[compost_tea] Re: 5 gallon homebuilt brewer

From: tomjasz <tom_at_livesoil.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 23:23:22 -0000

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Kirk Leonard" <kirk_at_o...> wrote:
> Tom -- While I really appreciate your putting this suggestion up on
your
> site, I don't think this is a good one.

Thanks for the observation Kirk, but my intention was really not to
entice interest on your level. This is where I started and got
results. This system has been tested and while the test results were
not stellar, but it works. For me the process is one of successive
Approximations. Sometimes the steps have been tiny. I have found many
folks unwilling to even spend the $126 on a KIS but willing to
experiment with a $20 system. Several who've done just that are soon
To be KIS customers, and several have gone to larger brewers. It's
not dangerous it doesn't produce anaerobic tea and folks get results.


>
> At 3000cc of air per minute, the rate of the suggested pump -
that's ~.03cfm
> (point 0 three!), just a little over 49 cubic inches of air per
minute, a
> very small amount (I believe we air animals breathe at greater
rates...) -
> I'm willing to entertain such a pump might be able to keep 5
gallons of tea
> stable, in a "hold" state for a while, but I'm not willing to
believe it can
> produce a good tea using any nutrients. At that air rate, any
molasses
> would cave oxygen it seems to me, as a for instance. If there's
any oxygen
> challenge, I think you need more air.
>
> I also wonder about the soaker hose, having been recently exposed to
> "recycled" anti-biotic hoses here. Obviously, it shouldn't be
antibiotic,
> but I wonder what other chemicals or particles are loosed with it.
I have
> no data to support this, the stuff just looks really strange and
often
> smells strange, too. "Air stones" from many aquarium suppliers
seem both
> better and safer, and reusable.

Well let's talk about plastic tanks shall we? Many are NOT certified
for mixing or storage of potable water or foods. Why? Precisely the
same concerns and problems found in hoses. Testing here two years ago
indicated the soaker hose, sold for home vegetable gardens, did a
better job with a small pump than the old aquarium pump, gang valve
and airstones arrangement Dr. I got results with a couple of years
back.



>
> Cheap, wimpy aquarium pumps aren't a good idea for making compost
tea, imho.
> Maybe as a supplemental air source, maybe for holding tea? Better
to get a
> heftier pump and simply loose it in the water with a hard pipe at
the
> bottom. Bobo-style nozzles are easy to make, too. And as has been
> expressed here recently, good pumps aren't cheap. But when you
bite the
> bucks on a good air pump, you get more air and 20,000 to 30,000
hours of
> use, and kits to renew them, also.
>
> I think a 1cfm (one cubic foot or 28 liters/minute) pump is a
baseline size,
> probably good up to 20 gallons, certainly good for five. The
little KIS
> pushes about 2.2cfm into 4.25 gallons! The Bitti comes with a 1cfm
unit.
> (I have no business with either Leon or Bob, so this is not an
ad... very
> much appreciate both of them, tho, and both machines are good, as
are
> others...). www.aquaticeco.com is a good source for better pumps
and I
> found another the other day, www.aquacave.com.


$$$$$$$ Mo money, mo money! We need a very basic design for minimal
cost to introduce ACT. It's about results, one step at a time for
some of us.


>
> Air pump's are key, likely most expensive part of small machines.
Don't
> scrimp there. Good ones will last and perform better. You can
change all
> other elements of a system inexpensively but if you don't have a
good pump
> you're wasting time, imo.
>
> -- Kirk

Thanks for the opinion, but there are already dozens of these simple
machines introducing gardeners to ACT. I never consider small steps a
waste of time, just a part of the process......IMHO I must watch
myself to be certain I don't get so smart that I miss the obvious
chance to use the simplest of concepts to introduce gardeners to the
potentials of ACT.

tomj


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/0PSxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
compost_tea-unsubscribe_at_yahoogroups.com

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/




Received on Tue Sep 30 2003 - 20:27:54 EDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:14:47 EST