Chicken Shit Tea

[johnehazeharvester]

I have Epsoma Chicken manure
5-3-2
Ca++8
Instructions state sprinkle on soil surface 2.5 Tbsp/ plant.
They quote 2% soluble nitrogen and 3% Insoluble protein.

I read that chicken manure is too hot and can burn plants.
I also read it should be composted first or made into tea.
This is not stated on bag.


I just added 1 tsp to half gallon of fish tank water along with a teaspoon of molasses.
I plan on shaking 2x a day to give some Oxygen to the tea.
Will use in a couple days.
My main goal is to increase beneficial microbes not as a fertilizer.

Anyone think this will work?

Will this be bad?

 

[Evergreen89]

I would guess that it’s already cooked and wouldn’t be as hot as fresh chicken manure

 

[BuzzzD]

I would think it is safe to use. If the instruction don't say to mix it in water you are probably weakening it enough that it would be even safer.

 

[johnehazeharvester]

They all seem to like it. I even gave it to my seedlings sparingly about 10 cc's. So far so good.

 

[SmokingWings]

I would guess that it’s already cooked and wouldn’t be as hot as fresh chicken manure

Yep. If it had not been composted the first message would have been about the terrible odor when the package was opened.

I read that chicken manure is too hot and can burn plants.
I also read it should be composted first or made into tea.
This is not stated on bag.

The stuff is ready to go right out of the bag like all the other Espoma products I have seen on the shelves. Have a bag of the same stuff in the back room.

I just added 1 tsp to half gallon of fish tank water along with a teaspoon of molasses.
I plan on shaking 2x a day to give some Oxygen to the tea.
Will use in a couple days.
My main goal is to increase beneficial microbes not as a fertilizer.

Take it you are growing in soil.

I recommend going one day and seeing how it smells and then trying it. The microorganisms might start to multiply fast with the sugars from the molasses. Then if it does not smell try going 2 days the next time.

But if you are trying to increase microbes why not just mix the molasses with the water, shake and apply without having to wait.

 

[johnehazeharvester]

Yep. If it had not been composted the first message would have been about the terrible odor when the package was opened.


The stuff is ready to go right out of the bag like all the other Espoma products I have seen on the shelves. Have a bag of the same stuff in the back room.


Take it you are growing in soil.

I recommend going one day and seeing how it smells and then trying it. The microorganisms might start to multiply fast with the sugars from the molasses. Then if it does not smell try going 2 days the next time.

But if you are trying to increase microbes why not just mix the molasses with the water, shake and apply without having to wait.

Yes, I am growing in soil. My thought was to have the microorganisms multiply in the bottle and then I am just adding more microorganisms that have already eaten the molasses. I was afraid if I gave them molasses at the same time and watered with solution right away, molasses would compete with the root Exudates for the bacteria.

 

[SmokingWings]

Yes, I am growing in soil. My thought was to have the microorganisms multiply in the bottle and then I am just adding more microorganisms that have already eaten the molasses. I was afraid if I gave them molasses at the same time and watered with solution right away, molasses would compete with the root Exudates for the bacteria.

The plant root exudates are what the plant needs at that particular time and not necessarily the same micro-organisms that are in the chicken manure. Use the chicken to provide the macro and micro nutrients along with minerals and the molasses to feed the micro-organisms that the plant is trying to attract to the root zone so that their population goes up and the plant can make use of what they produce, usually when they die and return the new compounds to the soil.

My take on it.

 

[johnehazeharvester]

The plant root exudates are what the plant needs at that particular time and not necessarily the same micro-organisms that are in the chicken manure. Use the chicken to provide the macro and micro nutrients along with minerals and the molasses to feed the micro-organisms that the plant is trying to attract to the root zone so that their population goes up and the plant can make use of what they produce, usually when they die and return the new compounds to the soil.

My take on it.

Thanks. I guess I was thinking molasses added directly could pull the beneficial microbes that are near roots away from there and have them eat the molasses. I think Jeff Lowenfels mentioned something like this in a podcast. Bacteria have to work harder for root exudates and molasses is easy food. Probably the only way to know what is better is to see how they respond. Doing a real experiment is difficult. I am growing 5 different strains now and that alone is already alot of other variables. I water each according to their needs and they often get fed on different days. The one thing I feel fairly confident of is that they like EWC and the EWC tea I made them. They prayed the most after that. They all seemed to respond favorably to the Chicken shit tea. Maybe next time I will mix it and feed right away and see what happens. Right now I am making a fermented plant juice from a few of the leaves from this grow and stems from last grow. Interested to see how they like that. I will probably try this diluted with water next week sometime. So many things to try.