Compost Tea Lab aerators? other recommendations?

I'm buying an aerator for making weed/compost tea in a 5 gallon bucket.

Has anyone tried one from this company?

Compost Tea Lab

https://www.composttealab.com/

https://www.composttealab.com/store/p4/Basic_Compost_Tea_Brewer_Kits.html

I’ve had a 50gal batch bubble snake from TeaLab for over 6yrs and 1000’s of gallons brewed, and it still seems good to go. My extracts and teas have been looked at by Soil Food Web grads who were impressed, even though they did invest in a conical brewer because they sell teas and at scale are likely worth it. The main key seems to be an ample aerator, and a vessel with minimal straight sides where stuff doesn’t circulate. It is also usually better to err on the side of a shorter brew and less food.

thank you Ben!
that's exactly what I was needing to hear.

Is your 50 gallon brew done in a barrell?
I was hoping we could keep up with a 5 gallon amount more easily and just keep making it more often.

Not sure if a five gallon bucket qualifies as ' minimal straight sided'?
...maybe it's small enough to not matter?

Just want to say that Tea Lab is a local business for me and the owner, Luke, is a great dude. They do very good work and have great customer service.

s. lowe wrote:Just want to say that Tea Lab is a local business for me and the owner, Luke, is a great dude. They do very good work and have great customer service.

thank you s.lowe!!!
that is very reassuring as I hesitate to buy online from a company I've never used before.

I made 2 of different sizes many years ago. I haven't used them forever and can't locate the pipes than fit into the bottom and come out the top of the bucket but I took a photo of the rest. It's pretty straightforward and they worked great. I'm sure at the time it was much less expensive than the one in your link but likely not the case anymore. Not if you factor in labor at least.

Thanks Les!
Where did you find your pump...is it from 'compost tea lab'?

I'm hoping to give targeted individual plants a nutritional boost mostly with plants and compost gathered here along with some rock dust but I've never used an aerator before.

My attempts at stirring a bucket of greens repeatedly has been disappointing  and not something I could keep up with for feeding larger gardens.

did you use it for green matter or compost, etc ?

Judith Browning wrote:Thanks Les!
Where did you find your pump...is it from 'compost tea lab'?

I'm hoping to give targeted individual plants a nutritional boost mostly with plants and compost gathered here along with some rock dust but I've never used an aerator before.

My attempts at stirring a bucket of greens repeatedly has been disappointing  and not something I could keep up with for feeding larger gardens.

did you use it for green matter or compost, etc ?

Hi Judith,

It was so long ago I'm not sure where I bought the pump. Probably at a gardening/brewing store or online. I might get one here if I need it today.
https://vivosun.com/search?q=air%20pump

The pump I have is the ecoplus commercial air 3 - 35 watts

There are a bunch of different thoughts on aerated teas. You could really go down a rabbit hole if you wanted.

I used fresh worm castings with a bit of kelp powder and molasses and usually brewed around 12 hours at room temp. I imagine there are a plethora of recipes out there nowadays.

The key for the homemade aerators was finding a way to cut the thinnest slits as possible in the bottom tubes where the air comes out. You can see the slits in the photos. I used this saw and t it worked well.

IRWIN Marples 7.25-in Dovetail cut Pull Saw

Judith Browning wrote:thank you Ben!
that's exactly what I was needing to hear.

Is your 50 gallon brew done in a barrell?
I was hoping we could keep up with a 5 gallon amount more easily and just keep making it more often.

Not sure if a five gallon bucket qualifies as ' minimal straight sided'?
...maybe it's small enough to not matter?

I brew compost teas in a 50gal water barrel that is more ovular or egg shaped than the straight sided one I used to use.  In addition to fewer straight lines where aeration and circulation are reduced, these also have screw on lids, so it can be filled with compost tea or extract in my truck and transported to a higher point, then gravity dispensed via a garden hose with a valve. This has allowed me to cover several acres without a heavy and expensive sprayer. I will also gravity feed a tea or extract from this barrel to an IBC in my truck, dilute it 5:1 or so and irrigate trees getting established. I have also experimented with putting a mesh sack of rocks in the flat bottom of the brewer to mitigate dead zones, but haven’t analysed the results with a scope or scientific methods. I think the 50gal bubble snake and the pump TeaLab recommends is ample either way, as it makes a roiling boil akin to a river rapid that really mixes everything and keeps it in suspension well. I do at times get some blockages of the outlet from sediment when I turn off the pump.

Thanks for explaining Ben!
I'm eyeing our water barrels that are the egg shape you mention...most are larger than I would like for brewing tea, the smallest is 20 gallons.

I think I've seen smaller though, maybe 10 gallon pickle barrel shape with lids at a local feed store or maybe a junk store.
Will start looking before I order the aerator...our five gallon buckets are old and on their last legs anyway and 10 gallons would not be too much tea to have at a time.

I bought the 5-gallon kit from tea labs 4 or 5 years ago. I brew a few batches per year and everything is holding up fine. The aerator produces such a vigorous bubble that I wouldn't worry at all about too much stagnation in a straight-sided bucket. In fact, the pump moves so much air I've figured I could upscale and put the thing in a 55 gallon drum. I haven't tried it, but it looks viable. Four gallons of tea diluted for foliar application goes a long way.

I've never tested my teas, so my continued use of them is faith-based.

a question from the kiddie table: can I expect much more from an aerated tea than from an anaerobic one?
Like Judith, I use 5 gallon buckets to make anaerobic comfrey tea every two or three weeks and dilute it to water on the ground. Maybe I'll throw some rabbit turds or other weeds in too. I could potentially scale up a little but probably not more than 10 gallons at a time. The plants seem to like it, but I don't have any firm evidence!