Composting, compost teas and humanure

[jandtaa]

Okay Folks heres an organic thought for today : Compost Teas

I've brewed these both in the U.K. and here in LOS (although yet to try the aerobic method) with some good results. Tend to use them as a root drench on a weekly basis rather than as a foliar feed ( I always tended to use seaweed extract or the EM based formulas ) for this purpose but more about that tommorow !! ) Compost Tea is a nutritionally rich, well-balanced, organic plant food made by steeping aged compost in water. The water is then diluted and used as a root and/or foliar feed. It is also noted for its ability to control various plant diseases (blights, molds, wilts, etc. when used as a foliar spray), to repel and control insect pests and their damage when used on a regular basis, and to encourage the growth of benefical soil bacteria which results in healthier, more stress-tolerant plants.

here's some recipe ideas from the Garden Web website:

What are the Benefits of Aerated Compost Teas vs. Classic Teas?

Aerated compost teas are the latest in scientific organic research today. In many ways, aerated teas offer greater immediate benefits than classic compost, manure, or other homemade foliar teas. Just by applying a cheap aquarium air pump to a 5 gallon bucket of tea, you can get amazing results. (Cheap, inexpensive aquarium airstones are also recommended to be applied to the hose in the water. This produces a better distribution of smaller air bubbles to make the aerobic soil/comosting microbes breed better.) Instead of just brewing teas for quick valuable water soluble nutrients from the compost or manure, you can breed a larger population of beneficial aerobic bacteria and fungi in the tea. It is the microherd in our soil, compost, and teas, that is really more important in soil development and disease control than just the soluble nutrients. Aerobic microherd populations reduce offensive smells in compost piles, the compost teas, and the soil. Aerobic microherd also break down bad poisons and pathogens into safe nutrients in hot compost piles and aerated compost teas. Diluted anaerobic compost or manure teas are great liquid fertilizers and disease controllers also. Many people prefer the anaerobic teas better because they are simpler and easier to design and apply. However, recent research has proven that the aerobic microherd populations fight diseases and bad soil and plant pathogens better and supply more power to your soil's total health and texture. Keep in mind that all types of organic and natural foliar teas are designed to complement and enhance, not replace, basic composting, green manuring, and organic mulching techinques in your garden. The soil microherd continue over months and years to eat up insoluble OM in the existing soil and the extra soil amendments and break them down into more available soluble nutrients for plants later in the year. 

Technically even in un-aerated teas there is still some aerobic action taking place for several days. All fungi is aerobic. Some bacteria are totally aerobic, some bacteria are totally anaerobic, and some bacteria can act both aerobic or anerobic based on the soil or tea environment. Un-aerated teas can continue to keep alive some aerobic or aerobic/anaerobic microbes, for up to 10 days in a watery solution. After 10 days, the whole un-aerated tea will contain only anerobic microbes. 

You can expect different microbial population levels in your tea based on weather, climate, temperature, seasons, etc. In the summertime you can expect your teas to brew faster and get to your optimal microbial levels faster than in cooler fall weather. Also tea odors, color, and foaminess on top of the tea, will vary based on temperatures too. 

************************************************************ 

There are several different levels of teas as well as different recipes and styles. Here is the simple steps as outlined by one of our own GardwenWeb members who is an expert on teas and compost. This is a brief description of the different strength levels of tea making as outlined by "BILL_G" : 

Level 1: Put a shovel full of good compost in a 5 gallon bucket of water, wait one week, and apply to garden or lawn either full strength or up to a 1:4 water ratio. This is an excellent source of ready available soluble nutrients. NOTE: If you stir your brew daily or every other day, it helps get more oxygen to the mix for better decomposition and better aerobic microbial population growth. 

Level 2: Do same as above, but now add to the recipe a few cups of alfalfa pellets or some other cattle feed. Now you have extra nitrogen and trace elements from the bacterial foods. 

Level 3: Do all above plus now add the air pump bubbler. Now you have more aerobic microbes to add to your soluble nutrients in the tea. 

Level 4: Do all the above and now add a few tblsp of molasses or other simple sugar products. Now you really maximize the aerobic microbes in the tea, which in turn produce even more extra soluble nutrients from the bacterial foods. 

********************************************************** 

Here is my suggestions also. You can add more high nitrogen foods in the tea. Remember the only main ingredients that are necessary to make a good bacterial and soluble nutrients tea are: aerobic compost and sugar products. Everything else is optional. Your teas can be as creative as you are. Let's assume a 5 gallon tea recipe for our example: 

1. Add 1/2 bucket of finished hot compost. This supplies most of the beneficial aerobic microbes and soluble nutrients. Some people use slightly immature aerobic compost because it has more fresh nitrogen in it, but less microbes than finished hot compost. 

