VI's - tea recipe

VilliageIdiot;2824939 said:

So anyway...Started my tea yesterday. So I took some pics and will explain to the uninitiated.

So it is called a microbial tea becasue a "long" while ago people used to just put composted manure in burlap sacks and steep it in a bucket for a week or more like a tea bag and then they had there solution for the plants. That actually is a different result due to a microbial process that is a bit different but that was the history and the name stuck.

Some time around 1996 I believe was the first time someone documented using "forced air" in the process to speed it up and develop a better ratio of aerobic microbes.

Nowa days there are many "standard" ingredients and there are multiple threads on here talking about this. There are also a lot of cool "machines" and DIY stuff on youtube for really going at this in a much higher scale way. I don't do that I grow a small tent of plants and can make enough in a single bucket for myself. I use a standard Hydro air pump and it works fine. The more air you pump the better but I do just fine with my ecoair 2 pump. I have used it to brew a full 5 gallon bucket a few times and it works great.


I documented in detail all the stuff I use a few times on here. Then about 2 months or so after I did a decent job this guy pulled a lot of info together and posted this thread which has great details about how and why all this stuff works. So I won't explain it an umpteenth time just go read this thread. An older version of the recipe I posted at the end of it and until now I have been pointing people at that. Now I likely will send them here.

https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/tea-bag-your-dwc.184191/

For the most part everything I use is fairly standard and broadly used by many people on here. I also have gotten many people to use my exact recipe but you can make all sorts of changes so long as you know what the ingredients are for and what the result is when done. In fact I know myself and A few others will spot tune the recipe if for example if I want more Phos in it in bloom I will add some Bat guano. So take this as a rule of thumb but feel free to twist it a bit.

Here is my basic set of ingredients.

This includes:

Worm casting (found everywhere)

Humis soil

Fulvic acid (most things that say fulvic acid are not and I only trust this brand...I am probably wrong but I did some research)

Alfalfa (By down to earth I can find it easily at most hydro stores)

Crab Meal

Bat Guano (used in bloom for extra Phos. I didn't use it this time)

Some Sort of Atlantic Kelp ( I have 2 kinds I am working through but the cheap home depot stuff is fantastic)

Some sort of broken down molasses product or you can use straight molasses I use this stuff by a local company that makes expensive top quality hydro supplements so I am being ripped off...but it is pre-broken down and aids in getting the microbes breeding fast.
This stuff is Aphrodites extraction

Some sort of Enzyme product. I use Hygrozyme because I am old.

Oatmeal ( I use steal cut but rolled is probably easier I just use what I have in the cupboard)


So all that plus some good clean de-chlorinated water. Mine comes out of the tap at about 12PPM and does not have flouride or chlorimate so I can fill the bucket and drop in my airs tones and pump out the chlorine in a little while and all is fantastic.


So I take about 2 gallons of water at room temp. You want to do this inside in the bathroom or some place that is about 70 degrees. This does not smell all that bad so don't worry just do it on a surface that is easy to clean for when you make a mess.

First I will add the liquid ingredients and stir and then the dry ingredients. When adding the dry ingredients I stir in between each to get it all in before adding the next dry ingredient.

I follow the bottle instruction for 2 gallons for the Kelp supplement
I follow the bottle instruction for 2 gallons for the Hygrozyme
I follow the bottle instruction for 2 gallons for the Fulvic Acid
I add 1 teaspoon of Molasses extract (Aphrodites extraction)
1/4 cup Oatmeal
1/4 cup Humis soil
1/4 cup earth worm castings
1/4 cup Crab Meal
1/4 cup Alfalfa

Note every 12 hours and just after filtering at the end add another dose of molasses! That last one is where using pre-broken down stuff really helps

Then stir it and it looks like this

Now as it brews preferably you stir it every 2 hours to stop growth of anerobic bacteria in the sludge at the bottom. If you don't it will win and kill off all the good stuff. So in the morning after sleeping at night it can take a while to get it back on track but it always comes back. And easily. just stir it good and once and it will be right back in minutes.

Then after 1.5 hours it looked like this

Then at about 14 hours the microbes were just starting to breed...

By 18hrs the foam was rising up

(forgot to check at 24)

And clearly I used too much sugar this time ( I did cheat and added some extra at about 18 hours)
Because by 27 hours it was about to go over the top of the bucket.

So then you filter it out. I used to get all aggressive and filter it a few times and now I just don't bother and just get the big stuff out and dump the rest in the pots.

This is a pic of me doing a 5 gallon batch and siphoning it a year ago.

Now that I just do 2 gallons I can easily pick it up and pour it through that sieve.

Then you end up with some good stuff like this that is about 7.0 pH and around 800PPM (good and strong)
(again from a year ago...when I finish this post in a few hours I will finish off this round and use it tonight)

Then I usually do 4-6 cups per plant. The I follow with a light watering to drive it into the middle of the pot but not so much that I am creating run off. Just enough to get it into the core of the pot. That is not necessary but I like to do it. I will sometime add Cal / mag or Silica to the drive in water if it is time. I make sure the drive in water is pH'd properly even though it shouldn't matter.

If the tea is brewed properly the the residual sludge is worthless. All the good stuff is in the tea. Toss it in the garden and don't expect much unless you did it short like I do some times. You saw that by 24 hours the tea was grooving along good. Many people will brew up to 3 days. I usually try to go at least 48 hours. I try not to go less than 36 as that gives a good 12 hours of strong microbial growth.

** Important note **

I have ruined a few batches of tea not realizing that the airstones had leftover bad bacteria in them which caused horribly acidic brew where nothing good could grow. Before each brew place them in boiling water for a few minutes to clean them up good and you will be fine.




It really is pretty easy and is a lot of fun I think. If all goes well it should be all I use on this grow. It is pretty much all I used last time.

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