Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Posted July 11, 2012 by Rob Avis & filed under Compost, Fungi, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Soil Rehabilitation, Structure. by Rob Avis Permaculturists everywhere are crazy about their compost teas and extracts. They have turned building compost tea brewers into a science and concocting the perfect tea recipe into an art. We love our compost brews too, and since were always getting questions about the compost tea process, we thought it was time to sit down and write a post about it. In this article well explain the difference between a tea and an extract, discuss the best ingredients and recipes, and give you the step-by-step how-to for making your own compost tea brewer.
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
Mark I 4 black grommets that replace the bulkhead fitting $1.00 ea 1 x 5 gallon bucket free blue polyurethane hose free 1 barbed T hose piece $2.00 high-pressure (3.9 psi), high-volume air pump, 65 litres per minute $119* drill bit to insert the grommet Total ~ $129 Putting it all together Watch the following video to see Rob explain the how-tos of building your own 5 gallon brewer:
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
Recipes (they taste terrible but your plants will love em)
5 Gallon Extract To make a 5 gallon extract, fill your bucket 4 inches from the top and bubble air into the water for a few minutes to offgas any chemicals. You will preferably be using clean rain water, filtered city water (no chlorine), or river water. If you dont have filtered water you can offgas the chlorine by letting your bucket sit out overnight as long as your town or city does not use chloramine. After you have bubbled your water for a few minutes, add 250-500 grams of compost or worm castings into the bucket and let it bubble for 2 4 hours. Your extract is now complete and ready to apply.
5 Gallon Tea The compost tea is more complicated and requires a more thorough process, so we got permission from the Soil Foodweb Canada to post their recipe and procedure here (PDF).
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
determined by the farmers goals and the condition of the soil. Obviously the worse the soil, the higher the concentration needed. Generally speaking though, 1000 litres of tea can spray between 25 acres of land. To put that in perspective, my 20 ft x 20ft back yard would only need anywhere from 2 4.4 litres for the entire yard, depending on the application rate. That is a little less than 25% of one 5 gallon brew. The best thing about teas and extracts: as long as they are not anaerobic, you cant overdo it! Watering Can This is, of course, the easiest way to distribute brews at a home scale. Because they pour out a lot of water at a time, you may want to increase the dilution rate to make sure you cover your desired area. I still recommend filtering your tea/extract first to prevent frustration. Hand Spray Equipment The spray is great for foliar and soil drenching. We use a hand sprayer at the Verge Headquarters because we dont have much area to cover. Cleaning We cannot stress enough: you must clean your brewer before and after every brew! Our highly recommended tools: a bristle brush, some concentrated hydrogen peroxide, and warm water. As soon as you empty the tea or extract from the bucket, be sure to take everything apart and scrub it individually. If you dont, a biofilm will form, which can wreak havoc in future teas and extracts.
Desarae Williams
Thank you very much for this explanation. The difference between compost tea and extract was an area I had been slightly confused about. Very timely information. I wonder if the recommended stirring methodolgy when making biodynamic teas, is somewhat related to improving the aeration of the mix?
July 12th, 2012 Reply
Kieran Sikdar
Rob,
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
Excellent article and very much appreciated. I wanted to confirm the parameters of the air pump since thats the most expensive piece. Are high-pressure (3.9 psi), high-volume air pump, 65 litres per minute correct? The reason I am asking is that the specific pump you listed seems to be a size too large. It looks like the Commercial Air 3 meets the specs you listed. Would air stones help deal with minimizing anaerobic zones? With a high volume pump, I would think it would be easy to run at least three stones to aerate and a hose to stir. Im a newbie and have no experience with this equipment, but I thought Id just throw it out there. Thank you in advance for any input on the pump & air stones! I look forward to trying both an extract and tea for max quantities and diversity! Best Regards, Kieran
July 13th, 2012 Reply
rob avis
Desarae, Thanks for the comment. The biodynamic mixing breaks the surface tension which is what allows the air to dissolve into the water. To my knowledge though, the concentration of biology in biodyanmic preparations is much lower. thx rob
July 15th, 2012 Reply
rob avis
Kieran, Those perameters are correct, 3.9 psi at 65 litres per minute. I would advise against air stones for two reasons. 1) They will become plugged with biofilm after 1 or 2 uses which will go anaerobic and turn your tea off. 2) Some research indicates that the small bubbles will shred the fungi. Use larger bubbles. It is mostly the action of breaking surface tension that dissolves oxygen into the water not the bubbles themselves. Hope that helps, thanks for the comments. Rob
July 15th, 2012 Reply
theGardener
Compost tea is probably a useful thing. But the matter is that it takes a lot of time to be prepared and nobody knows what kind of bacteria and funguses he grows. Together with useful bacteria there can live harmful fungi and other plant diseases in your compost. Instead of it you can take already done and guaranteed microorganisms which will work in the soil and on plants as fungicides and insecticides. Any harm, any lost time, any equipment. The whole you need is the biological preparation and water. To be sure visit the page 3 duby dot altcompostea dot x90x dot net. Believe me youve never seen something better.
July 16th, 2012 Reply
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Name *
Email *
Website
Comment
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
Post Comment
Confirm you are NOT a spammer Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.
Subscribe
Like
1,937 people like this. Sign Up to see what your friends like.
Ajnls a Google-on
Categories
Animals (186) Community (555) Design (570) Earthworks & Earth Resources (128) Events, Resources & News (783) Food & Food Support Systems (71)
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
General (100) Permaculture Projects (869) Plants (493) Soil (353) Compost (135) Fungi (73) Soil Biology (120) Soil Composition (84) Soil Conservation (170) Soil Rehabilitation (301) Soil Salination (21) Structure (86) Water (295) Why Permaculture? (1563)
Recent Comments
Adrian on Keyline Design as an Organizing Pattern for Permaculture Design, Part 1 (Sweden)
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
H on Radical Simplicity and the Middle-Class Exploring the Lifestyle Implications of a Great Disruption Benjamin King on Australias First Earthship Finishes Workshop (Queensland) Ty Thompson on Start Growing! Part 3: Dont Waste Another Minute Until You Know What Your Time is Worth! Lucas on Desert Food Forest and Organic Commercial Production in Three Years Update on Wadi Rum Consultancy (Jordan) Rick Sherman on Desert Food Forest and Organic Commercial Production in Three Years Update on Wadi Rum Consultancy (Jordan) Harald on Re-Foresting Afghanistan Fraser Bliss on Start Growing! Part 3: Dont Waste Another Minute Until You Know What Your Time is Worth! Khadija on A Tree Management Course at the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project Site (aka Greening the Desert the Sequel) Smilyan on Desert Food Forest and Organic Commercial Production in Three Years Update on Wadi Rum Consultancy (Jordan)
Recent Authors
Geoff Lawton Khadija Kandil Nicholas Burtner Stefan Boone Richard Perkins George Monbiot Marcin Gerwin Ecofilms Earth Policy Institute Charlotte Haworth
Curious what goes on at the PRI Zaytuna Farm? If you live close to the farm, or are passing by, you're welcome to book yourself on a farm tour (Wednesdays at 10am only). Contact the farm manager and we'll see you soon. We will take a minimum of 3 people at $35 p/p (groups of less than 3 adults are $50 p/p). Large groups please call to discuss pricing (at least 48 hours prior required). If you would like to eat lunch with us, please state this at the time of booking. Lunch is an additional $5 for students under 13 years and adults $20 each.
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
PermacultureNews.org
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com