2. Use 2-3 tblsp molasses, brown sugar, or corn syrup. This feeds and breeds the aerobic bacteria. Sugar products are mostly carbon which is what the microherd eat quickly. Add about 1-2 more tblsp of molasses for every 3 days of aerobic brewing to make sure the sugar is digested before touching the soil at application time, and to guarantee that the aerobic bacteria population stays strong throughout the brewing process. Molasses also contains sulfur which is a mild natural fungicide. Molasses is also a great natural deodorizer for fishy teas. For a more fungal tea don't add too much simple sugar or molasses to your aerobic teas. Use more complex sugars, starches and carbohydrates like in seaweed, rotten fruit, soy sauce, or other fungal foods. 

3. Add 1-2 cans of mackerel, sardines, or other canned fish. Supplied extra NPK, fish oil for beneficial fungi, calcium from fish bones. Most commercial fish emulsions contain no fish oils and little to no aerobic bacteria. Fresh fish parts can be used, but because of offensive odors, it should composted separately with browns like sawdust first before adding to the tea brew. NOTE: For those organic gardeners who prefer vegetarian soil amendments, you can skip the fishy ingredients, it's not necessary. There is plenty of NPK in alfalfa meal and other grains that you can use. 

(NOTE: If you use canned fish products, you may want to let it decompose mixed with some finished compost, good garden soil, etc. in a separate closeable container for a few days before using. Since most canned meat products contain preservatives, this will guarantee that the good microbes in the tea will not be killed off or harmed in brew making.) 

4. Add 1 pack fresh seaweed. Supplies all extra trace elements. Seaweed can contain about 60 trace elements and lots of plant growth hormones. Seaweed is a beneficial fungal food source for soil microbes. Liquifying the seaweed makes it dissolve even faster. 

5. Add 1-2 cups of alfalfa meal, corn meal, cattle feed, horse feed, catfish or pond fish feed. Supplies extra proteins and bacteria. Corn meal is a natural fungicide and supplies food for beneficial fungi in the soil. 

6. Add rotten fruit for extra fungal foods. Add green weeds to supply extra bacterial foods to the tea. 

7. Good ole garden soil is an excellent free biostimulant. Garden soil is full of beneficial aerobic bacteria, fungi, and other great microbes. Some people make a great microbial tea just out of soil. Forest soil is usually higher in beneficial fungi than rich garden soil. 

8. Fill the rest of the container with rainwater, compost tea, or plain de-chlorinated water to almost the top of bucket. You can make good "rain water" from tap water by adding a little Tang (citrus acid) to the water mix before brewing. Urine water is also an excellent organic nitrogen source for teas (up to 45% N). 

9. Some people like to add 1-2 tblsp of apple cider vinegar to add about 30 extra trace minerals and to add the little acidicity that is present in commercial fish emulsions. Many fish emulsions contain up to 5% sulfuric acid to help it preserve on the shelf and add needed sulfur to the soil. You can add extra magnesium and sulfur by adding 1-2 tblsp of Epsom salt to the tea. 

10. Apply the air pump to the tea. NOTE: Some organic tea brewers prefer not to use the air pump method. You can get some extra oxygen in the tea by stirring it daily or every other day. The air pump just makes the oxygen levels in the tea happen faster than by hand, thus greatly increasing the rate of aerobic microbial growth in the tea. If you prefer to use the air pump, let it bubble and brew for at least 1-3 days. (NOTE: The 3 days limit is just a good guideline. The real test of brewing time is by your own sight and smell test, because everybody's tea is different due to the various microbial species and breeding activity that takes place during the brewing process.) The aerobic tea is ready to use when it has either an earthy or "yeasty" smell or a foamy layer on top of the tea. If not satisfied with the look or the smell of the tea, go up to a week of brewing. The extra brewing time will help the microbes digest more of the insoluble bacterial and fungal foods in the tea and make it more available for your plant's or your soil's nutritional needs. 

Apply this tea full strength to get full nutrient levels per plant, or dilute it from a 1:1 down to a 1:5 water ratio to spread the beneficial microbes over a 1-acre garden area (mix 5 gallons of tea per 25 gallons of rainwater). 

To reduce straining, you can place all your ingredients in a closed panty hose or laundry bag during the brewing cycle (don't use a too fine mesh bag or the beneficial fungi can't flow properly through the bag). 

Here's another method to avoid straining and to maximize the amount of microbes in application: Simply turn off the air pump, stir the entire mixture real hard, and then let the mixture sit still for about 30 minutes. Scoop off the top juice straight into a watering can for application. 

You can apply with a watering can, or simple cup, or in a sprinkling system. All compost teas can be used as a foliar feed or soil drench around plants. They also make great compost pile nitrogen and bacterial activators to heat up the pile for faster finished composting. Always take the remains for teas and recycle them back into your compost piles. 

As stated, you can use your homemade tea as a foliar feed or as a soil drench or both. Soil drenches are best for building up the soil microbial activities and supplying lots of beneficial soluble NPK to the plant's root system and the topsoil texture. Foliar feeds are best for quick fixes of trace elements and small portions of other soluble nutrients into the plant through its leaves. Foliar feeds are also good for plant disease control. Foliar feeds work best when used with soil drenches or with lots of organic mulches around plants. You can poke holes in the soil around crop roots with your spade fork, to get more oxygen in the soil to further increase organic matter decomposition and increase microbial activity in the soil. 

