mouse1818
Well-Known Member
You will be very glad you read this: http://www.microbeorganics.com/
Happy growing!
This I'm still reading this article it is really long but here is a nice part of the article I jusy read for common myths about AACT:
Review of Some Common Myths; [In no particular order]
1/ Small bubbles destroy fungal hyphae or other microbes.
This is utter nonsense. The bubbles/air would need to be super compressed to harm any microorganisms.
2/ Molasses should not be used or only feeds bacteria.
Black strap molasses (BSM) is a complex sugar/carbohydrate and feeds bacteria/archaea and fungi equally well.
3/ Fungal hyphae is difficult to grow in ACT.
If you have fungi in your [vermi]compost and have a decent brewer design and use 0.50% BSM it will grow out in the first 15 to 20 hours along with bacteria.
4/ You can have too much air/agitation in a compost tea maker.
This would only be true to the extreme...if your water was jumping out everywhere. If a salesperson is telling you microbes need gentle bubbling, they do not know what they are talking about.
5/ One can make good ACT with an aquarium pump in 5 gallons of water.
We did almost a year straight of research (at a cost of thousands of dollars) building almost every conceivable compost tea brewer design and size, ranging from 1 to 1200 gallons. These included every type itemized on my webpage in the design section and more. We measured the dissolved oxygen (DO2) religiously at all hours of day and night, eliminating configurations which failed to maintain the DO2 at or above 6 PPM. This is close to the minimum level required to support aerobic organisms.
The outcome of this research was, the estimation, that the minimum flow required from an air pump to make compost tea while maintaining the DO2 at 6 PPM, is 0.05 CFM per gallon while the optimum flow is 0.08 CFM per gallon or greater. (the only exception was when utilizing airlifts)
This means that most aquarium pumps will not work with a 5 gallon ACT maker, no matter what a couple of guys from Texas say. Two gallons, perhaps.
6/ Nematodes are a common microbe in ACT.
I’ve received many emails from folks distraught over the fact that they found no nematodes in their ACT or that they had very few. This is normal. Unless you happen to have a species of nematode which is an aquatic dweller, (rare in compost wouldn’t you think) you are very unlikely to have many surviving in ACT over 4 or 5 hours old. Why? Because they drown. A few will survive, which accounts for some making it to the end. Even companies which sell nematodes instruct customers to not leave them in the distribution water more than two hours.
I’m pretty sure that this myth originated with SFI but even they (Dr. Ingham) have now changed their tune and say ACT is not a good environment for nematodes.
7/ You can tell that your ACT is finished or ready to use when it forms a head of foam.
More bunk! But this does have a bit of foundational truth. Foam can be formed by proteins in the water created by microbial activity, however this is not a reliable indicator. Foam can also be created by saponins (aloe vera, alfalfa, yucca) or just by adding molasses or by worms which might have made it in there. I have examined very foamy ACT microscopically which was practically devoid of microbes and ACT with no foam at all which has been swarming with microbial activity.
The best bet to tell when ACT is finished is to use it between 24 and 40 hours, smell it to make sure it has not gone anaerobic (you’ll know) and that most of the foods you added have been consumed. It should smell earthy or somewhat like mushrooms.
I’m not sure how this myth got started but it sure took off.
Happy growing!This I'm still reading this article it is really long but here is a nice part of the article I jusy read for common myths about AACT:
Review of Some Common Myths; [In no particular order]
1/ Small bubbles destroy fungal hyphae or other microbes.
This is utter nonsense. The bubbles/air would need to be super compressed to harm any microorganisms.
2/ Molasses should not be used or only feeds bacteria.
Black strap molasses (BSM) is a complex sugar/carbohydrate and feeds bacteria/archaea and fungi equally well.
3/ Fungal hyphae is difficult to grow in ACT.
If you have fungi in your [vermi]compost and have a decent brewer design and use 0.50% BSM it will grow out in the first 15 to 20 hours along with bacteria.
4/ You can have too much air/agitation in a compost tea maker.
This would only be true to the extreme...if your water was jumping out everywhere. If a salesperson is telling you microbes need gentle bubbling, they do not know what they are talking about.
5/ One can make good ACT with an aquarium pump in 5 gallons of water.
We did almost a year straight of research (at a cost of thousands of dollars) building almost every conceivable compost tea brewer design and size, ranging from 1 to 1200 gallons. These included every type itemized on my webpage in the design section and more. We measured the dissolved oxygen (DO2) religiously at all hours of day and night, eliminating configurations which failed to maintain the DO2 at or above 6 PPM. This is close to the minimum level required to support aerobic organisms.
The outcome of this research was, the estimation, that the minimum flow required from an air pump to make compost tea while maintaining the DO2 at 6 PPM, is 0.05 CFM per gallon while the optimum flow is 0.08 CFM per gallon or greater. (the only exception was when utilizing airlifts)
This means that most aquarium pumps will not work with a 5 gallon ACT maker, no matter what a couple of guys from Texas say. Two gallons, perhaps.
6/ Nematodes are a common microbe in ACT.
I’ve received many emails from folks distraught over the fact that they found no nematodes in their ACT or that they had very few. This is normal. Unless you happen to have a species of nematode which is an aquatic dweller, (rare in compost wouldn’t you think) you are very unlikely to have many surviving in ACT over 4 or 5 hours old. Why? Because they drown. A few will survive, which accounts for some making it to the end. Even companies which sell nematodes instruct customers to not leave them in the distribution water more than two hours.
I’m pretty sure that this myth originated with SFI but even they (Dr. Ingham) have now changed their tune and say ACT is not a good environment for nematodes.
7/ You can tell that your ACT is finished or ready to use when it forms a head of foam.
More bunk! But this does have a bit of foundational truth. Foam can be formed by proteins in the water created by microbial activity, however this is not a reliable indicator. Foam can also be created by saponins (aloe vera, alfalfa, yucca) or just by adding molasses or by worms which might have made it in there. I have examined very foamy ACT microscopically which was practically devoid of microbes and ACT with no foam at all which has been swarming with microbial activity.
The best bet to tell when ACT is finished is to use it between 24 and 40 hours, smell it to make sure it has not gone anaerobic (you’ll know) and that most of the foods you added have been consumed. It should smell earthy or somewhat like mushrooms.
I’m not sure how this myth got started but it sure took off.
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