Looking to make my first compost tea. Can I use 'Soil conditioner'?
- Thread starter SweetSkunk
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Sure! It’s just compost by another name. I do t think you necessarily need to have “organic” compost. Any compost will do. So will worm castings. I kind of think EWC will make a better tea, many times. What’s important is that you use the freshest microbe source you can. A fresh compost or worm castings will have a more active and diverse microbe herd than something older or that, God forbid, has been sterilized for some little old lady’s indoor petunia garden. Lol! Remember, a tea is basically just a bioreactor that you’re seeding with microbes (in your compost, EWC, etc) and then trying to grow and multiply through aeration, movement and the addition of a food source. Fresher compost will have a better seedstock if microbes. I’d be looking for a local source of compost (irregardless of whether it has some “organic” label on it) or EWC so that you know it’s fresh.
FWIW - Bokashi is a quick way to generate some great compost. Especially if you make sone in the bucket and then add it to some soil for a couple weeks before using it in a tea. A small worm farm is great for creating all the EWC you’ll need for home garden teas. Both are inexpensive.
Also, there may be some compost tea ‘starters’ that you can order. I’m not sure about in the UK or EU, but here in N America it’s easily found or ordered off Amazon.
Sorry for the long reply. Hope it helps, though.
Don't be sorry for the long reply! I'm very great full!
I think I will be making a wormery soon and have been researching them today. Only issue I have is our household have very little green waste. I worry what I would feed them. I do however have plenty of brown matter?
(Cutting from my plants. I'm guessing this isn't aa sufficien enough food soirce for them?)
In the meantime I'm looking to get some compost teas into my next few grows and my wormery won't be harvestable before then.
These compost teas 'in a bag'. Are they any good? If they are better than using the compost I linked to then would you be able to recommend any brands or products?
Finally, with the 'in a bag' solution, I assume you still areate this with water in a bucket?
Sorry for all the questions
Cheers
SS
SweetSkunk , Do you live in the city or countryside , depending on which one there is many ways to combat the issues , if you let me know I can help you .
Hello mate,
I'm UK based. Suburban id say lol. Close enough to a few farms etc
(farming of what I don't know, nor know if I would be able to gains access to them)
Can PM you more detailed locations if you are willing.
Cheers mate!
SS , I have to go to work now , but I have some ideas for you , so I'll get back to you later today when I get home . 
As i understand it, the most acrive soils in terms of their microbial count, are found on forrest floors. So why not visit y9ur local forest, fill a bag with that soft black microbe rich soil y9u will fine under the leaf litter, and their you go! Perfect for your compost tea brew.
PS I should add you need an estab,ished forrest with good variety of trees. Pine plantations or such will not be as useful by far.
PS I should add you need an estab,ished forrest with good variety of trees. Pine plantations or such will not be as useful by far.
SS , I have to go to work now , but I have some ideas for you , so I'll get back to you later today when I get home .
Thanks gents.
If the forest soil works than that's a bloody bonus. Have a woodland near us, very near and know it well.
35 hectaresa Of "mature woodland" according to the trust website
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I learned this from Tim Wilson (aka Microbeman) so it’s not my own wisdom; but forests are typically fungally dominated and they usually won’t have the right kind, much less species, of mycorrhizal fungi you want for cannabis - glomus intraradicies. Cannabis likes bacterially dominated soil. Specifically the soil found in grasslands. So, a good compost or EWC or a compost stimulator is a better starter.
@hecno is a wealth of knowledge, so listen to his advice. I highly suggest you go read Tim Wilson’s website on compost tea. He is one of the great authorities on compost teas, besides Dr Ingham. Here’s a link: http://microbeorganics.com/
Earthworms...I’m not feeding mine table scraps much. If you want a racehorse, you feed it like a racehorse. Mine get malted barley that I grind up in a coffee grinder. Very cheap at your local home brew store. ANY malted (sprouted) grain will do. I give them horse manure that’s aged a bit (easy to get free from most any stable) and some good quality compost. They also get neem and Karanja meal regularly and will be getting comfrey this year, if what I planted does well. All cheaply obtained but will produce high quality castings - better than any store bought or even table scrap fed. For the urban home that wants to raise some worms, I’d get this: https://urbanwormcompany.com/
If you’re interested in this stuff, listen to the KIS Organics podcast series but for your interest in worms and growing I’d start with the Coot interview! Tad, the interviewer, is the son of some of the original compost brewing explorers and had a huge part in getting us where we are today:
I’m sure hecno will have some better suggestions but here are some ways to find some premium inputs locally....
1. As around and look online if there’s an organic gardening supply or perhaps a local organic gardening club. There may be one around you that could point you to some high quality compost.
2. Ask around about local worm farms. If there is any freshwater fishing in your area, there will probably be a local source for live worms for fisherman. Trace the source from a local vendor and ask the farmer if you can buy some castings from his beds. There are lots of worm farmers over here that don’t realize they can dig more value out of their beds than the actual worms.
3. Look around for a local organic dairy or a high-end horse stable or farm. They may have some compost you can sweet talk them out of or allow you to have/buy some manure to start composting yourself or feed to your future worms.
Listen to hecno but hopefully this will help some and maybe he’ll agree with some of it.
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