Aerated teas can also be used to greatly speed up the decomposition process of hot compost piles. The extra aerobic microbes in the tea will breed and cooperate with the aerobic microbes in the organic matter in the compost pile. 

You should not use any liquid soaps as a spreader-sticker agent in a fertilizing/biostimulant tea like this. It can hinder or harm your aerobic microbes that you just grew in the tea. You need to use better products in your tea like liquid molasses, dry molasses powder, fish oil, or yucca extract as a spreader-sticker. 

A good aerated tea is very economical. 5 gallons can be diluted to biostimulate an entire acre of garden via foliar spraying only. If you soil drench only, it takes at least 15 gallons of tea, before diluting, to cover an acre of garden soil. Also there is enough aerobic bacteria and fungi in a good 5 gallon batch of aerated tea, that is the equivalent of about 10 tons or 40 cubic yards of regular compost! 

These homemade aerated compost teas are just as powerful, maybe more powerful, than any commercial natural or organic fertilizer or soil amendment on the market today. And they are a lot cheaper too! So have fun, be creative, and keep on composting!

Interested to hear if anyone else has any experience ??

regards Jandtaa

 

Edited March 16, 2009 by jandtaa

[jandtaa]

Re charcoal - I find this interesting

Reduces aluminum toxicity

Obviously we do not get rain for most of the year and so I have to use water from the tap. The water here is red and pumped straight from the river. It is treated with Aluminium sulphate (I think that's what it is called) to coagulate the solids. The problem is that it is not given time to settle. I know that using this water is not ideal, but have no other choice unless I dig a well or cart the water from the village pump.

We had a few downpours a week or so ago and it has made such a difference, the plants are so much happier with rainwater.

So this could be another benefit of using charcoal.

I bought the things I needed today and will be starting the tea tomorrow. Couldn't locate molasses though. Maybe raw cane sugar will be suitable?

Hi Loong yeah I quite often use soft brown sugar in my brews (molasses only seems to be available in larger quantities and I'm not working on that scale at the moment) and it does the job nicely although I'm not sure it has the same sulphur content as molasses. Yeah plants are always happiest with rainwater. In the U.K. our farm is fed by a natural spring rather than mains so no issues with chlorine and no expensive water meter !! Have you thought about a rainwater harvesting system for your veggies ?? 

cheers Jandtaa 

[kbvicar]

Re charcoal - I find this interesting

Reduces aluminum toxicity

Obviously we do not get rain for most of the year and so I have to use water from the tap. The water here is red and pumped straight from the river. It is treated with Aluminium sulphate (I think that's what it is called) to coagulate the solids. The problem is that it is not given time to settle. I know that using this water is not ideal, but have no other choice unless I dig a well or cart the water from the village pump.

We had a few downpours a week or so ago and it has made such a difference, the plants are so much happier with rainwater.

So this could be another benefit of using charcoal.

I bought the things I needed today and will be starting the tea tomorrow. Couldn't locate molasses though. Maybe raw cane sugar will be suitable?

loong

I found this in a magazine today...

>My all-time-favorite source of supplemental sugar isn’t sold by a

>plant-nutrient company. It’s Sucanat—a form of dark raw sugar sold as a

>sweetener for foods in natural-food stores everywhere. But Sucanat is a

>great sweetener for your favorite herbs too. Made by Wholesome Sweeteners,

>Sucanat is short for “Sugar Cane Natural,” a dried cane extract available

>for under $3 per pound. Sucanat is darker than most organic sugars and has

>a more molasses-like consistency to it because it hasn’t been separated or

>refined. It will increase the brix content in plants, but the darker sugar

>has more vitamins and minerals and a rich caramel aroma as well. Sucanat

>dissolves readily in hot water and doesn’t seem to turn into goo like

>dextrose does.

I'm sure I've seen this product here, but of course with a Thai name...

[jandtaa]

Hi smithson cheers

Humanure definition from wikipedia:

"Humanure" is a neologism designating human excrement (feces and urine) that is recycled via composting for agricultural or other purposes. The term was popularized by a 1994 book by Joseph Jenkins that advocates the use of this organic soil amendment.[1]

Humanure is not traditional sewage that has been processed by waste-treatment facilities, which may include waste from industrial and other sources; rather, it is the combination of feces and urine with paper and additional carbon material (such as sawdust). A humanure system, such as a composting toilet does not require water or electricity, and when properly managed does not smell.

By disposing of feces and urine through composting, the nutrients contained in them are returned to the soil. This aids in preventing soil degradation. Human fecal matter and urine has high percentages of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, carbon, and calcium. It is equal to many fertilizers and manures purchased in garden stores. Humanure aids in the conservation of fresh water by avoiding the usage of potable water required by the typical flush toilet. It further prevents the pollution of ground water by controlling the fecal matter decomposition before entering the system. When properly managed, there should be no ground contamination from leachate.

