Red Frog Compost tea review

GandalfdaGreen

GandalfdaGreen

Well-Known Member
Hell....playing around is just damn fun too! Everyone does things differently. It's all good. It's cool to see what happens.

MistaRasta knows his shit.

Teas are the best. Let us know how things work out. Does it have the awesome sweet smell? I love that!

Good luck with the trial!
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
So here's the control group; a tea that has been brewing for about 10+ hrs made from my original recipe:

Fresh EWC
molasses
kelp meal
Seabird guano
Big bloom

image.jpg

As you can see its frothy as fuck compared to the red frog compost tea and it's not even halfway done bubbling. I do equate bubbles/froth to microbial activity; please correct me if I'm wrong here guys. Looks like Mr.Rasta was right; fresh castings straight from the worms ass are way more active than any compost you can buy but I'll admit I like the convenience of using the red frog tea. Just plop it in & bubble it; then again it's not like making my own tea is difficult it's just a bit more effort. Anyone can open a bag though & not everyone has a worm bin so it's safe to say this product is intended for growers who don't have access to fresh castings. Thanks for checking out my little science project - happy growing!!!
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Richard Drysift said:
So here's the control group; a tea that has been brewing for about 10+ hrs made from my original recipe:

Fresh EWC
molasses
kelp meal
Seabird guano
Big bloom

View attachment 3678298

As you can see its frothy as fuck compared to the red frog compost tea and it's not even halfway done bubbling. I do equate bubbles/froth to microbial activity; please correct me if I'm wrong here guys. Looks like Mr.Rasta was right; fresh castings straight from the worms ass are way more active than any compost you can buy but I'll admit I like the convenience of using the red frog tea. Just plop it in & bubble it; then again it's not like making my own tea is difficult it's just a bit more effort. Anyone can open a bag though & not everyone has a worm bin so it's safe to say this product is intended for growers who don't have access to fresh castings. Thanks for checking out my little science project - happy growing!!!
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you're a cool dude my man
but he frothing doesn't mean much though, my AACTs don't have much froth at all
my issues with the product I already said earlier.
And further still, once you start making your whole soil recipe from scratch and are amending with your own wormcastings, after all that? AACTs don't serve much a purpose past that.
good job though man
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Richard Drysift said:
They list the ingredients but do not divulge their composting and/or mixing process. I doubt all that stuff is just mixed together or it wouldn't appear like compost. It is very earthy sweet smelling and moist just like fresh castings though finely granulated to like a sand texture. It is red in color unlike the castings I get from my worm bin which are black; dunno if that means anything
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just remember, the ONLY way to really be able to tell for sure is by getting yourself a fancy microscope
but the amount of foam/froth isn't indicative of the microbial life/population numbers
 
Joe Blows Trees

Joe Blows Trees

Well-Known Member
I found this so I guess in the future I can invest in a microscope.

"As you mentioned, foam is typically an indicator of free proteins, amino acids, or carbohydrates1. If you're brewing with vermi-castings, foam seems to be a given (i.e. dead worm bodies = protein source).

Is it a measure of quality?

I wouldn't rely on it for my quality assessment. If foam meant quality compost tea, then all you would have to do is add some yucca extract during the brewing process and BAM, instant quality tea! (From my experience, yucca during the brewing process produces a lot of foam)

Instead, the two best means of assessing the quality of your compost tea are as follows:

  • Send a sample of your tea to a Soil Food Web lab for analysis
  • Use a microscope and assess microbial diversity/species/numbers"
 
Red Frog

Red Frog

Member
Hi Everyone,

Here is what the ingredients don't tell you.
Worm Castings, Forest Humus, Organic Compost, Hydrolyzed Fish, Sea 90, Kelp, Humic Acid, Demerara Sugar, Azomite, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Humates, Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Feather Meal, Soybean Meal, Cameline Meal, Fossilized Kelp, Rock Phosphate, Langbenite, Volcanic Ash, Green Sand, Sulfate of Potash.

There are two types of castings in our tea to give the most diversity posible. Alaskan forest fumus for even more microbial diversity. All of these are screened to 1/4 inch. After these ingredients are added we add

Azomite, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Humates, Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Feather Meal, Soybean Meal, Cameline Meal, Fossilized Kelp, Rock Phosphate, Langbenite, Volcanic Ash, Green Sand, Sulfate of Potash.

