Good morning!
I find the 1gallon brewing method is easier for me than the 5 gallon bucket I used to use. I brew with 2 tubes and 2 aerators coming from 1 pump. After every couple of brews I change the stones.
I did try the disc when brewing 5 gallon buckets. My problem was keeping the disc spotlessly clean. For me it is much more cost effective to toss the milk jug once used and have new aerators.
But, everyone should do what works best for her!

Point taken !

Thanks.

BR

pskvorc this one is for you because on my scale it is as scientificey as I can be. On your scale it is no doubt not scientificey at all. :-)

#1 It is really no big deal if it is a one gallon or a five gallon brew. Sort of like the difference between an 18 gallon Rubbermaid bin and a some smaller easier to lift ones. Sort of like the difference between bee keepers who use big heavy supers and bee keepers who use top bar hives. Like why lift a 5 gallon brew, an 18 gallon tub or a whole super instead of a bar at a time. This might be a brawn vs brain.

#2 Air pumps are not all identical. Some could barely keep a cigarette lit and others could blow your hair back. Please at all times keep the pump above the level of the water. Otherwise the bad thing happens when the power goes out. Aquarium air pumps sometimes have diaphragms. They last a while then they crack. They can be replaced. Air is pumped thru airlines. Old time ones were hefty. New time ones are so thin they kink at every opportunity. Between the air pump and the airline there can be an air regulator. These are simple devices. They can divide the air into multiple lines each with an adjustable air flow. I think chuckie runs his lines open and without air impeding, troublesome air defuses but I could be wrong. TBC

Continued. How does one pronounce smdmt? I am pronouncing it semedemet. Correct? Wrong?

Both the airline and the electrical cord should incorporate a droop. This encourages water drops to drip and not continue to the pump or to the electrical outlet and is basic safety information they skipped in kindergarten because most kindergarten teachers are not educated in this handy knowledge.

#3 Oxygen exchange happens at the waters surface. Thus the surface should be frequently replenished with water from the bottom of the container. This activity should be a gentle to the organisms we are trying to grow and not destroy them and rip them apart in harsh currents boil not a crazy boil. I have read but may need to defend the rotating of the water is the deal not the air interchange happening while individual bubbles are exchanging with the water in the container while they float up. That is what they always said long ago. Sort of like the value of the newfangled (in the last 50 years) power heads that agitate the water surface with water from the bottom of the tank.

This post was edited by equinoxequinox on Tue, Oct 7, 14 at 23:17

#4 About them stones. They should last 4 months. They may need the scum scrubbed off of them every two weeks. The stones slowly disintegrate as they age. Scrubbing them does not help them age more gracefully as it rubs off material. This is all about not having dead spots in the bottom of the bucket. As I recall these air stones as they used to be called were increasing in price. I would not be throwing them out after 8 days. I would just run naked. ie stoneless. The adjustments should be done at the air manifold. A one time purchase that does not fall apart.

The book, Teaming with Microbes has a chapter on compost teas. The authors want us to read the book as written.
I am not recommending skipping to Chapter 18.

It has taken me more than a year to learn how much air tea needs. And almost that long to learn what, if anything, to add for brewing. Of passing interest is that the authors are Alaskans !

Lowenfels & Lewis recommend (p 150) the biggest air pump one can afford . . . air stone . . . and either a pump with two outlets or two single outlet pumps. Sufficient areation is critical . The smell test remains in effect.

There are other opinions online that advocate that much air for two gallons.

They experiment with other ways of aerating a brew. A piece of soaker hose !

They've used queen size panty hose for a suspension bag which some sources discourage.

L & L discuss temperatures and cleanliness.

The subtitle is The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web. There are lots of pictures. My personal favorite: mycelia p 156.

Even if I don't want to try to brew VC tea when it's cold, this is good reading.

Here is a link that might be useful: L & L website

Ahem..........If you are brewing in 1 gallon milk jugs, you do not need stones. They are unnecessary. Also probably less efficient.

Same thing with suspension bags.

Using an aquarium bubbler with 2 hoses, make one hose reach to the exact bottom of the jug and the other about half-way to achieve bubblishous dispersion.

Believe me if you want, or keep cleaning unnecessary equipment.

chuckiebtoo

Moderation, Diversity, Patience, Aeration

"And, really ! CB2 how many people are going to double pump into a single gallon ? We have to make it easier while still -- somewhat -- reliable.
It's no wonder so many people doubt the effectiveness of aerated vermicompost tea (microbial extrapolate ?) when there are so many opinions and so little reliable information."

I've posted results of worm tea for years here. Doubt = disbelief. I've posted pics of results of worm tea here.

