"escape" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 08:26:17 -0600, "cat daddy"
opined:


You know, that's what I'm thinking, unless the advantage is making a
lot
of ammonia. It should still infuse the tea with all the trace elements. I
think I'm going to to going into mass tea production. I need some more
airstones.


It's not just the ammonia, it's the anaerobic microbes which are not as
beneficial, possibly harmful to certain other biota in the soil. Studies
(and I
don't have one off hand to quote) have shown that aerobic tea is superior
to
stagnant teas.

You're preaching to the choir here, V. And, I like the way the compost
tea smells when it gets close. Sweet and syrupy, I almost want to taste it
myself.

If you are going into mass production you will need much more than air
stones!
You will need to buy or make a brewer which can brew at least fifty
gallons.
Also, the quality of the organic matter you use in the brew is rather
important,
if you want to make a good tea. There's a lot to it.

Hmm, I'm not going to try to be a Dromgoole here, as I basically shoot
for the lazy gardener's ideal of effort versus results...... I'm set up for
six 5 gallon buckets for now. I use my own compost and throw in some
Ladybug or similar potting mix if I have it and maybe a drizzle of Medina
Plus.

If you are going to use alfalfa pellets, you can buy them at any good feed
store, PetSmart should sell bags or any farm supply store will sell it in
pellets or cubes. I prefer the cubes, myself. I would also suggest you
use
some molasses in the mix since alfalfa is a high nitrogen content.

I was very pleased with the 50 lb. bag of meal I got from Buck Moore Feed
Store on Lamar today. Nine bucks....... I also got a 50 lb. bag of dried
molasses for $13.00. They're small and quaint, but I like 'em.
I read that the pellet making process uses heat that might destroy some
of the nutrition, so that's why I searched for the meal. I used to use
non-sulfur molasses from the grocery, but I started using horticultural
molasses from Big Red Sun as an excuse to go there and buy something I can
afford.........

I'll report back how it turns out.