Amending Beds With Micronized Compost Tea 10 lb
Worked into the medium rather than watered in, the rate runs a quarter teaspoon to a tablespoon per cubic foot. Repeat that every three to four weeks through the season. Ten pounds covers about 440 cubic feet if you run the heavy end of that, and near 5,280 at the light end. A bed is where the wide rate earns its keep. Living soil that has been cycling for a while wants the light rate as maintenance. Fresh medium, or a bed coming back after a hard run, takes the heavy one. At transplant the rate is separate again, an eighth to half a teaspoon per hole. That is a great many holes out of a bag this size. Scratch it in and water it through rather than leaving it dry on the surface.
Treating It as a Microbial Soil Inoculant
The label to keep in mind is inoculant, not fertilizer. The ingredient list reads like compost rather than like a feed chart. What it carries is humus, kelp, worm castings and composted turkey manure, ground fine enough to suspend without a bag or a strainer. Biology is also the reason storage matters more here than on a mineral product. Keep the bag sealed, cool and off a damp floor. A powder that has taken up moisture cakes, and a caked bag mixes badly and stores worse. Ten pounds is a lot of applications, so it will sit on a shelf for a while between fills. Take that into account before the larger bag looks like the obvious call.
Key Features
- Amends about 440 cubic feet: At a tablespoon per cubic foot, or near 5,280 at a quarter teaspoon.
- Two ends to the amendment rate: Light for living soil on maintenance, heavy for fresh or tired medium.
- Repeat every 3 to 4 weeks: Through the growing season, rather than as a single charge at the start.
- Separate transplant rate: An eighth to half a teaspoon per hole, which a bag this size covers easily.
- Scratch in and water through: Dry powder left on the surface will not reach the root zone on its own.
- An inoculant, not a feed: It works on the biology in the medium rather than on a ppm number.
- Humus, kelp, castings, manure: Ground fine enough to suspend, so there is no bag and no strainer to clean.
- Store sealed and cool: A powder that takes up moisture cakes, and a caked bag mixes badly.
- Sized for beds and benches: Ten pounds suits a room running beds. A few pots are better on 1 or 5 lb.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Brand | Sensational Solutions |
| Part Number | SSMCT4 |
| Product | Micronized Compost Tea |
| Size | 10 lb |
| Type | Micronized soluble compost tea powder |
| Derived From | 28% humus, 17% kelp, 13% worm castings, 12% composted turkey manure, 30% other ingredients |
| Form | Micronized powder |
| Growth Stage | All stages |
| Soil Amendment Rate | 1/4 tsp to 1 tbsp per cubic foot, every 3 to 4 weeks |
| Soil Coverage | About 440 cubic feet at 1 tbsp, 5,280 at 1/4 tsp |
| Transplant Rate | 1/8 to 1/2 tsp per planting hole |
| Direct Water-In Rate | 1/4 to 2 tsp per gallon of dechlorinated water |
| Coverage, Light Direct Rate | About 5,280 gallons of finished solution |
| Coverage, One Teaspoon Rate | About 1,320 gallons of finished solution |
| Concentrated Brew Rate | 1 to 2 tbsp per gallon, molasses optional |
| Coverage, Concentrate Brew | About 440 gallons of concentrate at 1 tbsp per gallon |
| Brew Time | 1 to 3 days aerated, water temperature dependent |
| Brew Dilution | 1:30 to 1:50 for drench or foliar |
| Storage | Sealed, cool and dry, off a damp floor |
| Strainer Needed | No |
| Suitable Media | Soil, coco, hydroponics |
| Other Sizes | 8 oz, 1 lb, 5 lb and 25 lb |