As with anything with this ART, there are a LOT of ways to succeed. Very, very few ways to fail, and most of those are human error.

Try not to make all of this too complicated, because it ain't. Find what works for you "by observing the results". Experience is the absolute most valuable thing you can achieve and that just takes......experience.

I do know this and can tell you that it all works the way I do it. It also works the ways other people do it a little differently, or a lot.

But I'm not gonna change my way. Oh, I might tweak it sometimes.

Aerated Vermicompost Tea works. It just does.

cb2

The correct level to fill the gallon jug is not to the top. Air exchange happens at the water surface. More water surface more air exchange. The bubbles move the water to the surface to exchange air. Sort of the difference between a gallon of water in a saucer or a gallon of water in a tall, thin water column. Books from the 50's used to show fish tanks of various shapes and advise which shape was best for air exchange thus best for more inches of fish by choosing tank designs of larger area of air exchange. P.S. I have never brewed. I have noticed many vermicomposters have a tropical, brackish, or salt water fish tank background. Others have "heps?" like lizards, snakes, turtles. Vermicomposting is probably not our first foray into growing what is sometimes a live feedstock. I have enjoyed growing brine shrimp (sea monkeys), daphnia, and may have tried some tubifex, blood, and meal worms. Can't remember. But it is how I know compost worms can live in 100 percent water for months. It is the percent of dissolved oxygen in the water that is the key.

This post was edited by equinoxequinox on Fri, Oct 17, 14 at 21:35

chuckiebtoo: As per your method of giving the lawn and garden lots of microbes thus the bad microbes do not have a chance... I believe in the future operating rooms will not be sterile IE chemo'ed. Nature abhors a vacuum. I believe all surfaces including the patient will be sprayed with something they keep brewing of good bacteria to outnumber the bad bacteria. Or at least bacteria that we prefer to do it's work elsewhere. If chuckiebtoo was my neighbor I would tell him not to worry if any of his magic potion got on my lawn and plants. It would be so embarrassing to always be the clear cut poor chemo lawn next door in the pictures.

No air stone needed. The idea is to churn the water surface with the water that was just at the bottom of the water column. Fine, pretty, tiny bubbles do not add value to the mix other than aesthetically. If I was brewing in front of a crowd I would maybe use a very nice stone that produced a curtain of fine bubble. The airline can be run open with no stone. Little to no air back pressure on the air pump will help extend its life. By the way they can be repaired easily. I bet I fixed a ton of them by the time I was 12. An air distribution system may be of interest. It takes one line of air and divides it into many streams of air. Each stream of air can also be adjusted from opened to closed and everything in between. Really the idea is not volume of product but frequency of product. One gallon made 52 times a year and sprayed is way better than 10,000 gallons sprayed once.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tiny Bubbles Please mute the sound and avert your eyes if clicking the link for 2:40 until the commercial is over.

This post was edited by equinoxequinox on Fri, Oct 17, 14 at 22:13

Well, with a chemo lawn next to my AVCT'd one, if you were self-conscious of it, you WOULD be embarrassed.

But if that was a little gig of my posts comparing the lawns, I'm a little surprised at the absolute brilliance of it. Great unassuming facetiousness, IMHO..

cb2

I too do not understand the reason to restrain the vermicompost in a sock. The vermicompost should flow freely with the water. If it needs to be removed this process should be done when it is done fermenting. Tea (for us to drink and enjoy) also should not be trapped in a bag. Mostly because it limits surface area access to oxygen. But hey I could write a thesis on that if I was an educated person.

Probably even less than ideal vermicompost tea is still great stuff similar to the cat's pajamas and the bee's knees, just like chuckiebtoo.

A pet supply store is having an opening "sale".
I might be able to get a four-outlet air pump (15 LPM ?) @ 20% off "list price".

Does LPM mean liters per minute ?

Probably there won't be answers or advice in time to guide me, but the air pump issue needs to be up on the forum.

Following CB's advice of what will work for me, I'm looking for a way to put enough bubbles in a 5 gallon bucket. 15 LPM /4 outlet works for Pete. So ?

So please report what works for you with a 5 gallon bucket.

It is with much respect I tell barbararosa my experience with the brewing of the tea.

The 4 hose bubbler will do what is necessary. I have used that since chuckb2 long ago told me so.

When my tea is completed, it does good work for my garden. I can tell you the brewing of the tea is very worthwhile for a person doing the worm composting.

CarlosDanger
Newly acquired citizen of United States.

