Anyone...?

I make my own fish/seweed foliar and soil application tea from basic items that I have here in my home and on my farm.

I first start with a good aerobic aerated compost tea recipe make from my best mature compost, dry molasses, and non-chlorinated water.

Then I add either fish meal, fish emulsion, or small fish scraps to the brewing mixture as it aerates. This adds extra fish oils and proteins for extra beneficial bacterial and fungal growth in the tea.

Then I add dry or fresh ground seaweed to the brewing aerated tea too. I get the seaweed from local oriental food markets. The seaweed adds extra potassium and carbs and "vitamin" nutrients to mixture also for extra fungal growth in the aerating solution.

I add a little extra molasses products if needed for extra carbs, and odor control, as these proteins and carbodrates brew in the presence of beneficial composting microbes in the tea.

After 1-3 days of brewing, always dilute the mixture big time before applying to plant foliages and to the soil.

Take the leftovers and dump it in your compost pile.
The compost organisms will love it!

Hope this helps!
Happy Gardening!

Thanks for coming back to me with that captaincompostal, some good info there.

What would idea temp for brewing this lot be? I'm guessing about 20-25c?

Will this still work if the temps are lower (around 10-12c)? Will it need just more time if the temps are lower, or will the bacteria fail to multiply?

Thanks again for your help.

Andy.

I would suggest starting your tea with less items. Sometimes we think more is better not always true. Take an old panty hose or pillow case and place the kelp or seaweed inside the hose. Use fresh water that is non chlorinated or if chlorinated allow it to sit over night uncovered. Pour a couple of Tablespoons (per gallon of water) of blackstrap molasses in the water. Then suspend the hose full of seaweed in the water for two or three days. Stir it occasionally leaving at room temperature. This will allow bacteria to begin ingesting the organic material and in the process they release Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus. The organic matter (kelp, guano etc.)you choose will determine how much N-P-K will be able to be released ultimately. The molasses provides sugar (carbs)for the organisms which is necessary for their growth

How long would a dustbin sized fermentaion take in cold weather?

Possibly forever. The idea of these gardening teas is to wash the microbes off of the compost and feed them in a warm environment to multiply them by 1000x.

I have put in fresh seaweed, rotton tomatoes, some grass clippings, few handfulls of chicken manure pellets, a bucketful of worm casts, urine, a couple of whole oily fish cubed, and about 300g of molasses raw sugar and a small air pump and sir stone, and filled the whole thing up with water until about 3 inches from the top.

A 30-gallon tank could use as much air as you can get. When the bacteria and fungi start to multiply, all their offspring need air too. It is not very hard to run out of oxygen.

It's quite a thick mixture, and fairly difficult to stir, if this makes any difference to fermentation, i don't know?

Something's wrong. It should not be thick.

The thing is, it's quite cold here in Britain (Kent, England) at the moment, only around 10C or so. I'm guessing this would slow down the microorganisms and make the whole process last a long time?

That is a problem. 10C is a bare minimum where the microbes start to come alive. Even warming it up by 5 degrees would really help.

I've had this going for about 5 days now, and it doesn't look as though any of the solid matter is breaking down at all.

If you get it just a little warmer, 24 hours should be the maximum time to leave it. Longer and you will lose oxygen and kill the beneficial microbes.

Is the idea to wait until all or most of the solids are turned to a liquid mush? You know, rotted out more or less completely?

I've never seen this before. Again, the idea is to wash off the microbes. Once that's done, you can remove the compost solids and put them back into your compost bin.

New to all this organic growing, but very keen to learn.

I put up a website for a guy who didn't have time (at the time) to put it up. Click here to see how he made his compost tea maker.

"quite cold". About 50 degrees F? I guess we have differing ideas of what cold is! Is that a day-/night average?

Anyway, at temps like that or perhaps a bit cooler I think it would be fine to steep it for a couple months and then start pouring off drenching beds. Then add more water and a bit more material.

Woodyguthriefan, you and I sound alot alike. I also agree that less is more. If you are wanting to introduce more microbes to your garden, then definitely simplify that recipe down!! If you are wanting more of a fertilizer tea, then add what you like, but make sure it is not too thick or oily, or you will have an anerobic stinky mess on your hands. Ideally, the temperature for a tea that is aerated should be 60 to 75 degrees. Stop when you have a thick foam on top, add to good clean h2o with more molasses added (quick instant food for the herd) and add to moist soil. You won't get the same results if tour soil is too dry I have found. Good Luck. TiMo

dc very good information on that website you mentioned - maybe something wrong with my puter but none of the pictures would go up