Guano tea!
- Thread starter C-rell
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Growing247
New Member
I think the substance you are talking about is WORM COMPOST TEA. You can either make the stuff yourself, or, if you live near a grow shop, they may have a fridge (to keep the tea cold) and a VERMI-T tea brewer that allows them to brew and sell concentrated Worm Compost Tea. I buy mine from the hyrdroponics shop by my house and a container lasts about 10 days. In nature, the soil is full of worms, and these worms, and their castings (worm dung) make the soil and the plantlife above healthy by aerating the soil and their castings also helps the soil a lot . When we grow with soil indoors, the plants do not have these worms and as a result do not produce as well as a plant with a more natural environment. Also, I searched google quickly and found dozens of web sites that explain the benefits of worm compost tea. Take the time to reas them and it helps you understand more about what makes your cannabis plants healthy and happy.
Crookedfinger
New Member
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Crookedfinger
New Member
May be a dumb question, but why not just throw some worms in your pots?
OKAY ALL MY FELLOW POTENT POT PLANTERS, I'M STILL WORKING ON MY FIRST CROP SO I'VE GOT ALOT OF GREAT "NOOB" QUESTIONS! =]]
HERE THEY ARE!
WHAT IS GUANO TEA?...HOW DO YOU USE IT? ..&...SHOULD I USE IT?!
ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN GREAT SO FAR, SO I KNO GREAT INFO IS SOON TO COME!!!
This is not my work... just sharing the knowledge:
Bat Guano
"There are, in Cuba, a great number of caves providing a considerable supply of the richest fertilizer. In these caves, where bats shelter, a fertilizer has accumulated, a true guano, the result of a mixture of solid and liquid excrement, the remains of the fruit that fed the animals, and their own carcasses. All these materials, sheltered from the sun, air and rain, form a rich mix of nitrogenous, carbonaceous and saline elements. They contain uric acid, ammonium urate, nitrates, phosphates and calcium carbonate, alkaline salts, etc. The huge quantity of guano amassed in some caves can be explained by the number of beasts that have sheltered there for so many years".
Alvaro Reinoso - "Ensayos sobre el cultivo de la caña de azúcar", ("Essays on sugar-cane cultivation"), Havana - 1862
Bat and seabird guano are some of the most wonderful, extraordinary, versatile, naturally occurring organic fertilizers known to man. They are not considered to be a renewable resource, and they are sometimes mined in an environmentally destructive fashion, so environmentally conscious growers sometimes avoid guano.
Bat Guano - Bat guano is found as deposits in some caves that have been inhabited by these little flying mammals. Bat crap can sometimes also be found in smaller quantities in other places bats inhabit (old or abandoned buildings, trees, etc.). Bat guano has many horticultural uses. Its presence can help to guarantee efficient soil regeneration. When used as a fertilizer or tea, bat crap fosters abundant harvests of a high quality, making it an invaluable agricultural fertilizer for producing outstanding organic herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Many dedicated organic farmers insist that bat guano brings out the best flavors in their organic herbs. The bottom line is bat guano has many excellent properties that give it great value for growing an organic product of the highest quality. It may very well be possible to justify the boast that bat guano is "superior to all other natural fertilizers".
Bat Guano consists primarily of excrement of bats (no surprises there - eh?) It also contains the remains of bats that lived and died in that location over many long years. Bat guano is usually found in caves, and bats are not the only residents. Therefore, bat guano almost certainly contains the remains and excrement of other critters such as insects, mice, snakes and (gasp!) even birds. And, guano is by no means just collected excrement and animal remains, as guano ages it can undergo a array of complex decomposition and leaching processes.
The fertilizer quality of any particular bat guano depends on variety of factors. These can include: the type of rock in which the guano cave formed, the feeding habits of the bat species producing the guano, the guano's age, and the progress of mineralization in the guano (which undergoes an endless transformation through chemical and biological processes). Guano can appear in a wide range of colors including white, yellow, brown, hazel, gray, black, or red, but color does not indicate or influence its quality.
One of the factors that can determine the fertilizer quality of bat guano is the dietary habits of the different bat species who inhabit a cave. Some bats are vegetarian, eating primarily fruits. Other bats are carnivorous; their diet usually consists of insects and similar small critters. As an example, the specific form of nitrogen in guano will depend on the feeding habits of the bats living in the caves. Bats that feed on insects eject fragments of chitin, the main component of insects' exoskeletons. Chitin resists decomposition, and contributes a long lasting form of nitrogen that appears in many older guano deposits. Obviously, chitin from digested insect remains is not likely to be found in any quantity in the guano of fruit eating bats.
Even a cave's location will effect the composition of guano deposits found within. Different chemical reactions during the actual cave making process result in different nutrient characteristics in the various guano. Over time, guano combines in various ways with the actual rock and minerals from the bedrock of their region. Ultimately, minerals may be deposited throughout layers of guano by a variety of means. Minerals that have been dissolved in water filtering through porous rock from above can fortify guano deposits as they drip from cave ceilings. In caves where water filters through the guano, soluble elements will likely be washed out, so the composition of the guano changes in other ways as well.
In addition to minerals deposited by leaching water, another factor in guano composition is the huge amount of particulates that fall from the cave ceilings and walls where the bats sleep and hibernate. The release of their liquid excrement at high-pressure pounds cave walls, and the physical presence of the bats as they constantly flit about, both combine to cause erosion. Chemical reactions caused by the bat crap (as well as many natural cave making processes), also work to break down cave ceilings and walls. All of these factors result in an invisible rain of minute solid mineral particulates. All of these mineral particulates are mixed into the copious quantities of bat crap (and other matter) deposited on the floor. As a result, bat guanos have a wide range natural / organic source mineral nutrients that are immediately available for plants, called chelates.
