cannatricks
Well-Known Member
So I have done a lot of research over the years on compost teas and use a couple different types in our little nursery, but growing MJ has renewed my want to make things perfect and so I've been doing some experimentation and more reading. I couldn't find a good guide on here for Compost teas, I saw a few that showed the some recipes/techniques, but no one explaining the 'Why'; so I thought I would put up this little guide for peoples use.
Compost Tea-
Compost Tea is more or less a liquid version of your compost pile. This simple version is take your compost; throw it in a bucket filled with water for a week; strain; and Voila! you have compost tea. We will start with this, and work our way into better teas.
Why it works-
In organic gardening fore-thought and time are your biggest allies. There are not many 'instantaneous' nutrients that you can use to 'fix' your problems. You can't put raw sea kelp on your soil and expect it to work at all, this is because organic matter is a Compound, and nutrients that your plant can uptake are elements. There is a big rift in this site on the knowledge of how organics work (I think through the horrible marketing of these 'organic extracts') Organic gardening works because of a Microherd. The bacteria and fungi that live in your soil. These organisms work to break down these Organic Compounds into Simple Elementsso that they may be taken in by the plant directly. When you look at a box of organic nutrients and you see an NPK ratio, that is not instant, that is what is left after it is broken down through composting (whether in your soil, or in your teas) There is a great post HERE explaining this very well.
Basically, bacteria break it down, fungi move it around and into the roots.
Cannabis and Compost Tea-
The ratio of bacteria - fungi is rather important as you go through your cycle of life. Most plants prefer one or the other, however Cannabis is a little strange being an annual it changes it's needs based on the period of it's life cycle. All plants do this to a point, but with the strains bred over time to take on more nutrients then it would in nature, Cannabis is a fickle girl to get the most out of her. Teas strong in Bacterial count are great for vegetation phase, and the stretch phase of flower, this is because Cannabis takes up WAY more nitrogen then any other nutrient and this uptake is needed during the growth of the leaves and stems. The bacteria are needed to keep breaking down your nitrogen so the plant can uptake it. After the stretch (which means start during as organics do take time) fungal teas are more useful. Some Fungi are known to allow plants to absorb more K (needed for flower!) and allow greater movement of nutrients throughout the soil. You don't need the breaking down from bacteria as much, as they have been releasing the P and K that the plant hasn't used.
A note about a particular fungi-
Here is a little list of regular additions to compost teas, giving you an idea of what types of ingrediants promote which growth
In our Nursery I use straw as my primary fungal food, most organic carbon matter is great for fungi to attach to; and sugars (molasses/sugars/etc.) this directly feeds the bacteria so they can multiply.
Back to the original recipe, Compost + Water + Time= compost tea.
Now we want to supercharge this tea with aeration, this will provide a couple of HUGE benefits. The first being, harmful bacteria are more prevalent to anaerobic conditions (no air involved), Ecoli is one you probably recognize, it doesn't thrive will in aerated teas, but in a anaerobic tea, it breeds like crazy. Also this provides a constant movement of the water, circulating the microorganisms so they can work together better and reproduce much much more quickly. The difference in time is from weeks to days.
Now looking at our simple tea Compost, Water, Air,[less] time = better tea. But we are still missing the fungal part. We have bred a great amount of bacteria but there is nothing for the fungi to attach to and the bacteria have overgrown them. Add any kind of raw organic matter that will float, you don't need to over do it, but a handful of ground oats, a bit of straw cut up, some raw sea kelp, whatever you have around will do if your compost is good from the beginning.
I also have a great tip, if you are having problems getting your fungi to get moving go to a nice fertile forest bed and dig a handful of soil out, this is so full of fungi that you won't need much else to get it started.
Now to balance out the fungus and bacteria I add a couple spoonfuls of raw molasses to feed the bacteria.
So our simple tea is getting more complicated, but still very simple.
Water
Compost
Forest Soil
Organic Matter (something that floats!)
Sugars
Aeration
Organic Compounds
Time
This should be your base for all compost teas. Now any Organic Compounds you add to it will get broken down very quickly (in a matter of days) so the nutrients will be usable to the plant, as well as supercharging the micro herd in your soil. How you alter the ratios of the ingrediants above denotes how bacterial/fugal your tea is.
Very Simply, bacterial compost can be made using 30% floating organic material, 45% organic compounds (bone meal, guano etc,) and 25% compost; whereas, fungal compost can be made using 45% floating organic material, 30% organic compounds, and 25% compost. If you would like to create a more balanced compost, use 35% floating organic material, 35% organic compounds, and 30% compost.
My simple Veg tea (that I also use for my nursery)
25% Compost
10% Straw
30% Organic Compounds (sea kelp, alfalfa meal, bone/blood meal)
30% Worm Castings (very high in bacteria)
5% Molasses
My currentflowering tea recipe
25% Compost
10% ground straw
10% ground oats
30% sea kelp
10% alfalfa meal
5% worm castings
10% fresh forest soil
a pinch of molasses (probably 1tbsp per 5 gal)
I brew my Teas with an airstone for at least 72 hours before use. My veg tea is self sustaining, every week I add more water and ingrediants, with the flowering tea, I make it, use it, and toss it. (if anyone has experience getting a fungal tea to brew for long periods, let me know!)
Please post your own tea recipes, and if you are wanting to brew one up yourself, lets see if we can make some from what you have on hand!
Cheers People
CannaTricks
Compost Tea-
Compost Tea is more or less a liquid version of your compost pile. This simple version is take your compost; throw it in a bucket filled with water for a week; strain; and Voila! you have compost tea. We will start with this, and work our way into better teas.
