AusBonsai

Bit of an allusive title, but sure to garner more interest than "Compost Tea making thing".

Gardeners all know compost is terrific stuff. But there's something even better than plain old compost, and that's compost tea. As the name implies, compost tea is made by steeping compost in water. It's used as either a foliar spray or a soil drench, depending on where your plant has problems.

Harmful bacteria live best in soil that does not have good air circulation. Good bacteria live best and will thrive in soil that is well ventilated with oxygen. This is where a good compost tea, made the right way, comes in. When you have well oxygenated compost tea, you automatically get rid of 3/4 of the bad bacteria.

Conventionally compost tea is brewed and aerated in a vat/bucket with a bubbler pump.
This seems simple enough though many good bacteria still die in the process, due to dead spots in the bucket which do not receive enough oxygen from the bubbler.
Thinking "out side the bucket" I designed a unit, in which the bacteria receive all the oxygen they need, whilst still being retained within a portable unit.

I give you the Aerobic Bacterial Spawning Tower, or ABST as I like to call it.

It is comprised of a basic sump retainer at the bottom, several cells containing various aerated mediums, several containing fine compost and then more with cow manure. There is a submersible pump in the sump, which returns the liquid back to the top.

The cells (plant trays) were seeded with a product called "Go Go Juice", which is available at Buzzings and hopefully shall see the good bacteria in this product flourish through the cells and then the system as a whole.

It has been running for about, 24 hours now. I just need to find an aquarium heater to put in the sump and bac levels should hopefully rise sharply.



Starting from the top dispersal layer, the unit uses gravity to irrigate each cell as the liquid passes through it.
The nitrogen or food if you like, is provided by the cow manure and compost cells.
The scoria and Aquatic medium as in place to create an aerated space for the bacteria to occupy.

The unit will be switched on and off at intervals (yet to be determined) by a timer, to ensure the layers stay moist but not completely saturated.

Just because I know you are all waiting with bated breath, I will not hold back further.

Here's the first brew 72 hours after seeding, can't you just see the little goodies multiplying in their hundreds of thousands!?
Well no you can't but I'm working on that, could possible have a microscope capable of photographing the bacteria in the next week if all goes to plan. An oldish Olympus from Sydney Uni, won't be great detail but should allow me to judge their populations.

I am pleased at the clarity, obviously the filter layers are doing their job as there is little to no sediment in the sump. The liquid at the moment, is a light brownish/honey colour which is not completely opaque.

Interesting Mitchell I look forward to seeing how you go.
I believe you will find the Richgro Aquatic medium now contains MT Sylvia Diatomite.

Thanks Bretts, not sure of what this will achieve in real world application, but the concept intrigues me. No doubt I will dose several plants in it once done and record results.

I wasn't sure of the aquatic mediums content, the bag is almost a year old. I think when I bought it we were saying then it was Spongelite. Not sure how long ago they changed, I'll crack a bag open tomorrow at work and see the difference if any.

Hmm. Now you have me curious, gee that was hard

I found they went to a smaller bag when they changed the ingredient but looking agian at your bag it looks full size Yet it sure looks to me like the new ingredient they use now. Been a while since I looked but I am sure spongelite should be a little smaller rounder and a yellow to pinky even purple colour?
I have been buying any of the old size bags I find expecting that they will contain spongelite but haven't opened one up in a while. I might have to have a look at mine now