Hello there fellow growers!With a little extra time this past holiday weekend and while I've been learning more about organic amendments, I have been intrigued by introducing microbes ahead of nutrients and the flowering cycle. I purchased the "GFP" from nature's living soil and was using it as a top feeding for the auto pots. I still need to feed some of my other plants but for now, I've only been top feeding a few to see how it goes. This mix appears to be formulated for the flower cycle so this makes sense for these autos.
There's instructions on the package for how to mix up a compost tea and while I have some good worm castings, this stuff had a really stinky smell to it and I like the flowering focused nutrients it brings at this stage of my grow.
Ingredients
This mix calls for (2 Tbl) GFP and (2 Tbl) of unsulphured molasses for each gallon of water.
Instructions
I set the air pump above the bucket and increased the air flow to the max setting. I used two air stones and the air lines had adjustable pressure, so I opened those valves up. More flow the better!
On Sunday, I started setting up the tea and didn't have a cheese cloth handy, so I used an old under shirt. I've heard of people using old clothes for this and you can even just put the compost materials in raw but will have to sift it out in the end.
I found a 5-gallon bucket can be maximized at around 4 gallons as you want to leave some room for the aeration. I've read that you want to apply this to the soil at 1:3 to water and I tried to pre-mix a few gallons at that ratio for future feedings.
I first started out mixing in the molasses into the water, as I go. To prep the compost, I tied a knot in one end of the shirt to help trap in the mix and used a tie on the other end but left some room for it to move around. The GFP was chunky, so I used my hands to help break it up in the water before setting up the air stones.
I set a hand towel over the top of the bucket while it was brewing for 24-hours. When it's all done, I could see a layer of bubbles and this is a good sign that the microbes are going to work. The leftover compost was still moist and I added it to the top soil and spread it out evenly. I've read that you want to dilute this 1:3 with water, so I premixed a few gallons that way and saved a few gallons for later too.
I am thinking that there are times when it makes sense to add a good compost tea and it can provide a real boost for growth or recovery from deficiencies. Do you brew compost teas? If so, what do you add to your mix and what timing makes sense for you to add it to your grow / watering schedule?
Cheers fellow growers to brewing your own tea and getting bigger yields!
