I’m assuming all teas aren’t made for an all fits one solution correct? You guys got a 1 simple easy recipe tea that atleast will provide microbial life?
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Scoop of dirt bubbled in water for awhile water in ! Easy peasy!
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Forest dirt? I doubt store purchased regular black soil will be sufficient?
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Your correct ,getting the greatest diversity Is best I bit of garden soil, Soil from a river bank , different types of ecosystems and such .
If ya like reading I can’t recommend enough “the book “ teaming with microbes “ by Jeff Lowenfels or any YouTube vids by Elaine Ingram!
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I use mushroom compost with my mix. A mix from the Amish
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They won’t need any food in the first two weeks they have everything they need in their seed but after that they may start to need food
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This is where I’m at right now. 3 week old plants and I had them in low nutritional soil. Uppoted today to my regular soil recipe 
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Teaming with Microbes is an excellent resource. Cant recommend enough!! I own a digital copy myself. @CADMAN
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No there not I think there tits up now worked for them a few years back and those jars were left overs from a show we did in Vancouver . I’m sure with some looking you’ll find a simpler brand , I think they were selling 4 oz for 30.00 .
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Anyone ever use https://www.kisorganics.com/collections/add-microbes/products/plant-probiotics-free-shipping??? Seems like the exact thing I’m looking for … Microbes in a jar.
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It is the difference between fresh and canned.
Canned is going to last a lot longer on the shelf but fresh is always (almost always) better.
There is a slow attrition rate (time on the shelf) on the canned microbes.
(by canned I mean Shelf Stable, Easy-to-Use Powder)
Cheers
G
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Holy Crap everyone is making this difficult. Please don’t pay for microbes. What do you think EWC’s are? Pure Microbes.
@ReikoX, @misterbee, and the others are all correct. My best microbes come from my old nasty worm bin in my basement. Not from a store.
Go to this page and make yourself a worm bin. This is better than any microbes online, more fun and cheaper.
Let's see your worm bins!
Go look online for some solid EWC on craigslist or Facebook Marketplace if you need some to get you through. Or even on Etsy I’ve seen some good EWC for sale.
TEA:
Tea is for larger operations where you do not have enough EWC for each individual plant. This is microbe tea I am speaking on.
I grow 1000’s of cut flowers every year. It’s my job. I spray EWC tea on these because it would take a truck load of EWC’s and that would cost way too much to top dress every plant with EWC. SOOO… I brew a EW casting tea with the recipe from Tim Wilson (see link). This man is the Yoda of compost tea.
Microbeorganics.com
Tea makes it possible to spread a few gallons of EWC microbes over multiple acres of produce or flowers. For our smaller indoor operations it’s better to put EWC right on top.
-HTH
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@Tommy_McCain and everyone else also.
Thank you for the info, it’s super helpful. I’ll get to reading about everything quickly… I’ve probably skimmed some of these topics in the past, but re reading all this info well help me retain the knowledge for the best.
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Also, your ProMix w/Mycorrhizae is already preloaded with microbes (mycorrhizae). Add 1/4 teaspoon of molasses and/or humic acid to your water and you will feed the microbes and promote their growth. The microbes in turn, break down the nutrients and make them available for uptake to the plant via the roots. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
As others have stated, you can use your local soil, forest hummus, local cow manure, or EWC in order to get microbes, but even better, you’ll get microbes suited to your growing region/environment.
Just make an environment in your soil that will harbor a massive microbe colony. They do all of the work so the plant can use the nutrients they have just unlocked. peace
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@GMan Excatly… This is exactly my thinking the last 3 grows and it turned out wonderful…
I think my mentor lost track of what I was doing, freaked me out and I kinda believed the mentor.
Hahaa thank GOD I was right the whole time to start with Been thinking about doing EWC tea drench once a month on a mini level for 4 plants VS top dressing EWC monthly. At least my ewc would last longer lol
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It also has lime in it so it is PH perfect. I love premixed Promix. I will always use it for a time saver. Everything you need but nutrients.
On tea again. I prefer to topdress any nutrients such as kelp meal. I will bubble some kelp and neem if a plant needs a little more. Bubbling for 24 hours or so will help the nutrients become available quicker. I also will strain this mix and foliar on the plants. This almost always fixes the problem in a week or two.
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@Tommy_McCain love HP Promix Mycorrhizae + Gaia green powered Nutrients + EWC…
What does Help or Neem do exactly in teas?
Is it possibly to use Neem tea, Actual tea from David’s Tea company? Just a thought as I already have it here. I’d like to attempt a mini tea and apply it via slow hand watering …
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It’s rich in nitrogen, phosphotus, sulfer and calcium.
It also is supposed to help repel bugs and/or kill them.
I will say that I mix my own soil, and I was attacked by mites outdoors this summer. I do include neem cake in my mix.
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Without getting too nerdy and quoting a bunch of scientific papers I may or may not understand…Google Neem Chitinase if you want some reading.
It contains a bunch of enzymes that are good for the plant. I’ve used it since I began growing with organic soil and I’m not one for change. I usually alternate between Kelp/Neem tea and Kelp/Alfalfa tea. I use them in the way any knowledgeable gardener would… I read the plant.
Edit: Watch over applying these. Overuse of these can cause foxtailing…especially late in flower.
As far as bugs. The enzymes are supposed to help with the bugs. I had luck a few times watering in strong neem tea on fungus gnats. I would never do this again after purchasing beneficial nematodes from Arbico. One watering in of the nematodes and the gnats are gone.
Oh shit I’m really high and rambling…sorry.
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