Humanure may be deemed safe for humans to use on crops if handled in accordance with local health regulations, and composted properly. This means that thermophilic decomposition of the humanure must heat it sufficiently to destroy harmful pathogens, or enough time must have elapsed since fresh material was added that biological activity has killed any pathogens. To be safe for crops, a curing stage is often needed to allow a second mesophilic phase to reduce potential phytotoxins.

Humanure is different from night soil, which has been used in various Asian countries for centuries. Night soil is raw human waste spread on crops. While aiding the return of nutrients in fecal matter to the soil, it can carry and spread a vast number of human pathogens. Humanure kills these pathogens both by the extreme heat of the composting and the extended amount of time (1 to 2 years) that it is allowed to decompose.

 

jandtaa's docs- humanure

a couple of books here that I uploaded a while back on the subject as well as a design for a slow sand filter  

humanure videos and pdf's

a really good website from the guy who wrote one of the books in the above link

There is also some info in the doc's about grey water recycling and this is something I hope to incorporate in my new house (at the present house The grey water is diverted to a patch of land growing taro and bananas) and was thinking about maybe using azolla in a small pond system as part of a biological filter. Visited an eco centre in the UK a few years back that was using a reed bed filter system to process the sewage from the visitors, they reckoned it was safe to swimin or drink from the final pond !! Have some more info on this but it's on my UK computer so I'll come back to the subject in a couple of weeks. Anyone else recycling their grey water ??

Yeah Smithson no regulations out where I am !! So different in the UK , as I mentioned earlier the farm is spring fed and although the source is fenced off from the sheep and cattle and no chemicals are used on the land so no harmful runoff, because we have a holiday cottage we let, environmental health have to check the water is safe. No problems with that we always supply unlimited, free bottled water to our guests, but due to some very small amounts of bacteria they said we were not allowed to drink it ourselves unless we fitted a fairly expensive UV filter system !! Being a chef I'm used to dealing EHO's and can spout on endlessly about the likes of clostridium perfingens, staphylococcus aureas and even my personal favourite vibrio parahaemoliticus so said I was aware of the possible dangers and I'd carry on drinking it sans filter thankyou very much ( I drink the well water out here and no ill effects from that in 5 years ). A nasty letter followed from the office somedays later banning us from drinking from the spring. Personally I wanted to drag the EHO back out to the farm and drink a glass of algae rich, tadpole infested nature pond in front of them before chucking them in but dad who is a bit of a stickler for rules backed down and fitted a filter !! 

 a shot I took of the place I call home UK (thats the farmhouse right in the centre the spring is in the nice green patch behind which is fed from the moor above)

anyway I'll leave you with this amusing little ditty I found on humanure composting that someone keeps posted on the door of their outhouse 

If our plumbing you think quite funky...

Not for humans - and more for monkeys,

Then take a moment to stop and think,

"What happens to what you flush down the drink?" 

When you live in the boonies, as many folks do,

The options you have are really quite few.

First a great big hole is cut and dug,

a concrete bucket becomes the plug,

the pipes roll in and dump the gunk,

which gurgles and rumbles and never gets shrunk.

It continues to grow and steep until

the once huge box has reached its fill,

then some lucky guy with his truck and hose

(and a very strong stomach and nearly numb nose)

comes and vacuums it out into a tank,

and mumbles and mutters 'bout how much it stank,

and carries it off to who-wants-to-know where,

while you wait for the breeze to come scour the air,

and brood and exclaim 'bout how much it cost 

(not even considering how much you just lost

in free and remarkable plant fertilizer)

whilst we bucket ours

in trust for the flowers

and veggies and fruit

with strong leaf and root.

Ours steeps as well, but it shrinks as it cooks.

It mellows and settles and changes its looks.

In a couple of years, we don't dread a bill...

we find we've a mountain (OK, a large hill)...

of gold for our toil - 

a pile of rich and fertile black soil!

Now you're a few minutes older, and wiser, no doubt.

Do you understand more what we're talking about?

Perhaps now you see clearly, well nearly, almost,

Why we prefer keeping it all for compost.

may you all keep regular Jandtaa

Edited March 19, 2009 by jandtaa

[jandtaa]

Hi folks

We've now come across the "black gold" of humanure and "liquid black gold" of vermiculture liquid but here's something on pure "liquid gold" and no I'm not taking the piss. Back in the UK me and the old man piss in a bucket in the polytunnel (too far from the house and too much hassle stripping off muddy boots and clothes just for a pee !!) which is emptied onto the compost heap !!Out here haven't got round to asking mama for the contents of her piss-pot that she uses at night yet, just need to pluck up the courage I suppose , after all waste not want not !!

