Does compost Tea really work?

[Hayron1088]

Compost Tea- Miracle Product or Snake Oil?

I love compost. If you have ever sat in one of my classes, you will know that 1) Soil tests can be so important, 2) Always read and follow your pesticides labels (and are those poisons really necessary?), and 3) I love compost!

extension.illinois.edu

Anyone know about this?

 

[bobrown14]

Straight up compost is better than watered down compost.

They both have a use in gardening.

If you compost in animal waste or has some in it, I wouldn't be making any compost teas with it. Food for thought.

When I make a compost tea its for a specific reason.

Could be as simple as brewing roots with water and watering that in. Just adding in some beneficial microbes. The issue with compost teas are you not able to replicate with any sort of accuracy.

Good bacteria and bad bacteria are in abundance. How to know which ones are growing faster than the other is the key and very hard to tell.

If you just add compost as a top dress and water in, there ya go. Long term nutrients and its broken down as the plants need it.

 

[Emilya Green]

This is the part that kept me out of organic growing for a long time... I was scared of all that I didn't know about the teas.

Then I learned about actively aerated compost tea, and how with good strong bubbling action (not just an aquarium pump) you could keep the bad bacteria from growing and only grow the good ones. Further studies revealed that I could "seed" my compost teas with a small amount of the nutrient I wanted to have the microbes concentrate on during that point in the grow, and I could grow just those microbes, keeping the rest in much smaller numbers. When I learned that I could do this from easily followed recipes and commonly available inputs, I jumped in, and have never looked at a synthetic nutrient system again.

Then, and this is what got me into organics, I learned that you do not have to develop a living organic soil LOS in order to go organic. I learned that I could create a supersoil, that had all of the raw nutrients "cooked" into it, but not quite yet a living organic soil and that I could make this all work by the use of targeted compost teas, which create the microbes necessary to process those nutrients in the soil and feed them to the plants. Without the teas, these sorts of grows would die... so yes, the compost teas are the secret... they really do work, if you have the stuff that you need built into your soil.

But... if you are thinking that a compost tea is some sort of magic that will help a plant enjoying some other nutrient system that is not organic... don't waste your time. Compost teas are not to feed the plant... they are to give the soil the proper microbes that will in turn feed the plant. In the right hands and the right soil, a compost tea is almost like magic... but if you are not in a very special mineralized organic soil situation, it might as well be snake oil for all the good it will do you.

 

[Hayron1088]

This is the part that kept me out of organic growing for a long time... I was scared of all that I didn't know about the teas.

Then I learned about actively aerated compost tea, and how with good strong bubbling action (not just an aquarium pump) you could keep the bad bacteria from growing and only grow the good ones. Further studies revealed that I could "seed" my compost teas with a small amount of the nutrient I wanted to have the microbes concentrate on during that point in the grow, and I could grow just those microbes, keeping the rest in much smaller numbers. When I learned that I could do this from easily followed recipes and commonly available inputs, I jumped in, and have never looked at a synthetic nutrient system again.

Then, and this is what got me into organics, I learned that you do not have to develop a living organic soil LOS in order to go organic. I learned that I could create a supersoil, that had all of the raw nutrients "cooked" into it, but not quite yet a living organic soil and that I could make this all work by the use of targeted compost teas, which create the microbes necessary to process those nutrients in the soil and feed them to the plants. Without the teas, these sorts of grows would die... so yes, the compost teas are the secret... they really do work, if you have the stuff that you need built into your soil.

But... if you are thinking that a compost tea is some sort of magic that will help a plant enjoying some other nutrient system that is not organic... don't waste your time. Compost teas are not to feed the plant... they are to give the soil the proper microbes that will in turn feed the plant. In the right hands and the right soil, a compost tea is almost like magic... but if you are not in a very special mineralized organic soil situation, it might as well be snake oil for all the good it will do you.

I am currently running FoxFarms Ocean Forest which is organic, Dr.Earth dry amendments(organic). I make compost tea out of organic worm castings, usually kelp or seaweed and bat guano. Have not had one issue really and I love it. Organic enough? Only made the tea twice.

 

[Emilya Green]

Dr. Earth is good stuff. Sounds like you are making it work.

 

[Hayron1088]

Dr. Earth is good stuff. Sounds like you are making it work.

It’s working awesome actually. My only problem I encountered is I made a tea from it based on the directions on the back and I checked the ph(I know it’s not accurate) but suprised me with 14.43!!!

 

[Emilya Green]

yeah, that sounds like a false reading... like measure lye or something as alkaline as that. Organics don't care about pH in normal ranges that don't burn things up... the only reason we even measure our pH is so that synthetic nutrients can be in the proper range to escape from their chelation... if you are not using synthetic nutes, pH should not be a worry.

