Making Tea - is EZ.... & Cheap !

had to clarify what is mixed with soil.

so what would be the poor mans organic tea?

i see someone said walmart sells worm castings?

any other tips for someone who wants to go organic but is broke?

dood.... you can order bat guano for dirt cheap. check ebay.

jasno said:

so what would be the poor mans organic tea?

i see someone said walmart sells worm castings?

any other tips for someone who wants to go organic but is broke?

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Jasno.... You can buy a 40 pound bag of Scott's Brand Cow Manure Compost at Home Depot for around $ 5. In you back yard, fire up the BBQ grill, after the coals are white - take the biggest cooking pot you have, fill it half full of your compost - add water until it's covered and boil for at least 10 minutes.
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That will kill every pathogen (bad bacteria) in the mix and concentrate the organic goodies in it. After a good boiling, take it off the grill and let it cool completely down. I recommend firing up a joint and watching a movie, after removing the pot from the grill.
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Later, pour your compost tea concentrate into some left over milk jugs or Mt. Dew 2 liter bottles. A cheap funnel really helps. Everyday, until you use all of it, shake it up, or pour it into a bucket, then back into the bottles or jugs - to keep it oxygenated. Using a cheap aquarium air pump & air stone really makes oxygenating your mix easy. Well, worth the $ 10 you will spend - since, it will last for years - only being used to make organic teas.
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Pour one quart per plant, every four days, and watch those babies grow !
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Also, if you haven't already read it, check out the first page of this thread.
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Keep it Real...Organic.....

Again fine words Ohso,my prob is finding bat guano in Oz,can you recomend something similar?Y.esterday the temp got to 31c and the bubs loved it .I'm off to town tomorrow passing many farms,will go and lift some cow pats to make some tea.Have you ever run into Subcool?seems like you'd have a bit to chat about.

I believe you gotta compost the cow poop before you can make tea out of it.... could be mistaken there....

quick question: How much of Cottonseed meal and Rock phosphate would you add to a gallon of water; for a tea?

is there any books on organic horticulture you could recommend ?

surryman said:

Again fine words Ohso,my prob is finding bat guano in Oz,can you recomend something similar?Y.esterday the temp got to 31c and the bubs loved it .I'm off to town tomorrow passing many farms,will go and lift some cow pats to make some tea.Have you ever run into Subcool?seems like you'd have a bit to chat about.

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Wow, no bat poop in Oz? You've got plenty of them, and so has Indonesia. Chicken shit's good, as is seabird guano. I have problems finding supplies up here, too (Sierra Nevada of California), I feel your frustration. Have you seen Ohso's thread about the Three Amazing Shits (and he wasn't talking about me and my sisters, either!)?

And you're right, I bet Ohso and subcool would have lots to chat on about.

surryman said:

Again fine words Ohso,my prob is finding bat guano in Oz,can you recomend something similar?Y.esterday the temp got to 31c and the bubs loved it .I'm off to town tomorrow passing many farms,will go and lift some cow pats to make some tea.Have you ever run into Subcool?seems like you'd have a bit to chat about.

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\ No bats in Oz.? come on mate , I know some Ozzies , and they are ALL bat shit crazy....

Bunnie wabbit poop works great also , actually you can make a compost tea out of anything , even clippings and weeds from the garden. The main thing to remember is that fresh poop from ANY animal source will be too hot to put onto plants , it will burn them , I'm guessing too much Nitrogen.
Good luck.

hows digesting weed thats been grown for a steer manure tea? just curious that wouldn't be like spinach ecol i

Just to reiterate from the vermicomposting thread, you can compost passing bananas as a great potassium source for your compost.

Pretty much every dr earth product I own (bone meal, Bat guano, kelp meal,
Dolomite Lime) has a note on the side of it reccomending adding to the compost pile to help fix nitrogen, phosphorous, or potassium. Kelp meal makes a great amendment to your compost pile for potassium as well.
Worm castings can be pretty easily found as well for a great nitrogen source that comes with all kinds of goodies.