Another large component of bat guano deposits is the "fauna" within, the great collection of microorganisms that work as decomposers. Their main function is to accelerate the process of breaking down organic matter in the guano. These beneficial bacteria populations work to increase the guano's wealth of essential nutrients, and can provide their own benefit to gardeners as a soil inoculate.
Once bat guano is deposited, it begins and endless process of transformation. From fresh deposits, nitrogen is the essential element that is usually released first. This is partially as ammonia, with its characteristic strong smell, which is omnipresent in fresh guano. The rest of the nitrogen oxidizes and forms nitrates that are often dissolved and leached by water. The phosphorus contained in guano comes partly from bat excrement, but is generally from skeletal remains (it may also come from mineral elements in the cave.) Many of the decomposition processes work to concentrate phosphorous levels in bat guano deposits as they age, and this provides some of guano's greatest value to gardeners. Potassium is often the least represented of the three essential macro-elements, due to the solubility of its compounds, which are usually washed out of guano deposits by natural cave conditions.
During decomposition the actual proportion of the different fertilizer components of the guano change. As the guano breaks down, the levels of organic matter, nitrogen, and potassium will fall. At the same time, the relative levels of calcium, phosphates, sand, and clay levels will rise. The actual excrement and remains of bats are the main source of the elements nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in guano. The organic compounds in the excrement contain sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen. After decomposition and oxidation, these combine to form sulfuric, phosphoric, and nitric acids.
Over time, those acids react with mineral elements from cave rock to form a variety of mineral salts - including sulphates, phosphates, and nitrates. Leaching washes out most of the soluble compounds including the nitrates, sodium, and potassium compounds. At the same time, the insoluble phosphates and sulphates build up in larger proportions. These include calcium phosphate, iron phosphate, aluminum phosphate and calcium sulphate. .
As we have already said, bat guano is an ecological fertilizer, obtained naturally from the excrement and physical remains of bats living in caves. This product is rich in nutrients, outclassing all other existing organic fertilizers, with a better balance of essential nutrients (N-P-K), a wealth of micro-organisms and much higher levels of organic matter. Its chemical and biological composition vary according to the bats' feeding habits, type of cave, age of guano, etc.
A great variety of different agrochemical analyses have been carried out on bat guano through the years. All the different analysis show that the nutrient and micro-organism content of bat guano's are high, but it varies according to the type of guano. Because the chemical, physical and biological composition of bat guano (and other organic fertilizers) will naturally vary, it is impossible to set a specific single value for any nutrient. The table below is copied from internet research and is a summary of the variety of results obtained from bat guano analyses.
Source: Omar Páez Malagón, January 2004
Total Nitrogen(N) 1.00-6.00%
Phosphorus Oxide (P2O5) 1.50-9.00%
Potassium Oxide (K2O) 0.70-1.20%
Calcium Oxide (CaO) 3.60-12.0%
Magnesium Oxide (MgO) 0.70-2.00%
Iron (Fe) 0.70-1.50%
Copper (Cu) 0.20-0.50%
Manganese Oxide (MnO) 0.40-0.70%
Zinc (Zn) 0.40-0.65%
Sodium (Na+) 0.45-0.50%
Organic matter (OM) 30-65% pH (in H2O) 4.3-5.5
Ratio C/N 8-15/1
Humidity (Hy) 40-30%
Total humic extract 25-15.00%
Microbial flora 30 - 45x107 u.f.c./ gr
Note:
These values are not always uniform, but provide useful data for calculating doses of nutrients or micro-organisms and analyzing the product's physical properties for agricultural or industrial use. These indicators are for intermediate guano, in the natural state of transition between fresh guano and old or fossil guano. Source: Omar Páez Malagón, January 200
Seabird guano-contains an equivalent percentage of plant nutrients,helps bind soil particles,aids in nitrogen fixation and greatly enhances beneficial bacteria. A great all around nutrient with quite a history.The most famous of all seabird guano's was that used by the Inca's,the word guano actually originated from Quechua, language of the Inca civilization and means "the droppings of sea birds".The guano was collected on the rainless islands and coast of Peru.Where the atmospheric conditions insured a minimal loss of nutrients,leaving the Legendary fertilizer of the Incas.Seabird guano can be used as an soil amendment or as a tea at 1-2tbsp per gal.Because of its balanced npk ratio,an average of 10-10-2.5,seabird guano can be used as a base when making tea's (throughout out the grow)
chronicBJJ
New Member
*get a 5 gal bucket
*fill it with water
*put an airstone with aquarium pump in it
*run for a day or two to get rid of chlorine
*pour some worm casting in it
*throw some guano in there
*put in other additives you want
*add some mollasses
*let it bubble for a day or two until you see a nice foam/head
feed to plants
and watch them explode
*fill it with water
*put an airstone with aquarium pump in it
*run for a day or two to get rid of chlorine
*pour some worm casting in it
*throw some guano in there
*put in other additives you want
*add some mollasses
*let it bubble for a day or two until you see a nice foam/head
feed to plants
and watch them explode
ImWaldo
New Member
That's what I do. They can help decompose compost into nutrients for the bacteria in the soil to convert into food for the plants. I have an organic gardening book by Howard Garrett, and he says you can never have too many worms.