Then the base is sprayed with compost tea and the base starts to compost again for at least a week up to two weeks. The final ingredients
Demerara Sugar, Hydrolyzed Fish, Sea 90, Kelp, Humic Acid, and more Langbenite
are added after the bag has been ordered to insure the freshness. More Langbenite has only been added because customers have asked for it.

One more thing our castings are turned at least three times during this process they are sprayed with tea made from worm castings and minerals.

I copied the ingredients form a earlier post. Almost every thing in bold is in the process to help the last composting or as a microbial food while it's in the bag.

The bottom line is I know of know other tea that goes to the length we go to to maximize microbial diversity or insure maximum microbial levels.

FYI we use only organic non GMO ingredients.
 
Last edited:
Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
Red Frog said:
Hi Everyone,

Here is what the ingredients don't tell you.
Worm Castings, Forest Humus, Organic Compost, Hydrolyzed Fish, Sea 90, Kelp, Humic Acid, Demerara Sugar, Azomite, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Humates, Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Feather Meal, Soybean Meal, Cameline Meal, Fossilized Kelp, Rock Phosphate, Langbenite, Volcanic Ash, Green Sand, Sulfate of Potash.

There are two types of castings in our tea to give the most diversity posible. Alaskan forest fumus for even more microbial diversity. All ov these are screened to 1/4 inch. After these ingredients are added we add

Demerara Sugar, Azomite, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Humates, Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Feather Meal, Soybean Meal, Cameline Meal, Fossilized Kelp, Rock Phosphate, Langbenite, Volcanic Ash, Green Sand, Sulfate of Potash.

Then the base is sprayed with compost tea and the base starts to compost again for at least a week up to two weeks. The final ingredients
Hydrolyzed Fish, Sea 90, Kelp, Humic Acid, and more Langbenite
are added after the bag has been ordered to insure the freshness. More Langbenite has only been added because customers have asked for it.

One more thing our castings are turned at least three times during this process they are sprayed with tea made from worm castings and minerals.

I copied the ingredients form a earlier post. Almost every thing in bold is in the process to help the last composting or as a microbial food while it's in the bag.

The bottom line is I know of know other tea that goes to the length we go to to maximize microbial diversity or insure maximum microbial levels.

FYI we use only organic non GMO ingredients.
Click to expand...
Thank you for taking the time to explain what's in your product and how it is prepared. Products like "golden tree" that treat their formula like it's a guarded secret is a huge turn off to conscious minded consumers like myself (and most organic growers). It's very refreshing to see a company that can stand by their work enough to actually inform the consumers what it is. Much respect.
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Thanks for clarifying your process. My plants seem to like the red frog AACT. They have gotten the tea a few times now and are praying in homage. I have been adding my own fresh EWC along w/ kelp meal and going for a shorter bubble length than suggested. The bag says to go 48 hrs but I use a tropical fish tank heater which speeds things up. I apply my tea after about 36 hrs of bubbling. I like the consistency of the red frog compost; very fine like coffee grounds to expose a lot of surface area to the water/air when bubbling. My own castings are clumpy; uneven textures.
I should add that the red frog brand diffuser is much better than my old airstone. I have to leave room in the bucket for the extra air bubbles. The 9" round diffuser is weighted by washers to stay in place & fits a 5 gal bucket perfectly.
I should note that the red frog tea mix should be stored in a cool dry space. I had my bag inside a cabinet where it gets kinda stuffy & warm and I found mycellium growing on it.
 
Red Frog

Red Frog

Member
No problem, we have tested Red Frog Teas and have had very good microbial results in as little as 8 to 12 hrs with every high bacterial counts. In 24 hrs generally bacterial counts plateau and fungal levels are very high and raising. Generally after 36 hrs fungal levels have peaked. All this being said there are many factors that go into this and is why I am not stating specific levels. Under perfect conditions all microbial counts can plateau in 24 hr or less. All this being said the reason we put 48 hrs on the directions is to give you high fungal counts if they are desired and 24 if higher bacterial levels are desired. One last thing, if your using a quality tea your pump and aerator will dictate the results. The more air you pump in the better. Red Frog recommends a 951 gph/40 liter air pump for a 5 gal. batch for any tea. Our side by side testing with different pump sizes has proved this over and over to us.
 