Liquid Gold

[Smithson]

Hi folks

We've now come across the "black gold" of humanure and "liquid black gold" of vermiculture liquid but here's something on pure "liquid gold" and no I'm not taking the piss. Back in the UK me and the old man piss in a bucket in the polytunnel (too far from the house and too much hassle stripping off muddy boots and clothes just for a pee !!) which is emptied onto the compost heap !!Out here haven't got round to asking mama for the contents of her piss-pot that she uses at night yet, just need to pluck up the courage I suppose , after all waste not want not !!

Liquid Gold

As for the MIL, maybe you can suggest she empties her potty on the lime trees, they love the nitrogen.

[jandtaa]

Hi folks here's a link to a nice book on composting methods and materials composting and soil health

cheers J

[loong]

I tried the compost tea, and after a week not much seemed to be happening. I haven't been able to aerate the mix with a pump as no electric at my little plot, so poured back and forth between containers every day to get some oxygen mixed in. When I stir or change buckets, I do get a little bit of fizzing and it smells a bit like a dirty bathroom. Definitely not an ammonia smell, but like I say dirty toilet with a slight tang of citrus.

I was going to dump it, but for some reason added more cane sugar and this evening is starting to foam. Am I doing something right?

Edited March 29, 2009 by loong

[jandtaa]

Hi Loong 

Yeah I believe you are !! It's very similar to brewing beer and many factors come into it .Unfortunately it's against forum rules to discuss those but I have had good results with the following :

temperature has a big influence: so for a good start I dissolve my sugar/molasses in hot water and add to it the neccessary amount of cold water to bring it to blood temperature (ie. stick your hand in and you should experience neither cold nor warm ).

Add the rest of your "ingredients" to the brew and aerate (stirring is just as good)

depending on the quantity of micro- organisms in your compost you should see a result in a couple of days although it could take a week to see a healthy foam on the surface ( this is the natural yeasts at work) 

As in brewing you sometimes need to adjust the quantities  of the ingredients to get the brew going . At the same time you need to decide whether your'e trying  to brew a nice drop of mild or a barrel of wife beater !!

Hope this helps J

 

[loong]

Yes , it helps. Thanks

[jandtaa]

Hi Folks

Just recently rediscovered a bookmark for this site on compost teas, a highly recommended read.

The Soil Foodweb

cheers for now J

[jandtaa]

Hi

Here's a great link for building your own ACT brewer (google for a shock at how much commercially available models are  )

After quite a bit of reading I think I'm going to build a "vortex" brewer looked to see if there were any plans on the net and came across this;

Turbo Vortex Brewer

cheers for now J

[jandtaa]

Hi folks

Came across this exhaustive list of compostables and their N:P:K values could help with giving you a general idea of the macro-nutrient content of your compost and help out formulating specific compost fertilisers for specific plants. Notice the Potash content of the citrus rinds, string beans and potato skins and check out cucumber skins values !! 

Alfalfa Hay: 2.45/05/2.1 

Apple Fruit: 0.05/0.02/0.1 

Apple Leaves: 1.0/0.15/0.4 

Apple Pomace: 0.2/0.02/0.15 

Apple skins(ash) : 0/3.0/11/74 

Banana Residues (ash): 1.75/0.75/0.5 

Barley (grain): 0/0/0.5 

Barley (straw): 0/0/1.0 

Basalt Rock: 0/0/1.5 

Bat Guano: 5.0-8.0/4.0-5.0/1.0 

Beans, garden(seed and hull): 0.25/0.08/03 

Beet Wastes: 0.4/0.4/0.7-4.1 

Blood meal: 15.0/0/0 

Bone Black: 1.5/0/0 

Bonemeal (raw): 3.3-4.1/21.0/0.2 

Bonemeal (steamed): 1.6-2.5/21.0/0.2

Brewery Wastes (wet): 1.0/0.5/0.05 

Buckwheat straw: 0/0/2.0 

Cantaloupe Rinds (ash): 0/9.77/12.0 

Castor pomace: 4.0-6.6/1.0-2.0/1.0-2.0 

Cattail reeds and water lily stems: 2.0/0.8/3.4 

Cattail Seed: 0.98/0.25/0.1 

Cattle Manure (fresh): 0.29/0.25/0.1 

Cherry Leaves: 0.6/0/0.7 

Chicken Manure (fresh): 1.6/1.0-1.5/0.6-1.0 

Clover: 2/0/0/0 (also contains calcium) 

