DIY Vortex Brewer - As close to perpetual tea as I can get

I use tea every day in my flower room and was getting tired of cleaning out the 5 gallon bucket and only having limited amounts, not to mention the mess from dispensing out of a 5 gallon bucket. I wanted something that would be ergonomic, practical and economical. This is what I came up with:



Parts List:

1 x 15 Gallon Cone Bottom Container $85 shipped
6 ft. 1 1/2" PVC $8
3 ft. 2" PVC $5
6 x 1 1/2" 90 Degree Elbows PVC $6
2 x 1 1/2" x 3/4" T Joint PVC $2
2 x 3/4" x 1/8" Brass threaded hose barb $6
1 1/2" PVC T Joint $2
1 1/2" x 3/4" Slip Joint to Threaded PVC Cap $5
3/4" Brass Hose Spigot $9
2" x 1 1/2" Rubber Reducer $5
110 L/min Air Pump $80
8 ft. Air hose $1
Purple primer PVC cement $4
Orange PVC cement $4
15 watt Aquarium Heater (unless heated basement) $15
Optional - EC/pH/Temp continuous meter (recommended, allows for exact ingredient mixtures) $100-380

This allows for 15 gallons of compost tea available any time. I use about 3-5 gallons per day and top off with filtered water at the end of the day. For every 5 gallons of water added to a existing brew, I add 2 tablespoons of molasses, 1 tablespoon of liquid kelp and a teaspoon of liquid humus. When adding fresh water I blast off bio slime in the airstacks as well as the tank itself. This bio slime sediment settles at the anaerobic pocket in front of the spigot which can be drained and removed easily. Using this method I am able to keep teas going for two weeks, probably longer but at that point I drain the system, spray it down, cycle it with a quart of 91% iso to 15 gallons water, rinse and brew again. The convenience of having AACT at the turn of the spigot is great.

So how do I know that the tea is good for that long? By microscope. The book "Teaming with Microbes" has a wealth of knowledge including identifying good and bad bacteria/fungi and the different types of predators such as protozoa. Using this knowledge I have been checking this brewer on a daily basis for microbial life and it has remained consistent from day 2 to day 14. The picture shows no foam in the vortex but this pic was taken after a fresh brew was started. After 24 hours there is ample, heady froth that remains throughout the brew further indicating a live and vigorous microbial presence.

Cool man.

Looks like you put allot of thought/time into your project.

Pro Status.

Would you mind posting a little how to? Nothing crazy but I am trying to figure out how it works and everything from your pics... But you had the same problem I'm having... I keep tea brewing 24/7 and it just gets messy after a few days of buckets over-foaming etc... but awesome DIY dude... thank you for the remedy to my problem... I just need to figure it out etc...

Nice DIY sir.
I'm an organic n00b, sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm wondering why you guys need so much tea? Not to get too personal but how many plants is all that for? Do you reuse soil or something else that requires you to add a lot back? I just made my first subs mix, its cooking now, will be for my 14 plant perpetual, and i'm wondering how much tea i'll be needing


Peace

Hey guys, thanks for the positive feedback! I really appreciate it.

Whitey78: If you have any questions fire away. Hopefully the pictures can answer most of your questions, I tried typing up a DIY but that's a lot of typing heh so I figure it might be better to answer any specific questions you have.

DIYer: I do organics kind of backwards and use a weak base soil mix (roots organic/perlite/promix all mixed 1:1:1) and add compost tea to that based on what stage of life it's on. I'll go as far as specialized brews like banana peels in RO water for a few days for a nice phosphorous boost for ladies in flower, this larger brewer makes sure I have enough to go around and not have a big ol' mess. I only run about 25 plants in flower under 4k of lights (perpetual) and so every day 1-5 plants need watering. I use AACT (EWC, Sea salts minerals) once during veg to supercharge the soil microbiology. I also foliar AACT once a week adding to the necessity of a larger brewer. You won't need any AACT for supersoil, that already has the soil web in place by letting it cook.

aaahh, that makes sense. thanks for the reply. my ss is cooking atm

turn 5 gal. water jug for coolers upside down n cut bottom out, lot cheaper then $85 bucks. good thread though.

Alright, thanks man... I havent had much time lately so I havent been on much...

But I posted a pic of a rough sketch of the brewer... the fittings and materials I have no problems understanding...I'm a plumber so I more than likely have 90% of the fittings in my shop but what I dont understand is basically how it works, building it isnt a problem either i just cant see the inner workings (if theres any) to figure it out....

So you have all of this built, now how does it circulate?

When you add your ingredients to your tea, do you just add it in and its able to go into the lower pipes down there or do you use a paint strainer bag or something (which is what i put my castings in now)... I've seen the vortex brewers online etc.. but I've never seen one in person or I'd be able to throw one together but at risk of sounding like an idiot.... I dont get it...

Thanks again, its an awesome DIY project...

Also, I wanted to let you and the other poster know I normally run super soil as well... teas go awesome with supersoil but you have to keep high NPK items out of the mix or at least use them carefully...

My current tea for veg and the first half of flower (per gal):

1/2 tsp of high N guano
1/2 TBS of kelp meal
1 TBS of botanicare pure granular (grow) all purpose dry fert
1/4tsp of soluable seaweed
1/2TBS of maxicrop liquid fish fert
1/2TBS of GO bio marine
1/4tsp of ful-humix
1/2 cup of worm castings
1/4 cup of ancient forest humus
1 - cup of supersoil (total, not per gal, I usually make a 5 gallon bucket)
1/2 to 1 TBS of strapped as the sweetener
(castings and ancient forest go in a 5 gallon paint strainer bag with an airstone and the top of the bag zip tied to keep it closed)


Right now I'm sitting on a batch of SS so my flowering girls arent in supersoil, just a basic amended mix of roots organic soil and a little of this and a little of that... but I use this same tea without SS and it works as well, I go a little heavier on the NPK items but not much... When I use this tea with supersoil I cut it 50/50 with water before I use it on them, at the moment I run it pretty much straight up for the gals that dont have any SS, maybe a 1/2 gal of water to a gallon and a half of tea if I'm trying to stretch it out.....

But I use it as a foliar as well, you can absolutely see a kick in the ass when you apply a tea in foliar and to the roots to a plant in SS... The teas are a great addition to SS... As you said supersoil has its own food web thing going on but a nice tea every couple weeks definitely will give things a kick... If anyone does use SS and wants to use tea I suggest starting with just a basic worm/compost tea and work other things in slowly... Most teas will not burn but aside from the guano I dont use anything with a NPK rating above 5, especially N.

I tie a nylon pantyhose filled with compost and let it dangle in the middle from the lid. the bubbles from the air hose create enough upward movement that the water will flow freely back into the main tank. at the same time water drains out the bottom at the same rate back into the air tubes. I would not recommend putting in compost without some kind of strainer.