This is the pump I was gonna get.
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Hey 420noob,
like my esteemed colleague TeddyNuggets uses, Down To Earth.
I got the idea from buying a bag of Compost Starter, as I collect leaves in the fall, then as I fill the bags, I wet it down and sprinkle a /12 cup or so, as I fill them.
This spring, I can how beat down those bags are over the couple I filled without anything added.
Best of luck to everyone!!
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I would recommend this one. About the same price, but WAY more powerful. It’s the one I use.
This one is 793 GPH for $29 vs. 48 GPH for $23.
It doesn’t come with air stones but you can pick up some 4” air stones for like $5 for 2 (I’d recommend using at least 4). Or better yet just make your own DIY “bubble snake” aerator out of PVC.
Like this, but out of PVC.
Or like in this video, but smaller:
You need a larger commercial air pump like I linked to run an aerator like the bubble snake. They are a lot easier to clean afterwards vs. airstones. But I do still use air stones too. My one 5 gallon bucket I use for compost tea has six of the 4” air stones in the bottom.
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Is this something that could be added to brewing tea? Or should I run this in a separate watering cycle?
Also I read somewhere that air stones air a bitch to clean afterwards cause a biofilm forms on them. Could I run with just open ended tubes or will that not add enough mixing bubbles?
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yep!
Would not hurt anything but that stuff is pretty well digested
You can add it to the tea once brewed.
I think P knocks down microbes, but that is from memory and could be wrong
I did that with a pvc 90 to weight it down.
It is not so much about the bubbles it is more about surface agitation at least for oxygen.
You do need to stir the bottom, that is why a vortex brewer is a good choice.
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Thanks I have compost bags don’t know if that makes a difference. Ya in thinking vortex is looking good.
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I wouldn’t think you should have to stir if you use bags. I usually throw my compost in loose and it settles down in between the air stones, so I have to stir it. With a bag it’ll keep all that compost contained wherever you hang it. I used to use those free nylon socks they give out at the shoe stores. But I went to loose when I ran out. I just strain it after brewing if I am going to foliar spray.
Just make sure you have enough air to agitate the whole surface of the water. You don’t want any pockets of stagnant water. That can cause anaerobic microbes, which you don’t want.
You’ll know if it goes anaerobic though. It’ll stink like sh*t! (like a foul smell)
Btw I’m putting together that package today. I’ll try to get it out tomorrow. I’ll reach out for your deets.
Give you a few more ingredients for your teas! I think I might have enough compost left to send you at least a few cups too (you can use like 1 cup at a time)
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@DirtySlowToes
This is good advice thanks for that!
This leads us to believe that compost teas produced with sugars are less effective in controlling the fungal pathogen.
only recommend molasses (sugars) to be used in the last weeks of the growing season.
After reading what @DirtySlowToes wrote I looked into things a bit more.
My guess is that the fish liquid could be used as a food source in compost tea but should probably be used in place of sugar.
At TeaLAB, we generally use Fish Powder as a food source for our teas,
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So my nursery’s only have a fish fert 2-2-2 or do I need a fish slurry.
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I like to brew Jadam Microbial solution “teas” for my plants. It’s an anaerobic KNF solution. I take one potato and microwave it with some water for 5 minutes, take a hand full of leaf mold (just old leaves off the ground will work) and add them to a paint strainer bag with the soft potato. Smash them together and put it in a bucket of water with either sea water (I use 30:1 ratio) or sea salt (about 10-20 grams per 4 gallons) and put the lid on. Then you just leave it for 24-72 hrs until you see lots of bubbles forming, warmer the room the quicker it will happen. You have a window of about 6-12 hrs to use the solution. Make sure to dilute between 10:1 and 20:1 depending on plants life stage. Super cheap, really easy and in my experience it’s very effective.
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Maybe @DirtySlowToes will have something to say about this…
But I would assume it should be fine, it is only serving as a food source for microbes.
Some fish products are probably better than others but I think this one should be good too…
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So I’d personally leave that product out of a tea only because it’s got urea and is already broken down. Added with whatever compost or microbe starter, it would likely(in my mind) end up being a bit strong and potentially burn plants. Those nutrients will be very very available and too much of a good thing can be bad. I personally have two little compost piles and one I try to keep high nitrogen and one high p. I’ll literally water in high n or high p nutrients into my compost piles and then I’ll have a better idea of what is in my mix and if I make a tea, where it leans. I like to add stuff to my compost rather than into the tea as an ingredient is all I’m saying. Lately ive been doing a lot of what @Loggershands has shown up there and have made jms/jlf… keeping on compost tea though, you could even make some jms and add it to a tea. Only the aerobic microbes would survive the process, but it would probably bring some extra goodies to the table.
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He has a good point urea can burn pretty easily and if it is broken down it can burn even easier.
That is a neat trick and makes good sense to me.
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So would this be a pretty easy diy project? To make my own one of these? I have a good pump already. @teddynuggets maybe you can help here? Also your compost bloom/veg teas how much per gal?
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Check out this diy “bubble snake” aerator design:
This one is different but also effective:
Here’s a PVC aerator design, but it’s meant for a bigger brewer so you’d have to adjust the lengths:
What do you mean when you say “how much per gallon”?
I usually do between 1 and 3 cups of compost or EWC (or a combo of both) into a 5 gallon brewer.
1 cup minimum.
Then if I am adding in anything else, it’s usually only like 1 tablespoon (at most) of that ingredient (like 1tbsp kelp meal, 1 tbsp of alfalfa, 1 tbsp rock dust). It really depends on what my goal is for the tea.
Like, if I am in the earlier stages of veg, or general veg after transplanting, I’d focus on building up the fungi populations. So I’d do aerated tea with just compost, humic acid and maybe a bit of kelp (both ingredients help feed fungi & build their population in the tea).
If I was looking to address a deficiency, I’d add an ingredient with the nutrient I was looking for. Like say, Iron. I’d add some of that glacial rock dust I sent you.
You can do it with just the compost alone too. You don’t have to add anything else if you don’t want to. Then you can water it in full strength. If you are adding in other ingredients, I usually then cut it with water before watering my plants (but not always)
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My last stem to free me from buying fertilizers.
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These will probably clog easily so keep an eye on it.
Remember you only need to move the water, injecting air is not necessary to achieve proper oxygenation.
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Thanks. i wad thinking of using my hose from automatic watering system. I have the pump already so playing it that way for know. Knowing me ill try 100 different ways even if they work lol.
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