Bionutrient tea - seal the lid or not? (lactobacillus or aerobic?)

I'm specifically wondering about comfrey tea, but having this past year been introduced to Bokashi composting I've learned about the benefits of the anaerobic lactobacillus bacteria in the decomposition process.  I do not if how or if this relates to making Comfrey tea or any other bionutrient, but when watching videos online about either it seems some specifically say to close the lid tightly to seal it (which I believe allows for the anaerobic lactobacillus to develop), while others don't mention closing the lid at all.  Doing the later I believe allows aerobic bacteria to develop, are there any dangers of accidentally creating a bad bacterium?

When we brew bionutrients which is our aim?  If someone here replies there are different aims does that mean you brew both methods?

Maybe an airlock would be a happy medium? The best of both worlds.

Anne Miller wrote:Maybe an airlock would be a happy medium? The best of both worlds.

You mean a one-way valve?

In research Bokashi and lactobacillus i’ve read the importance of keeping everything anaerobic so that only that bacteria can thrive. That prevents any aerobic bacteria from being introduced. The anaerobic bacteria ferments the material and the smell is really that of kombucha or kimchee. Another interesting side effect is it doesn’t release methane(?) or other greenhouse gases.

It’s very possible this is undesirable for comfrey tea though

okay, i make both bokashi and comfrey tea.
I keep tight lids on both, but only the comfrey tea one is "airtight". It's sealed to stop flies/maggots/mosquitoes. The comfrey tea gets an anaerobic stink to it (rank swamp water sort of thing). I assumed that was a good thing?

The bokashi, I open it every other day or so to put more stuff in. It has drainage holes that air can enter through. There is no way it is airtight. I mash it down with a tool to make sure everything is touching, but I don't take any special measures to keep it airtight. Again, I want to avoid maggots, but it works just fine. Also no rank stench.
I try not to overthink things. I know lactobacillus can be aerobic or anaerobic, and I just want the stuff to break down, which it does.

I'm realizing Bokashi doesn't get this anaerobic stink to it and instead has the kombucha smell.  So the fact comfrey does get this might indicate something else is at play.  Maybe it's the standing water encouraging another type of bacteria?  

This thread has a recipe that doesn't include water and claims this method doesn't have a stink.  https://allotmentnotes.com/2019/05/16/a-simple-and-stink-free-recipe-for-comfrey-tea/

I'm also remembering years ago seeing many recipes that included an aquarium air pump bubbler to provide constant oxygen.  Back then I assumed this was how you do this, but for some reason I'm not finding those posts anymore.  I did find this one which uses the air pump. https://homesteadandchill.com/actively-aerated-compost-tea/  Maybe this keeps the stink down.  This thread goes on to say the anaerobic bacteria could be harmful to people and are unwanted.  Bokashi uses the selected good anaerobic bacteria used in fermentation for human consumption, so maybe it's not possible to get this result with comfrey tea.

Perhaps this means we should be aerating our comfrey teas?

Bokashi definitely is meant to be anaerobic and even if air does get in when you open it, some people take steps to limit the effects of that (such as a piece of wax paper kept over the top layer of food to try to seal it off from the air and a weight pressing everything down so air isn't getting between it as much).

I've not made comfrey tea or any other type of gardening tea, so can't speak from my own experience there.

But I do know that Dr. Redhawk has discussed this in at least a few of his posts here and I believe he basically said the majority of the nasty bacteria we want to avoid are anaerobic. However, he doesn't necessarily let that stop him from using anaerobic methods, since these bacteria typically die off when oxygen is introduced and that is generally fairly simple to do.

I'm pretty sure he also recommends introducing oxygen even to methods that are *expected* to only include beneficial bacteria, to avoid the possibility of contamination with one of the baddies.  But he also doesn't overcomplicate the process of introducing oxygen as much as some people do - noting that even pouring out a liquid from a container may introduce a certain amount of oxygen depending on how it is done.

I make a 'weed' tea that involves filling a bucket with vegetable matter about halfway, filling the bucket with water, and leaving it out in the sun for 3-5 weeks covered.

I then strain and bottle before utilizing at a roughly 1 part to 10 parts water dilution.

Maybe there is a better way? This one, the work is mostly done after the weeding part is complete. It seems to work just fine for me.

Thanks for the additional replies, John and Tim.  

I've been meaning to update my post, but at the same time want to limit any misinformation by making assumptions too early.  It's been a learning experience but it would benefit us all more if we left definitive answers to the experts.  I admit, even this post could contribute to misinformation because I'm only learning, but I do hope someday definitive answers will be available.  What I mean by that are answers that show that one method of preparation is in fact the best for various reasons.

Tim, I wondered if I was overthinking everything and in fact your method is just as good as any other.  While brewing and applying my tea I can't say for sure it has helped.  My plants look healthy and growth increased once into the month of July, but that is expected for my climate and altitude.  For some reason nothing starts growing until mid-July, it's been a constant confusion of mine and every year I try a new technique.  This year included this comfrey tea and the fact I built a greenhouse.  I always thought it was the ground temp holding everything back, but I'm confident the greenhouse solved that (using temp probes the ground was already 10 degrees warmer by the end of May).  This year may have been an anomaly because everyone I know is blaming a late spring for causing their plants to be a month behind.

So.  About my comfrey tea.  I decided to go ahead and aerate based on some other threads here.  Thanks John for mentioning Redhawk, that may have been one of my sources.  On Amazon I found these cheap solar powered air bubblers for ponds.  In direct sun they work great.  The $25 dollar one I believe had a built in battery to extend the aeration, but even the ~$14 rocks in full sun.  It's not a ton of bubbles but does the job.  

After a few days I immediately noticed the rancid smell went way down, at first I thought it fixed the smell issue entirely!  But then the teas (I have two 55-gallon barrels) developed the smell of old-man breath after a long cigar session.  Mostly that's the smell that still lingers today although with a prominent note of fresh rich manure, along with a finish of rotting.  

This is my first time and I only assume this is what it's supposed to smell like.  I've certainly noticing it sticks to your hands and you can still smell it after washing your hands.

I know you're supposed to dilute this.  But I must admit I've been applying it mostly full strength although I try to follow it with at least an equal amount of water.  My location doesn't make it easy for mixing.  My batches aren't completely stuffed with comfrey so there is a lot of water already especially when I top it off.  But this is certainly an example of something that could be dialed in for best use -- the variable of how much comfrey you use (and if you add any other type of plant material that may break down harder) and exactly how much water you add I'm sure greatly affects the dilution rate...  Or maybe not.. I'm no expert!