Cocoa Shell Dust: 1.0/1.5/1.7 

Coffee Grounds: 2.0/0.36/0.67 

Corn (grain): 1.65/0.65/0.4 

Corn (green forage): 0.4/0.13/0.33 

Corn cobs: 0/0/2.0 

Corn Silage: 0.42/0/0 

Cornstalks: 0.75/0/0.8 

Cottonseed hulls (ash): 0/8.7/23.9

Cottonseed Meal: 7.0/2.0-3.0/1.8 

Cotton Wastes (factory): 1.32/0.45/0.36 

Cowpea Hay: 3.0/0/2.3 

Cowpeas (green forage): 0.45/0.12/0.45 

Cowpeas (seed): 3.1/1.0/1.2 

Crabgrass (green): 0.66/0.19/0.71 

Crabs (dried, ground): 10.0/0/0

Crabs (fresh): 5.0/3.6/0.2 

Cucumber Skins (ash): 0/11.28/27.2  

Dried Blood: 10.0-14.0/1.0-5.0/0 

Duck Manure (fresh): 1.12/1.44/0.6 

Eggs: 2.25/0.4/0.15 

Eggshells: 1.19/0.38/0.14 

Feathers: 15.3/0/0 

Felt Wastes: 14.0/0/1.0 

Field Beans (seed): 4.0/1.2/1.3 

Feild Beans (shells): 1.7/0.3/1.3 

Fish (dried, ground): 8.0/7.0/0 

Fish Scraps (fresh): 6.5/3.75/0 

Gluten Meal: 6.4/0/0 

Granite Dust: 0/0/3.0-5.5 

Grapefruit Skins (ash): 0/3.6/30.6  

Grape Leaves: 0.45/0.1/0.4 

Grape Pomace: 1.0/0.07/0.3 

Grass (imature): 1.0/0/1.2 

Greensand: 0/1.5/7.0 

Hair: 14/0/0/0 

Hoof and Horn Meal: 12.5/2.0/0 

Horse Manure (fresh): 0.44/0.35/0.3 

Incinerator Ash: 0.24/5.15/2.33 

Jellyfish (dried): 4.6/0/0

Kentucky Bluegrass (green): 0.66/0.19/0.71 

Kentucky Bluegrass (hay): 1.2/0.4/2.0 

Leather Dust: 11.0/0/0 

Lemon Culls: 0.15/0.06/0.26 

Lemon Skins (ash): 06.33/1.0 

Lobster Refuse: 4.5/3.5/0 

Milk: 0.5/0.3/0.18 

Millet Hay: 1.2/0/3.2 

Molasses Residue 

(From alcohol manufacture): 0.7/0/5.32 

Molasses Waste 

(From Sugar refining): 0/0/3.0-4.0 

Mud (fresh water): 1.37/0.26/0.22 

Mud (harbour): 0.99/0.77/0.05 

Mud (salt): 0.4.0/0 

Mussels: 1.0/0.12/0.13 

Nutshells: 2.5/0/0 

Oak Leaves: 0.8/0.35/0.2 

Oats (grain): 2.0/0.8/0.6 

Oats (green fodder): 0.49/0/0 

Oat straw: 0/0/1.5 

Olive Pomace: 1.15/0.78/1.3 

Orange Culls: 0.2/0.13/0.21

Orange Skins: 0/3.0/27.0

Oyster Shells: 0.36/0/0 

Peach Leaves: 0.9/0.15/0.6 

Pea forage: 1.5-2.5/0/1.4 

Peanuts (seed/kernals): 3.6/0.7/0.45 

Peanut Shells: 3.6/0.15/0.5  

Pea Pods (ash): 0/3.0/9.0  

Pea (vines): 0.25/0/0.7 

Pear Leaves: 0.7/0/0.4 

Pigeon manure (fresh): 4.19/2.24/1.0 

Pigweed (rough): 0.6/0.1/0 

Pine Needles: 0.5/0.12/0.03 

Potato Skins (ash): 0/5.18/27.5 

Potaote Tubers: 0.35/0.15/2.5 

Potatoe Vines (dried): 0.6/0.16/1.6 

Prune Refuse: 0.18/0.07/0.31 

Pumpkins (fresh): 0.16/0.07/0.26 

Rabbitbrush (ash): 0/0/13.04 

Rabbit Manure: 2.4/1.4/0.6 

Ragweed: 0.76/0.26/0 

Rapeseed meal: 0/1.0=2.0/1.0=3.0 

Raspberry leaves: 1.45/0/0.6 

Red clover hay: 2.1/0.6/2.1 

Redrop Hay: 1.2/0.35/1.0

Rock and Mussel Deposits 

From Ocean: 0.22/0.09/1.78 

Roses (flowers): 0.3/0.1/0.4 

Rye Straw: 0/0/1.0 

Salt March Hay: 1.1/0.25/0.75 

Sardine Scrap: 8.0/7.1/0 

Seaweed (dried): 1.1-1.5/0.75/4.9 (Seaweed is loaded with micronutrients including: Boron, Iodine, Magnesium and so on.) 