 

[COLATL]

Hi, @Emilya I've been using synthetic nutes ever since I started growing (less than a year ago) and was looking for a way to have microbes on my soil I tried "URB NATURAL" and was amazing, however, expensive... So, I after some research, i found a recipe to make a bacteria tea (Similar to the "Recharge microbes"). I use some, chicken manure, molasses, micorrizas, tricodermas, bacilus subtilis and worm castings. I let it brew for 24hr with and air pump. My question is, how often (Times a week) should I use this bacteria dominated tea, also, what happens if I let brew for longer ( Fungal dominated), how can I use this tea to complement my synthetic nutes? Hope this are not to many questions...

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi, @Emilya I've been using synthetic nutes ever since I started growing (less than a year ago) and was looking for a way to have microbes on my soil I tried "URB NATURAL" and was amazing, however, expensive... So, I after some research, i found a recipe to make a bacteria tea (Similar to the "Recharge microbes"). I use some, chicken manure, molasses, micorrizas, tricodermas, bacilus subtilis and worm castings. I let it brew for 24hr with and air pump. My question is, how often (Times a week) should I use this bacteria dominated tea, also, what happens if I let brew for longer ( Fungal dominated), how can I use this tea to complement my synthetic nutes? Hope this are not to many questions...

Hi @COLATL! The problem here is that in a synthetic grow, where all the nutrients are given in a bio available form, the microbes have nothing to do. It is not like they are magic and the mere fact of them being applied to your soil is going to help anything to happen. If the plant is being supplied with everything it needs from the synthetic nutrient program, it does not send messages to the microbes that it needs anything. At best the microbes will chomp on some of the raw nutrients and organics in the soil and make them more available, but the synthetic nutes are already supplying what is needed to the plant and the microbial activity will die out from lack of support from the plant in the organic feeding cycle, where they get part of their nutrition and all of their direction, from the plants.

Then the brewing. It depends on what you are brewing in there... some things thrive at different times in the brewing process and given time, bad microbes can start to thrive and good ones not thrive. Some of the microbes will attack the others, so it is best to two stage the brewing process, saving the more aggressive species for later in the brewing process so they dont have a chance to kill the good ones. Brewing teas is an art best conducted with a microscope, so you can actually see what you are brewing up and tell if you are getting what you want in the mix. Other than having that expensive equipment in the garden and the knowledge as to how to use it, it is best to go by carefully constructed recipes for breeding certain classes of microbes in your brew. If your recipe can actually produce the goods needed, it is a good one, and it sounds like you have researched it out to at least be reasonably certain that you are going to end up with an effective (not harmful) tea.

How often should you use it? In a truly organic grow, probably at least once a week, to keep the microbes coming in that are actually running things for you... in a synthetic grow, I have no idea how often you might want to do this, since it is not going to be very effective. As far as myco fungi go, it is probably best to put them in the soil as you are building the containers so they can grow their web of fungi down in the roots where they belong, and I think that applying fungi as a tea is not going to be nearly as effective. I will say this about the fungi though, that they are truly needed in all of our grows, synthetic or organic. Myco Fungi are special, where they form a symbiotic relationship with the roots, outside of the normal microbial feeding cycle, and they greatly help in phosphorus pickup all through the grow, so I recommend using them in every container you build.

 

[Hayron1088]

Has anyone ever heard of Jobes Compost Starter? It’s Organic and it has a list of microorganisms and a 4-4-2 NPK value. I’ll post a pic of the ingredients here. My question is, can I use this to “recharge” my soil for my plants? If so, would it be a good sub for other recharge products? I also am very curious to know if it would be a good ingredient in a tea? I sent Jobes 2 emails in the past week regarding this matter but no reply as of yet. I use this product in my indoor and outdoor compost and so far I haven’t seen any negative results.

 

[Emilya Green]

Careful... this stuff might be pretty hot when applied to an active grow, so go slowly. They say it won't burn plants when applied at the suggested rates, but I also note that it is used to decompose organic waste and turn it into compost. This has to be some very powerful stuff. It probably is a good soil starter/rejuvenator though... I would use it in my compost bin to break down the plant debris that I throw in there.

 

[bobrown14]

That Jobe's compost starter is for compost bins not an active grow.

If you want to add beneficial microbes - look to Kelp Meal and EWC. These you can mix together and top dress and water thru them

For EWC you can go outside in the woods and find some beside logs laying around. Scoop up a 1/2 bucket. You'll have lots of microbes and fungi.

Look up "Leaf Mold" - another great source. Can make a pile of leaves and put that Jobe's stuff on the leaves. There's your compost after a few months.

 

[Nunyabiz]

The only teas I make are Sprouted Seed Tea.
Compost I use as a soil amendment and top dress.