0849 said:

hows digesting weed thats been grown for a steer manure tea? just curious that wouldn't be like spinach ecol i

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0849 ...... Organic ferts used in the growth phase of any plant, don't impart a weird taste. Taste only comes into play the last three weeks of flowering..
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Properly composting or pasturizing fresh manures - kills the ecoli and many other bad bacteria. Use of benefical bacteria & fungi - like in Myco Magic, Plant Sucess, Sub Culture or Super Plant Tonic - ensures they stay out of your container, res or soil.
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I also recommend never foliar feeding any unpasturized manure tea, after Mary has begun to flower. Two reasons - reduces the chance of bold mold & reduces the chance of undesirable bacteria on your buddage....
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Keep it Real... Organic....
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tea is made from compost not shit.

shit is mixed with soil and the roots can get the nutrients it needs.

shit can be made into fertilizer with the methods described in this feed. however it is not tea.

tea contains no nutrients just bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, which aid the roots in feeding by breaking down the shit and eating bad things in the soil. tea also helps build a strong leaf micro culture when sprayed, that protects it from bugs and mold.

I think that technically tea can be made from anything.

Just sayin'.

drumsinttown said:

Just to reiterate from the vermicomposting thread, you can compost passing bananas as a great potassium source for your compost.

Pretty much every dr earth product I own (bone meal, Bat guano, kelp meal,
Dolomite Lime) has a note on the side of it reccomending adding to the compost pile to help fix nitrogen, phosphorous, or potassium. Kelp meal makes a great amendment to your compost pile for potassium as well.
Worm castings can be pretty easily found as well for a great nitrogen source that comes with all kinds of goodies.

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I really love the Dr. Earth, but ended up going with a Happy Frog mix this last time because it better met my plants' needs (somewhat persistent Mg deficiency) and I felt that the Happy Frog came a little closer to being a more complete fertilizer. However, make a tea with Dr. Earth, such as Organic 5, and it smells wonderful. Make a tea with Happy Frog Japanese maple, and it smells like gack (I forgot about the bone and feather meal in it).

So far my favorite overall tea is worm castings, molasses, and guano (depending on what I'm doing with the plants that feeding). I really dig how that mix smells.

Curious question about the tea.... I am currently pulled back to using 1 tbsp of molasses per gallon, 1 tbsp of bat guano (high p 0-7-0), and 1 tbsp of kelp meal (.6-.5-2.5) and putting this on once every two weeks and watering r/o water inbetween about 2-3 times a week.

My plants as you can see from photos in my journal have been doing the exact same thing they did last grow- yellowing both large and small leaves followed by large brown kind of bubbly spots of necrosis.... followed by complete wilting. This is at a rate of 6-10 leaves every time I go down to check on them daily.

I curbed this problem last time in haste by dumping in about 1300 ppm solution of hydroponic flowering nutes that also contain all necessary micronutrients. Actually greened the plant right up.

I am wondering if I need to add more micronutes or nitrogen, as it seems that i am putting more than enough phos and potassium. Any thoughts at all??? maybe some worm castings to amend the tea? Maybe some high n guano?

oh... just got the npk on those hydro nutes. 7-30-12. Plus full micronutrient supplement- cal/mag/iron

Any thoughts at all on what this deficiency was? Maybe I'm just not feeding enough phosphorous?

Not a single thought, eh?


Would appreciate any and all thoughts.... Trial and error on making tea.... just a little help needed....

I mixed up my tea tonight... Just in case it was a magnesium problem (reading alot about the symptoms... seems pretty consistent.... ) put about a tsp of dolomite lime into the water to start.

I then put into the two gallons of water:
2 tbsp of grandma's unsulphured robust molasses... (1st molasses)
2 tbsp of high P Bat guano 0-7-0
1 tbsp of Kelp meal .6-.5-2.5
1 tbsp of worm castings
1 tbsp of Dr. Earth bat guano 10-3-1

Stirred vigorously.... Bubbling overnight.... Plan to dilute between 900 and 1300 ppm, ph to 6.3, and administer 1 Quart per plant.

The bat guano and the worm castings were to make sure the plants aren't slightly deficient in nitrogen. I figure it couldn't hurt to put a small amount. Any thoughts on how to maybe better this tea would be greatly appreciated.

cal-mag should fix it.