If an average person will breathe 0.5 (liters/breath) x 15 (breaths/minute) thus equaling 7.5 liters per minute than it would take two people to make 15 liters times 4 outlets thus imagine 8 people blowing bubbles through straws into a five gallon bucket chocolate milk. Note at any given time half would be inhaling thus only four would be active in producing bubbles.

Feel free to find errors in my supposition and math. It is possible every fact is incorrect but we had to start somewhere.

Note it is not the bubbles per say but the bubbles ability to move water rapidly from the low oxygen bottom of the bucket to the oxygen rich micro layer touching the air and an even mixing of both through out the bucket that we are going for here.

A power head drawing water from the bottom of the bucket and shooting it across the top of the bucket would seem more efficient but the impeller moving the water might chop up the very little guys and gals we are trying to cultivate. Maybe use it on low? They often have an adjustment to add air into the outflow.

I have read that care also needs to be taken not to damage the little ones while spraying by using a gentle distribution technique and not spraying in the heat of the day, in the sun in a stiff wind.

Note: I have not done this myself but only read about it mostly all here and probably mostly all by one poster and one el poster, which Google strangely brings up images of another gift from the little ones a popular fermented beverage.

I do not see a need for a stone. I love stones when first purchased but it takes very little time before I hate the stone. They quickly loose the beautiful sheet of micro bubbles and start to disintegrate and grow mold and turn ugly. Soon they start to crack and just bubble at the neck of the stone huge blump blumps. They are worth about 17 cents as replaceable monthly but cost inexplicably way more and need frequently replacing.

Between the platys and the gallons and the buckets of vermicompost tea and come on don't you just love tropical, or chiclids, or other brackish, or salt water fish? Did you know one can grueling study for years to be a fish judge? How come we do not have worm competitions or vermicompost competitions? Where is the Vermicompost Hobiests Competition or what should we call it? Judges should analyze, view, touch, smell and taste the entries. Trophies should be awarded. Or tiny, beautiful, little ones, killifish, you can grow from eggs you get in the mail? And you are going to want one airline just for growing sea monkeys in an upside down soda bottle because I bet you wanted to but nobody would let you as a child. Daphnia are way cool too. Think freshwater sea monkeys. And underwater plants! People spend like $50,000 on a tiny Japanese beauty tank to get the perfect photo for competition. And the world of koi, fancy and even just pedestrian goldfish. Salt water coral reefs have come so far in many years. Now anybody can grow corals that in a few years past NOBODY could grow. And beautiful shrimp that look like micro lobsters!

Now that you have an air pump you are going to want to know how to change the diaphragm. When the air stops working the pump is not broken. The diaphragm is simply shot. Think like putting new, fluffy insoles in old shoes. Think like changing the oil in a car. One can do this many times. Youtube should be a friend here. I changed many in my youth like age 10 so surly anybody can do it. When I did not have the less than a dollar to purchase one I coated the old one with petroleum jelly to get a tiny bit more use out of it. Opening up an air pump explains the magic behind how it works. And they have a peculiar smell of burnt rubber.

If doing more than straight brewing a person might want a manifold. This is the tool that puts the person in charge of what air goes where. Google it. I feel a bit like the cat in the hat now.

The fish store has miles and miles of airline. Most all of it you do not want. Or at least do not want once you see the what used to be called airline. The new stuff crinkles. Airlines that crinkle are like water hoses that bend and the water stops. One may want to inquire after the higher quality airline if one finds the often offered stuff is not up to their needs and is making their life a living hell. Yes poor quality airline can do this. It is worth paying five times more for the better quality stuff. Even ten times. It is permissible to look longingly at the next size up airline and the thus next size up air pumps. I never but was at the cusp of owning one of these. Power heads probably got in the way due to the idea of under gravel filters. It was a trend like bell bottoms where the aquarium gravel was a biological filter. So you can see how I got here. Then people, well aquariumists?, added boxes behind aquariums for surface area mediums such as bio balls. Water and air was run over these mediums to increase the amount of oxygen breathing biology able to live in the aquarium proper. Bioballs were a bit like bit com or likes or tweet followers or subscribers. The more the better but they cost a lot. Nowadays I would go with biochar. But I am a bit out of touch with the latest in the subject.

Extra Points for posters who have seen the iconic Tropical Fish Hobbyist TFA advertisement picture used for years and can describe it without Googling it.

Note, that C guy, has given over a long period of time some good information that others would have charged for, that institutions of higher learning would get a $750,000. grant to study, and their worms would arrive the day after summer break begins at the college post office or the day before and be set in the sun in Florida or the cold in Alaska. Also after their publication it would be difficult to get answers to one's personal vermicompost questions directly from the authors 24/7/365 and twice on Sunday.