 

[Hayron1088]

Careful... this stuff might be pretty hot when applied to an active grow, so go slowly. They say it won't burn plants when applied at the suggested rates, but I also note that it is used to decompose organic waste and turn it into compost. This has to be some very powerful stuff. It probably is a good soil starter/rejuvenator though... I would use it in my compost bin to break down the plant debris that I throw in there.

I have been using it and will update you all when I start seeing results! My outdoor compost is largely grass clippings, tree leaves and I few tree branches and that’s about it. It’s huge though, 3 ft across and over 4 ft tall LOL. I turned some of it and it was steaming really well so it’s working quite fast. Will be a fantastic compost for my next years grow! Love you all here, I’ve learned sooo much in such a short time! Also, once it’s recreationally legal in my state I will be creating a YouTube channel advocating for Disabled Veterans for cannabis use. I’m very excited and hope I hgain a loyal following and help Veterans like my self and also other non veterans!

That Jobe's compost starter is for compost bins not an active grow.

If you want to add beneficial microbes - look to Kelp Meal and EWC. These you can mix together and top dress and water thru them

For EWC you can go outside in the woods and find some beside logs laying around. Scoop up a 1/2 bucket. You'll have lots of microbes and fungi.

Look up "Leaf Mold" - another great source. Can make a pile of leaves and put that Jobe's stuff on the leaves. There's your compost after a few months.

Super informative thank you. I seriously need to get another notebook with the notes from everyone’s help. Just amazing. I’m doing this tomorrow after work for sure! I may not go “full organic” like NuttyProfessor(don’t know how to tag him) but I would like to do it as organic as possible. I have two composting bins. 1 is a 25gal tote vermicompost and in my bag yard I made a bin from chicken wire that’s roughly 4ft tall and 3 ft across and added the Compost Starter. So far so good, checked it around 1pm in 65F temps and man was she steamin!! I’m loving this knowledge. Seriously thank you.

 

[Nunyabiz]

If you really want to go 100% organic then try Living Organic Soil in 15+ gallon fabric pots.

 

[Hayron1088]

If you really want to go 100% organic then try Living Organic Soil in 15+ gallon fabric pots.

Indoors? I have a 2x4 tent which is enough for well... you probably know how many based on what size you want your plants lol. I have read a little bit about it just haven’t made the leap yet. I imagine I will eventually bc of how amazing it is. I have a friend that is claiming that with Fox Farms Ocean Forest and watered down coffee and water, that he won’t need any nutrients throughout the grow. I wanted to advise him not too but the more I thought, the more I wanted to see how it goes. I don’t think it’s a good idea AT ALL but hey who am I...

 

[parrajara]

@Emilya I feel like I missed out on a big part of my grow by not using compost tea. I, too, am confused about its applications/usability - like you initially were. It took me a while to differentiate between different growing mediums and the techniques associated with them. When I picked FFOF it was because it seemed like the easiest/safest bet, and when i picked Gaia Green organic fertilizers it was because I wanted to avoid liquid fertilizers, as I wanted to keep it organic.... this is as far as my understanding went. I never understood why, when, or where to use teas, nor did I understand the main difference between microbial activity when feeding with organic vs. synthetic- as you have just explained on this thread. I knew I could have benefited from teas all along my grow, I just didn't know how to use them so I didn't. I guess my question is;

Had I used compost tea all along my grow, would this have resulted in less top feedings? Would this have avoided all the times I starved my plants?

My understanding is the tea activates the already-available nutrients in the soil, so does this mean that all the times I kept feeding my plants throughout my grow, it wasn't necessarily because the soil was out of nutrients, but because there wasn't the adequate microbial activity to sustain/maintain the available nutrients in the soil?

Hope my questions are clear, because I'm confused as type them.

 

[bobrown14]

Here's a good question or 3.

What type of fungi and bacteria colonize cannabis plants roots?

How do we get those specialized microbes into the soil and propagate them?

How do we know those specialized microbes are in our compost teas?

 

[NuttyProfessor]

Here's a good question or 3.

What type of fungi and bacteria colonize cannabis plants roots?

How do we get those specialized microbes into the soil and propagate them?

How do we know those specialized microbes are in our compost teas?

IMO
Indigenous microorganisms are a group of innate microbial consortium that inhabits the soil and the surfaces of all living things inside and outside which have the potentiality in biodegradation, bioleaching, biocomposting, nitrogen fixation, improving soil fertility and as well in the production of plant growth

you go into wood lands , you find healthy trees, you collect leaf mold soils around a few ,
you then us a bucket with some boiled potato and rain water add you molds , you do NOT need to bubble you need the diversity
there should be a balance between all the microbes

• Apr 15, 2021 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< click here
• Thread starter

 

[NuttyProfessor]

Looks like this after three days , you use once the microbe gasses form a disc across the top ,
this is the IMO tea @bobrown14