Seaweed (fresh): 0.2-0.4/0/0 

Sheep and Goat Manure (fresh): 0.55/0.6/0.3 

Shoddy and Felt: 8.0/0/0 

Shrimp Heads (dried): 7.8/4.2/0 

Shrimp Wastes: 2.9/10.0/0 

Siftings From Oyster Shell Mounds: 0.36/10.38/0.09 

Silk Mill Wastes: 8.0/1.14/1.0 

Silkworm Cocoons:10.0/1.82/1.08 

Sludge: 2.0/1.9/0.3 

Sludge (activated): 5.0/2.5-4.0/0.6 

Smokehouse/Firepit Ash:0/0/4.96  

Sorghum Straw:0/0/1.0 

Soybean Hay: 1.5-3.0/0/1.2-2.3 

Starfish: 1.8/0.2/0.25  

String Beans (strings and stems, ash): 0/4.99/18.0

Sugar Wastes (raw): 2.0/8.0/0 

Sweet Potatoes: 0.25/0.1/0.5 

Swine Manure (fresh): 0.6/0.45/0.5 

Tanbark Ash: 0/0.34/3.8 

Tanbark Ash (spent): 0/1.75/2.0 

Tankage: 3.0-11.0/2.0-5.0/0 

Tea Grounds: 4.15/0.62/0.4 

Timothy Hay: 1.2/0.55/1.4 

Tobacco Leaves: 4.0/0.5/6.0 

Tobacco Stems: 2.5-3.7/0.6-0.9/4.5-7.0 

Tomatoe Fruit: 0.2/0.07/0.35 

Tomatoe Leaves: 0.35/0.1/0.4 

Tomatoe Stalks: 0.35/0.1/0.5 

Tung Oil Pumace: 6.1/0/0 

Vetch Hay: 2.8/0/2.3 

Waste Silt: 9.5/0/0 

Wheat Bran: 2.4/2.9/1.6 

Wheat (grain): 2.0/0.85/0.5 

Wheat Straw: 0.5/0.15/0.8 

White Clover (Green): 0.5/0.2/0.3 

Winter Rye Hay: 0/0/1.0 

Wood Ash: 0/1.0-2.0/6.0-10.0

Wool Wastes: 3.5-6.0/2.0-4.0/1.0-3.5

   

THATS ALL FOLKS !!!

cheers J

   

  

   

   

[MrWiggle]

I just started my first tea on the farm 2 days ago....coupla questions for the experienced.

I used a 100lt tank and put in our well water, rainwater to valuable and scarce at the moment as our tank blew up.

I put in half a bucket of compost, now this compost was not hot, although it is well maturing and is about 2/3 months old...is this still ok and will do the job ?

I also added 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and about a quarter a bucket of 6 week old rice husk/chicken shit compost.

Should this tank be kept in the shade ? I presumed so and thought the sun might make it explode.

Should it be airtight or leave the top loose fitting to air ?

Also i was wondering if a seed pod from the flame tree, which is apparently a relative of the bean family, should be high in nitrogen and if this pod or the tree leaves could be included ??

Thats about it, shell see and advise how its looking in a week or so.

[MrWiggle]

So, after about 4 days, should it have a strong rotten egg gas stench to it ??

[MrWiggle]

Also I see in here comments on bio toilets.

I am constructing one at the moment based kind of on the 'wasterwater garden' principles and would appreciate some feedback and or advice on it if anyone knows about it.

First question is what do they use for the filter....seems in the literature I downloaded they quote a 'special' filter and then in local areas where not available they use a palm product of some kind. I would presume this filter and what it is and how connected is fairly important as it could either block to much or let to large a solids into the system.

[jandtaa]

So, after about 4 days, should it have a strong rotten egg gas stench to it ??

Hi MrWiggle

Sounds like your brew may have gone anaerobic (There wasn't much sugar for a 100 litre brew, I use 3-4 tablespoons of molasses to a 5 gallon (approx 19 ltr) brew and add more if I'm taking the brew past 3 days.Did you stir it on a regular basis?

Also I would be careful adding uncomposted manure due to the possible pathogens, it is generally recommended that compost rather than manure teas are used on food crops.

have a read here for more information on compost tea soil foodweb 

cheers for now J

[zzaa09]

Very informative thread. Thanks!!!

[jandtaa]

Hi Folks

Here's an illustrated article on brewing compost tea by Dr. Elaine Ingham of soil foodweb that you may find useful Brewing compost tea

cheers for now J

[MrWiggle]

I did not use uncomposted compost.....it was composted, but not sure if it had gone past its use by date as it was not hot anymore at all. The chicken manure had been composting for 4 weeks.

So if this brew is no good, can I rescue it, or should I throw it and start again ?

I stirred it every 2nd day.

[BlackJack]

hello I need a few kilos of oat straw (dried) does anyone know where I can get it mailed to me

I am in Pattaya.

thanks

[loong]

I did not use uncomposted compost.....it was composted, but not sure if it had gone past its use by date as it was not hot anymore at all. The chicken manure had been composting for 4 weeks.

So if this brew is no good, can I rescue it, or should I throw it and start again ?

I stirred it every 2nd day.

I find it really irritating that you stop getting notificationa about additions to a thread if nobody posts for 15 days! Rather lost track of this forum lately.

How did your compost tea turn out Mr Wiggle?

I actually used 2 of the large tubs that paint comes in and poured from one to the other everyday. I found that stirring just didn't get enough oxygen in there. Im not sure, but I think that the heat drives the oxygen out quicker here.

