Hello SweetSue,greetings from the south mediterranean seas, I'm new to the forums and the whole medidation via growing Canna lifestyle.Could you give me a reference or two on drenching teas and how to make them. By now I understand there must be a whole variety of them. I'm growing 2 Black Cream Autos of the Red Family under 400W MH/HPS.Thanks in advance
P.S. Loving your DDA. Hoping to get the same black-purple hue on my sugars!
Welcome AlleyC, to both my journal and the
community at large. Mmmmm..... Black Cream Autos, good choice. I'd expect that color you desire.
The subject of teas is more extensive than I have time to cover here. I can give you a quick rundown on the teas I use in rotation. They're drenches, really, since I don't typically bubble or steep them. My LOS is designed to run with a few, regular drenches and an occasional top dressing of good vermicompost. It's the vermicompost that's the real secret.
You can make an excellent aerated tea by simply adding a handful of EWC to a bucket of water, add a splash of blackstrap molasses and a pinch of sphagnum peat moss, drop an air stone into it and bubble it until it starts to really foam. I'm talking really foam, and when it happens you won't question that the brew is ready. Dilute that down to the water you need for your pots and water it in. This one's a shot in the arm of micro beasties.
My regular drenches consist of a sprouted seed tea, for which I use malted barley grain, and a coconut water/aloe juice drench. The malted barley grain is simpler than sprouting just about anything and is one of the best additives you can use. That recipe is
Sprouted Seed Tea for every gallon of water:
- 1 Tablespoon of sprouts, puréed (if using malted barley grain, 1/4 cup powdered)
- 10 ml Ful-Power
- Agsil16
The other drench:
Coconut/aloe drench for every gallon:
- 1/4 cup coconut water
- 1/4 tsp 200x aloe flakes or powder or the gel milked out of one aloe fillet
- 5 ml Agsil16
Both of these recipes are mix and go. You can steep the barley grain for up to four hours, but it's not really necessary. Stir frequently when you pour.
With new soils it's helpful to bubble a tea once a week, for the first few months of service.
Teas for new soils
1) 2-3 tsp neem meal + 1-2 tsp kelp meal (reconstituted)
- bubble for 24 hours in 1/2 gallon of water
- add 1/4'tsp aloe flakes or powder or the gel milked out of a fresh filet and 10 ml Ful-Power
2) substitute alfalfa for neem
That's my program AlleyC. With a little searching you'll surely come across others. The trick is minimal amendments over time. You're just restocking the shelves. The soil takes what it needs. The plants will tell you if your missing the call, but most often a good topdressing of EWC will cure just about anything.
Hope that helped some. If you need more, don't hesitate to ask. Good luck with your grow.
Sue. Looks like you could use a hug 
or 3 
I got to this point and realized I didn't have a picture of the monitor, and automatically heard arteekay in the back of my mind say "dammit!" when I realized it was a simple matter of running over to the tent and snapping the picture. Lol! 
*giggle* 
It'll keep until tomorrow. 
Looks like a good plan! 