Why it works-
In organic gardening fore-thought and time are your biggest allies. There are not many 'instantaneous' nutrients that you can use to 'fix' your problems. You can't put raw sea kelp on your soil and expect it to work at all, this is because organic matter is a Compound, and nutrients that your plant can uptake are elements. There is a big rift in this site on the knowledge of how organics work (I think through the horrible marketing of these 'organic extracts') Organic gardening works because of a Microherd. The bacteria and fungi that live in your soil. These organisms work to break down these Organic Compounds into Simple Elementsso that they may be taken in by the plant directly. When you look at a box of organic nutrients and you see an NPK ratio, that is not instant, that is what is left after it is broken down through composting (whether in your soil, or in your teas) There is a great post HERE explaining this very well.
Basically, bacteria break it down, fungi move it around and into the roots.
Cannabis and Compost Tea-
The ratio of bacteria - fungi is rather important as you go through your cycle of life. Most plants prefer one or the other, however Cannabis is a little strange being an annual it changes it's needs based on the period of it's life cycle. All plants do this to a point, but with the strains bred over time to take on more nutrients then it would in nature, Cannabis is a fickle girl to get the most out of her. Teas strong in Bacterial count are great for vegetation phase, and the stretch phase of flower, this is because Cannabis takes up WAY more nitrogen then any other nutrient and this uptake is needed during the growth of the leaves and stems. The bacteria are needed to keep breaking down your nitrogen so the plant can uptake it. After the stretch (which means start during as organics do take time) fungal teas are more useful. Some Fungi are known to allow plants to absorb more K (needed for flower!) and allow greater movement of nutrients throughout the soil. You don't need the breaking down from bacteria as much, as they have been releasing the P and K that the plant hasn't used.
A note about a particular fungi-
http://www.mycorrhiza.com/?cid=60
Here is a little list of regular additions to compost teas, giving you an idea of what types of ingrediants promote which growth
| White Sugar | Bacteria | Maple Syrup | Bacteria |
| Corn Syrup | Bacteria | Cane Sugar | Bacteria |
| Molasses | Bacteria/Fungi | Fish Emulsion | Bacteria |
| Fruit Pulp | Bacteria/Fungi | Fish Hydrolysate | Fungi |
| Kelp | Bacteria/Fungi | Ground Oatmeal | Fungi |
| Rock Dusts | Bacteria/Fungi | Yucca | Fungi |
| Humic Acids | Bacteria/Fungi | Soybean Meal | Fungi |
In our Nursery I use straw as my primary fungal food, most organic carbon matter is great for fungi to attach to; and sugars (molasses/sugars/etc.) this directly feeds the bacteria so they can multiply.
Back to the original recipe, Compost + Water + Time= compost tea.
Now we want to supercharge this tea with aeration, this will provide a couple of HUGE benefits. The first being, harmful bacteria are more prevalent to anaerobic conditions (no air involved), Ecoli is one you probably recognize, it doesn't thrive will in aerated teas, but in a anaerobic tea, it breeds like crazy. Also this provides a constant movement of the water, circulating the microorganisms so they can work together better and reproduce much much more quickly. The difference in time is from weeks to days.
Now looking at our simple tea Compost, Water, Air,[less] time = better tea. But we are still missing the fungal part. We have bred a great amount of bacteria but there is nothing for the fungi to attach to and the bacteria have overgrown them. Add any kind of raw organic matter that will float, you don't need to over do it, but a handful of ground oats, a bit of straw cut up, some raw sea kelp, whatever you have around will do if your compost is good from the beginning.
I also have a great tip, if you are having problems getting your fungi to get moving go to a nice fertile forest bed and dig a handful of soil out, this is so full of fungi that you won't need much else to get it started.
Now to balance out the fungus and bacteria I add a couple spoonfuls of raw molasses to feed the bacteria.
So our simple tea is getting more complicated, but still very simple.
Water
Compost
Forest Soil
Organic Matter (something that floats!)
Sugars
Aeration
Organic Compounds
Time
This should be your base for all compost teas. Now any Organic Compounds you add to it will get broken down very quickly (in a matter of days) so the nutrients will be usable to the plant, as well as supercharging the micro herd in your soil. How you alter the ratios of the ingrediants above denotes how bacterial/fugal your tea is.
Very Simply, bacterial compost can be made using 30% floating organic material, 45% organic compounds (bone meal, guano etc,) and 25% compost; whereas, fungal compost can be made using 45% floating organic material, 30% organic compounds, and 25% compost. If you would like to create a more balanced compost, use 35% floating organic material, 35% organic compounds, and 30% compost.
My simple Veg tea (that I also use for my nursery)
25% Compost
10% Straw
30% Organic Compounds (sea kelp, alfalfa meal, bone/blood meal)
30% Worm Castings (very high in bacteria)
5% Molasses
My currentflowering tea recipe
25% Compost
10% ground straw
10% ground oats
30% sea kelp
10% alfalfa meal
5% worm castings
10% fresh forest soil
a pinch of molasses (probably 1tbsp per 5 gal)
I brew my Teas with an airstone for at least 72 hours before use. My veg tea is self sustaining, every week I add more water and ingrediants, with the flowering tea, I make it, use it, and toss it. (if anyone has experience getting a fungal tea to brew for long periods, let me know!)
Please post your own tea recipes, and if you are wanting to brew one up yourself, lets see if we can make some from what you have on hand!
Cheers People
CannaTricks
