deeproots

Pepperpot mentions the following percentages for beginner compost tea.
20% (weight/volume) carbon source, Molasses
10% (w/v) of your nitrogen source , Yeast extract flour, rice meal, wheat

Does this mean that if I want to brew 10 pounds of compost, I should add 2 pounds of molasses and 1 pound yeast extract? I am confused on the weight per volume issue. Thanks

Pepperpot

Mixing ingredients by weight is always the prefered technique but by volume will work also. Here is the quote from that article:20% sugar
10% yeast
10% kelp
60% compost

The resulting tea will be a concentrated tea that must be diluted before using. Here is a link to that article in the advanced grow guide: Compost Tea

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deeproots

I am confused on making the tea concentrate. Here is my current tea mix
derived from Pepperpot's percentages.
1/4 cup worm casting 60%
1 1/3 T molasses 20%
2/3 T rice flour 10%
2/3 T kelp 10%
How much water should I add initially to make the tea concentrate? I understand the 1:5 dilution ratio but how much water to start with? Enough to just saturate the dry sticky ingredients?

Also, I have been adding 1 Tablespoon alfalfa meal to the concentrate during veg and 1 Tablespoon guano during flower. Is this too much for my concentrate? I seem to be burning the plants a little.
How often so you use compost tea on your plants? Every watering?
Do you slowly increase the concentrate of tea as the plants grow larger?

Thank you for your help. I have a profound interest in compost teas.

Pepperpot

This is a good ratio for 1 gal of water. You also need an oxegen source to get everything brewing more effeciently.

What's the NPK of your guano? If it is high in nitrogen, this may be the reason for the burn, also straight worm castings are high in Nitrogen as compared to compost. Compost and worm castings are two different things.

To start using apply a diluted amount to the soil every other watering and see how the plants like it, then adjust how much you use over time.

Less is more in this case and can be increased over time, also compost tea can reduce the amount of other nutrients you give the plant.

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pfrtheotherside

Hi all;

A friend has a worm bed and he is going to bring me up some of the worm castings. Can I make a tea out of it or just mix it up into the soil for the next transplant?

They will probably go into one gal pots. Some of the stuff like kelp, we just can't get around here.

Do you just mix it in a bucket with water or do you actually boil it?

Want to try it on just one plant .

TOS

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B.Banner

worm cstings can be used as a top dressing, mixed into the soil or brewed as a tea. When used as a top dressing just mix a small amout into the top inch or so of your soil and water down, or mix in some when your making your soil, I don't remember the ratio right now but maybe a cup per gallon? That's totally a guess offhand, will have to get back to you on that. When you brew a tea you're not actually boiling it, you're making an aerated tea, this means you add it to water at about 1 Tbsp. per gallon and letting it mix, either frequently by hand or with an air pump and air stone to maximize oxygen. This guy breaks it down way better than I can: