Good Veg & Flower Tea

Smokey421

Active Member
Hello. Just now getting back to the grow world, but thinking about going organic. I did my reasearch an havent read nothing but good about going all organic. I have my soil mix ingredients already just stuck on the tea.

Things i will use for my tea:
Bat guano
Worm casting
Wood ash
Morbloom
Kelp
Mollasses
Liquid karma
Black storm
Dol lime

Could i use this mix for veg & flower
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Ditch the nutrients. They will kill off the microbes you are trying to grow in your tea. They don't belong in an organic mix/tea. You don't even need most of these ingredients as a matter of fact. Here's a proven tea recipe that I have used many times:
Clean water (1-5 gal)
Worm castings (1-3 cups)
Kelp meal (1-2 tsp)
Molasses (1 tblspn)

Guano (optional- 3-4 pellets)

Bubble with an air stone for 24-36 hrs and apply

Hydrated D-lime will drop ph temporarily but sometimes that is the main goal of adding it. Just add the lime to recycle the soil globally but give it like 30 days cook time for ph to normalize. Wood ash will also affect the ph; be sure you actually need it before you add it to your soil. Keep it simple
 

Smokey421

Active Member
Ditch the nutrients. They will kill off the microbes you are trying to grow in your tea. They don't belong in an organic mix/tea. You don't even need most of these ingredients as a matter of fact. Here's a proven tea recipe that I have used many times:
Clean water (1-5 gal)
Worm castings (1-3 cups)
Kelp meal (1-2 tsp)
Molasses (1 tblspn)

Guano (optional- 3-4 pellets)

Bubble with an air stone for 24-36 hrs and apply

Hydrated D-lime will drop ph temporarily but sometimes that is the main goal of adding it. Just add the lime to recycle the soil globally but give it like 30 days cook time for ph to normalize. Wood ash will also affect the ph; be sure you actually need it before you add it to your soil. Keep it simple
So add the lime to the tea or soil? and do you have any good soil mixs. i am getting roots organic 707
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
So add the lime to the tea or soil? and do you have any good soil mixs. i am getting roots organic 707
Neither. Add D-lime after your first harvest to recycle the soil along with more compost and whatever dry amendments you acquired along the way. Then just let it set for 30 days.
I was saying before that some growers will use hydrated D-lime to drop the ph in your soil mix temporarily if needed but you are using a fresh bagged soil; it should be ph balanced already.
You can use any decent organic garden soil like Kellogg's or ocean forest. Roots 707 appears to fit the bill. You can always add in more worm castings; you can use up to 50% of your mix as ewc. If that makes your mix a bit too heavy & clumpy add more perlite. Can never have too much compost in your mix.
 

Smokey421

Active Member
Neither. Add D-lime after your first harvest to recycle the soil along with more compost and whatever dry amendments you acquired along the way. Then just let it set for 30 days.
I was saying before that some growers will use hydrated D-lime to drop the ph in your soil mix temporarily if needed but you are using a fresh bagged soil; it should be ph balanced already.
You can use any decent organic garden soil like Kellogg's or ocean forest. Roots 707 appears to fit the bill. You can always add in more worm castings; you can use up to 50% of your mix as ewc. If that makes your mix a bit too heavy & clumpy add more perlite. Can never have too much compost in your mix.
So will adding more amendments to the soil hurt it? and should i still cook my soil even though it has all the right amendments?
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
No as long as you give it ample time to set but if you are using a fresh bagged soil you shouldn't need to add much more for npk value just maybe some extra compost to keep it microbially active and perlite and/or coco coir to help lighten it up from adding a heavy compost/fertilizer. Adding in some cow or chicken manure will ensure slow release feeding through mostly the whole grow. Fertilizers like manures are already composted and safe to add as-is. If your plants need a boost before a transplant or in mid bloom give a soluble organic form of npk like liquid fish. Teas are more for soil maintenance than for plant nutrition.
When you add raw organic material like dry amendments and minerals to soil it cannot be absorbed as it is. It must be decomposed first. That is what cook time does; begins the decomposition process and normalizes ph which typically drops a bit more acidic when you add a lot of amendments all at once. If you are amending your soil to recycle it its better to add in everything all at once and then let it cook down for 30 days. So amend the soil after your first harvest and then use it again once it's ready. Your mix will get slightly better each time you do this. I hope this answers your Q
 

Smokey421

Active Member
No as long as you give it ample time to set but if you are using a fresh bagged soil you shouldn't need to add much more for npk value just maybe some extra compost to keep it microbially active and perlite and/or coco coir to help lighten it up from adding a heavy compost/fertilizer. Adding in some cow or chicken manure will ensure slow release feeding through mostly the whole grow. Fertilizers like manures are already composted and safe to add as-is. If your plants need a boost before a transplant or in mid bloom give a soluble organic form of npk like liquid fish. Teas are more for soil maintenance than for plant nutrition.
When you add raw organic material like dry amendments and minerals to soil it cannot be absorbed as it is. It must be decomposed first. That is what cook time does; begins the decomposition process and normalizes ph which typically drops a bit more acidic when you add a lot of amendments all at once. If you are amending your soil to recycle it its better to add in everything all at once and then let it cook down for 30 days. So amend the soil after your first harvest and then use it again once it's ready. Your mix will get slightly better each time you do this. I hope this answers your Q
so dont cook my soil because its fresh bagged soil? i will probably add some more compost, perilte and some manure and mix it all in a tote with my soil.
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Yeah stuff thats already composted or inert like ewc, perlite, coco, and manures do not need cook time. You can also get away with very small amounts of dry amendments as a top dress or spike by the teaspoon if its not in the root zone. If you add amendments and/or minerals in quantity (cups) then you'll need to let it set for a month before use.
 

Smokey421

Active Member
Yeah stuff thats already composted or inert like ewc, perlite, coco, and manures do not need cook time. You can also get away with very small amounts of dry amendments as a top dress or spike by the teaspoon if its not in the root zone. If you add amendments and/or minerals in quantity (cups) then you'll need to let it set for a month before use.
Ok thank you so much for your help will be uploading my grow soon
 
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