"Jump starting" your microbe tea with fungus. (Teaming with microbes book)

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
So I just read Teaming With Microbes on Amazon. Great read and wish I had read it sooner. I'm actually growing with synthetic fertilizer in coco hempy buckets, but I'm brewing microbe tea for foliar applications. I'm even planning to introduce microbe tea into my fertilizer mix. I figure the worst that can happen is the synthetic fertilizer kills the microbes and the result = no benefit. The best that can happen is perhaps the microbes will thrive in the coco and help the plant thrive. Either way, it should be a good time :)

Per the instructions in Teaming With Microbes, I am jump starting my ACT by inoculating my earth worm castings with fungus by mixing 4 cups of EWC with 1 C of rolled oats. Moisten and place in a warm dark place for 3-4 days at which point a blanket of mycorrhizal fungi will have covered the entire mass of EWC. You then use the inoculated EWC to brew your microbe tea. Today is day #2 and I have a little fuzz on some of the EWC. It's kinda cool man. One thing the book didn't explain is if you need to cover the container. I have the EWC and oats mix in a small plastic container sitting inside of a 55 gallon plastic trash can that's half full with semi moist coco. Do I leave the lid off or on? I read that fungus requires air to grow, so sealed doesn't sound good. I had the lid off for yesterday and today, but it seems like there has been a lot of moisture loss and if the EWC dries out, so does the fungus. What's the happy median here? Maybe like a humidity dome type thing with the vents open half way? Not quite sealed, but not quite open? Am I retarded for making this so complicated? Be truthful :)

Any advice is much appreciated. 2 days to brew time and I will absolutely post pictures of my fungus blanketed EWC :)
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
fungus.jpg fungus1.jpg Day 3 of fungus growth on earth worm castings in preparation for a 24 hour 5 gallon microbe tea brew. The blanket is forming nicely. I think I'll let it go another 3 days and then into the bucket it goes for a brew with 2 tablespoons of Molashis. It's an easy to pour molasses made by zen products. I'll probably ditch it once it runs out and will use standard organic unsulphured molasses.

Less processing almost always yields a better product.

What I did to make the perfect environment was to use a 55 gallon black trashcan I have some coco and perlite stored in that's got a lot of moisture retained. I then filled a small plastic container with my mixture and placed it inside the trash can on top of the coco mix. I then placed a larger plastic container over top of that to create a humidity dome. I then sprayed the walls of the trash can with water. I placed the lid on the trash can with a small crack opening to allow air in / out so the fungus can breathe. Seems to be working well. I'm still working on devising a small compact system to make this easier in a 5 gallon bucket with lid.

I'm thinking a black 5 gallon bucket with lid, right? Drill 1/8" holes all around the base of the bucket to allow air in and out. Then place inoculated EWC into a small plastic container and place inside the bucket. Place a larger plastic container over top of the smaller one to make your dome. Cap the bucket and open once daily to spray the walls with fresh water to maintain high humidity. Small, compact, and portable. Something my wife appreciates :)
 
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