H

heavydog

Well-Known Member
I gave my partner a full sealed 3lb bag of Red Frog compost and told him to keep in a cool dry place. He wanted a little more responsibility so I made him the tea brewmister. I found he left the compost where I had given it to him in the sun in triple digit temperatures as high as 105 for 6 days. I know brew temperatures range from 65 to 72 degrees but will work as high as 100 degrees ambient temperatures. What are the chances that this compost is any good for tea making.
 
dubekoms

dubekoms

Well-Known Member
heavydog said:
I gave my partner a full sealed 3lb bag of Red Frog compost and told him to keep in a cool dry place. He wanted a little more responsibility so I made him the tea brewmister. I found he left the compost where I had given it to him in the sun in triple digit temperatures as high as 105 for 6 days. I know brew temperatures range from 65 to 72 degrees but will work as high as 100 degrees ambient temperatures. What are the chances that this compost is any good for tea making.
Click to expand...
Did it dry out?
 
H

heavydog

Well-Known Member
I haven't been by to check out new brew, but it was sealed in plastic mailing bag but I imagine it wasn't dried out. More concerned about temp killing my microbes before they had a chance to be added to mini microbulator. My friend feels bad about his fail and friendships must be preserved. I may take over tea brewing for a while.
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Red Frog said:
Hi Everyone,

Here is what the ingredients don't tell you.
Worm Castings, Forest Humus, Organic Compost, Hydrolyzed Fish, Sea 90, Kelp, Humic Acid, Demerara Sugar, Azomite, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Humates, Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Feather Meal, Soybean Meal, Cameline Meal, Fossilized Kelp, Rock Phosphate, Langbenite, Volcanic Ash, Green Sand, Sulfate of Potash.

There are two types of castings in our tea to give the most diversity posible. Alaskan forest fumus for even more microbial diversity. All of these are screened to 1/4 inch. After these ingredients are added we add

Azomite, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Humates, Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Feather Meal, Soybean Meal, Cameline Meal, Fossilized Kelp, Rock Phosphate, Langbenite, Volcanic Ash, Green Sand, Sulfate of Potash.

Then the base is sprayed with compost tea and the base starts to compost again for at least a week up to two weeks. The final ingredients
Demerara Sugar, Hydrolyzed Fish, Sea 90, Kelp, Humic Acid, and more Langbenite
are added after the bag has been ordered to insure the freshness. More Langbenite has only been added because customers have asked for it.

One more thing our castings are turned at least three times during this process they are sprayed with tea made from worm castings and minerals.

I copied the ingredients form a earlier post. Almost every thing in bold is in the process to help the last composting or as a microbial food while it's in the bag.

The bottom line is I know of know other tea that goes to the length we go to to maximize microbial diversity or insure maximum microbial levels.

FYI we use only organic non GMO ingredients.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the explanation!
Do you assess your bacterial to fungal ratios? The ones you have after those 3 turns of the mix getting sprayed with tea.
Cheers!
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
heavydog said:
I gave my partner a full sealed 3lb bag of Red Frog compost and told him to keep in a cool dry place. He wanted a little more responsibility so I made him the tea brewmister. I found he left the compost where I had given it to him in the sun in triple digit temperatures as high as 105 for 6 days. I know brew temperatures range from 65 to 72 degrees but will work as high as 100 degrees ambient temperatures. What are the chances that this compost is any good for tea making.
Click to expand...
It depends on how quickly the temps rose in the bag.
If it went too fast, any microbes in there won't have had the time to go dormant in an orderly fashion - and got killed. Otherwise, they may still be revivable, though there'S a high probability of heat-loving bacteria having taken center stage for now (this changes all the time, so it IS reversible!).
 
H

heavydog

Well-Known Member
calliandra said:
It depends on how quickly the temps rose in the bag.
If it went too fast, any microbes in there won't have had the time to go dormant in an orderly fashion - and got killed. Otherwise, they may still be revivable, though there'S a high probability of heat-loving bacteria having taken center stage for now (this changes all the time, so it IS reversible!).
Click to expand...
Red Frog compost seems to be in good shape, latest batch looks and smells great. Our plants are loving it. Thanks Red Frog and the helpful people on this forum.
 
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