When I was just stirring the mix, it didn't smell at all good. When I added extra sugar and started pouring back and forth to incorporate oxygen, it actually started to smell a bit like wine! There were some squashy mangoes and pappaya in there and I think that they must have fermented. Didn't risk drinking it though, especially as I'd peed in there as well

[teletiger]

Wonder what happened to Mr Wiggle's tea. 'And Loong....very droll.

The answer to all the problems was/is aeration. Blow enough air through your mix and all problems are solved.

Even blowing air through clean water changes the properties of it. It's ability to hold chemicals in solution is magnified a thousandfold.....more. Sewage farm workers have known this for decades, although not the reason why, I suspect.

If you're interested google 'colloids'. A whole new world is revealed.

Regards.

[IsaanAussie]

Well composters and tea brewers, here is the latest Isaan Aussie build. A 100 litre tea brewer that runs off your air compressor. No aeration problems here Teletiger, this thing can blow a bubble, just kidding. I set the compressor to about 20psi and then regulate with the air tap on the brewer. A couple of pictures and notes included in attached.

Soil Drench Tea Kit - Brewer.pdf

Isaan Aussie

Edited to remove huge photos, and add pdf version.

Edited February 7, 2011 by IsaanAussie

[teletiger]

That is an impressive piece of kit there IA. How do you dispose of the bleach water? Beats my tube and airstone set-up.

Regards.

[Foreverford]

That is an impressive piece of kit there IA. How do you dispose of the bleach water? Beats my tube and airstone set-up.

Regards.

why I JUST SAW THE BUBBLY THING AND DANG NAB IT IF HE DIDN'T EVEN FIGURE IN THE CURVATURE OF THE EARTH AS HE HAS THE ABILITY TO LEVEL THE AEREATOR PIPES FOPR ANY MINISCULE VARIATION TO LEVEL. yOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING BUT NOT ME i SAW IT HE HASN'T FORGOTTEN TO THINK OF ANYTHING IN HIS OPERATION . jUST AMAZING TO SE3E WHAT HE HAS PUT together in a few years after a bit of well thought out plans. truly amazing asnd will end up being a textbook to raising hogs and anything else associated based on you name it as he has plans for a solar dryer just because he has a roof and can do it. I spent about an hour of intimate association with his hogs (yes and even with him as it is) and I only smelled hogs twice and just as a brief wiff in the air. This is something that can't be imagined as everybody knows within ten kilometers where the nearest hog farm is,...... normally. Truly a new experience I just spent a half of day planting my precious heirtloom tomatoes from Mexico and the US and I usede his compost from the hog manure and it was barely a week and a half old and I would not worry about putting it in my moutha nsd spitting it wher3e it needed to be but really it went into all the beds and then when i did the transplant all the holes wewre filled with the compoist and it was the most sweet smelling earth you could imagine. First class would almost be a derogatory term for this stuff. The Ford "Shooting Break" (how do you like that classification for that old clunker I came in, I/A) was filled inside and on the roof with his gloruious mix as I heade back from the land of war in Si Sa Ket towards a setting sun and i can't reccomend it more, it is what it is all about. Aussie Issan has got it going on too too good. Choke dee and Ford for me

[IsaanAussie]

That is an impressive piece of kit there IA. How do you dispose of the bleach water? Beats my tube and airstone set-up.

Regards.

Thanks TT, being a real tree hugger I shallow it! Truth is it isnt a very strong solution and as often as not I will dump on the drive or use it to clean the sty, maybe on a patch of weeds.

FEF,

I must have told you a million times, don't blow things out of proportion. But It was a fun day, good luck with the tomatoes. I will be very interested in the collar rot outcome, shouldnt have any, fingers crossed.

Isaan Aussie.

[WormFarmer]

Well composters and tea brewers, here is the latest Isaan Aussie build. A 100 litre tea brewer that runs off your air compressor. No aeration problems here Teletiger, this thing can blow a bubble, just kidding. I set the compressor to about 20psi and then regulate with the air tap on the brewer. A couple of pictures and notes included in attached.

Soil Drench Tea Kit - Brewer.pdf

Isaan Aussie

Hi IA, here's a pic of a worm tea brewer I made to produce 100 litres of worm tea, remarkably similar to yours. How many kg of wormcast are you using? I am using 3 kg of wormcast and 1 litre of molasses per 100 litre. I use an aquarium pump with six tubes, three tubes go to small airstones inside three each 1kg "tea-bag" and three tubes to bigger airstones around the outside. I made up a stainless steel wire basket in which to put the "tea-bags". The basket has a wire top, otherwise the bags float up because of the air being pumped in. Cleaning is simple, one worker with a scrubbing brush.

WormFarmer

[IsaanAussie]

Wormfarmer,

We must catch up again and compare notes. Today I declared war on one neighbours chickens, just two that seem to have developed a taste for my worms. They will lose this battle.

IA.

[IsaanAussie]

Hey FEF,

Remember a discussion we had about 6 inch compost worms? Well its true, I have got some at least that long.

IA