While the brewing container size, shape and volume, the method of and quality of vermicompost additions, whether to add or not to add molasses, to brew with a stone or stone free, with one line or six there are some things I feel are basic safety musts.

Due to working with water and electricity the air pump needs to be plugged into a grounded outlet and be a Ground Fault Interrupter GFI outlet. Pools and out buildings may already have this. Newly built kitchens and bathrooms have sinks GFI. I think all outlets should be GFI. The grounding should be tested to see if it works I do not know how to do this.

All electrical appliances should include a droop in the electrical cord. This prevents water from following the electrical cord to the outlet.

It is not if but when. Someday the power will go out for even a moment. When this happens all air pumps that are below the level of the water will then be sump pumps. Water, fresh, tropical, brackish, salt, will travel backwards through the air stone into the airline directly into the air pump causing total damage to the air pump and possibly if the electrical outlet is lower than the air pump with no droop providing a highway for water right into a non GFI protected outlet thus... I do not know what happens but not good. Who knew bubbling water was such serious stuff?

Two more bits of information users of air pumps may want to know.

Put the air pump on a sponge or other noise absorbing material.

Cut the air hose generously. This is not like the simple task of hooking up computer cable. Airline close to the air pump will be exposed to heat. It will harden and yellow. This few inches may need to be cut off once in a while to insure a good seal. Airs stones easily attached to airlines quickly bond with airlines and need to be cut off loosing a few inches here and there. Even an airline attached to a simple box filter will after time need to be cut a bit and reattached. One may want to secure a spot on speed dial for the quality airline provider and a spot somewhere else for the other.

I use the silicon airlines. They are the luxury version compared to the cheap PVC lines. I think they are worth the additional cost since they don't really have the problems that you list for the other lines, and they are very flexible and easy to work with.

Sponge is a great idea for the pump for sound abatement. I didn't think of that. I just hang the pumps by their tails (power cord) so that they are somewhat floating in free space. If I have to put them flat on something, I have used a folded paper towel with success.

I'm currently using some larger pumps that are quite a bit louder than the typical aquarium pumps. I put those in a closed cabinet in the basement and run the hose as far as I have to. The downside to running a long hose is the resistance that the hose length imparts on the air flow. You can offset this by using a larger diameter line, and the downside to that is that it takes a while for the line to pressurize, which is not a big problem.

WOW !

FORTUNATELY I didn't buy anything yet.
THANK YOU all for guidance.
CONGRATULATIONS CARLOS ! Did you vote ?

More when there is more.

From above: equinoxequinox: "chuckiebtoo: As per your method of giving the lawn and garden lots of microbes thus the bad microbes do not have a chance... I believe in the future operating rooms will not be sterile IE chemo'ed. Nature abhors a vacuum. I believe all surfaces including the patient will be sprayed with something they keep brewing of good bacteria to outnumber the bad bacteria. Or at least bacteria that we prefer to do it's work elsewhere."

From "Can I Brine My Turkey In My Well Washed 5 Gallon Worm Bucket?": pskvorc: "weren't you the one trying to convince me that worms in an operating theater (as in medical operating room) was a "good thing" because we all know how only "beneficial" microbes are found in worm compost?" I'm glad you liked my fun Thanksgiving bucket post. :-) (There may be one more post on the topic of bacteria in an operating theater by pskvorc that I can not find.)

A recent newspaper article reminded me on the whole spraying the operating room with good bacteria thing. It seems that day is closer. To impress a girl a guy grew bacteria from a horse stable dirt floor. He wanted to be able to tell her why horses roll around in dirt. (That is what they like to do first thing after a bath.) He thought it might be so good sweat eating (as opposed to evil? personification of bacteria here) bacteria could recolonize and regain their numbers. He developed a bacterial spray for humans. The spray replaces the good bacteria washed away. "Dr. Elizabeth Grice, an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania who studies the role of microbiota in wound healing and inflammatory skin disease, said she believed that discoveries about the second genome might one day not only revolutionize treatments for acne but also — as AOBiome and its biotech peers hope — help us diagnose and cure disease, heal severe lesions and more. Those with wounds that fail to respond to antibiotics could receive a probiotic cocktail adapted to fight the specific strain of infecting bacteria." "Soon, AOBiome will file an Investigational New Drug Application with the F.D.A. to request permission to test more concentrated forms of AOB for the treatment of diabetic ulcers and other dermatologic conditions. “It’s very, very easy to make a quack therapy; to put together a bunch of biological links to convince someone that something’s true,” Heywood said. “What would hurt us is trying to sell anything ahead of the data.”"

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/magazine/my-no-soap-no-shampoo-bacteria-rich-hygiene-experiment.html?_r=0