners and leaked. Tried to fill the holes, but that didn't work either, haven't got round to getting a new container. I used about 2l on the foliar feed, then just poured the rest into each pot's soil. 400ml per 15l pot. Also gave small foliar to some cuttings which are in the terrarium, and some which went into the first small pots a couple of days ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Zimbra Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 Sounds good, I think round bottom containers are best, mines rectangular but I'm gunna ditch it and get a round based one. I'm also going to invest in a big pump I got 2 small ones and a big one but the big ones on it's way out plus too many plugs! Wise to let that chlorine out it's no good for them Hope it's a good one for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randalizer Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 (edited) heya folks, I just thought I should drop in and point out my blunders in AACT land. As I noted earlier in this topic, I use reptile heat pads to warm my glass vessels. Well, that shall come to a stop. One of my glass vessels developed a crack along the bottom edge that started to grow. Luckily I have another like it (I get them free from restaurants) and replaced it. Much more worrying is that one heat pad shorted out and nearly started a fire!! :applause: Click this link to learn more! Be careful my fellow growers! Edited February 5, 2009 by Randalizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randalizer Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 From Pro's most excellent pinned topic (click here to read full topic);"ok now its been 1 hr its time to take the molasses 1liter mix to the kitchen and warm it back upto between 30c and 35c NOT above . 35C is max temp otherwise it will kill the essence" Carefull using tank heaters you just want it cool, like me. Yeah! Warm water does speed up things but cooler water will hold more oxygen. A question folks and especially for you O Mighty I Zimbra, AACT Jedi Master. What are ideal temps for AACTs? I just now noticed that the temperature recommended for Pro's essence brew mix is pretty hot actually! I've been using the By Golly method (it works by golly) with my heat mats. I've now got submersable aquarium heates and a digital temperature probe so I can set temps pretty exactly. Any ideas anyone? Since I have to make tea right now, I'm going to go with a 80F-26.6C setting. I'll post pictures of my heaters later tonight (my time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boblydan Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) In me little book on organic growing and compost teas, the authors state that room temperature is ideal for brewing AACT's, so around 21-22 degrees C / 70 F should be fine. I'm sure I Zimbra has something to add, but that'll get ya started, bud Too hot temps will cook or make the microbes go dormant. The recommended temps for brewing Essence has me a bit confused, but personally I'd rather brew at slightly lower temps (20-ish celsius) for longer periods of time rather than risk overheating. Happy brewing, and don't go burnin' down your house, ya hear Edited February 9, 2009 by boblydan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randalizer Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) Thanks Mr Zimmerman. I've asked Pro and Felix to drop by when they can to bear witness to the brewing madness here. I have to heat some as my room is coldish. Concrete floor and all of that. So here are pictures of my latest attempts to find brewing heaven. Since I use three separate brews, I needed 3 heat sources. My local pet shop only had two of my preferred submersible aquarium heaters (plastic, temperature dial with numbered settings, auto shut off) so I also got a third that wasn't as good (glass tube, it advised not letting the water drop below a certain level. ), but did actually manage to fit in the jar with it's rubber mounted suction feet. The other two didn't. I think I'll get a larger set of vessels. Edited February 9, 2009 by Randalizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randalizer Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I also bought a reptile digital thermometer with remote probe. I use the probe to verify temperatures in the vessels and I can use it to spot check my water reservoirs to see what temperatures they are operating at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randalizer Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) One issue I have been having (and another reason to get bigger vessels) is over flow from foaming. A fair amount of water will collect in the bottom of the trays just from foam (this is what did my heat mat in). So I'm going to see if some netting will help. I also have some weight on top of the net as the foam will push it aside in it's frothy glee. Edited February 9, 2009 by Randalizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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