Looking to Setup Organic Tea Brewer & Organic Tea Sprayer, need help!!!

[lawncuttinfoo]

Originally Posted by Rick13

4. Chlorine free water....after filling the compost tea brewer from my fire hydrant in front of the house.... Growing Solutions said it would take from 30 mins to an hour of running the pump to get rid of the chlorine. Then I could start brewing My Tea.

Rick

You need to check with your water municipality about what they use. Most do not use chlorine anymore but chloramine. The latter of which can not be out gassed.
I don't mean to knock a company but this is very basic tea info and if GS does not know this I would be suspicious.

NTM is it pointless to use a hydrant hookup for a 300 or even 500 gal sprayer. Simply use 2 or more spigots and you will be full in less than 20 min. It will take longer than that to d!(k around with the hydrant hoses, hookups, water meter, billing, etc, etc...

You also mentioned "expensive compost for high end customers" Do you realize how little compost you need for brewing? Compost should be about .5% of your brewing cost even if you are paying $5/lb (which is double what the best cost)
Cutting corners here is the equivalent of picking up pennies off the street, do the math it's not worth it by a long shot.

[phasthound]

These are very good points. Adding a small amount of humic acid (just enough to add a brown tinge to the water) before brewing will lock up both chlorine and chloramine.

Some composts are better than others for brewing. There is a learning curve when starting out, but it's only rocket science if you want it to be.

[Rick13]

Thanks lawncuttinfoo & phasthound!!!

I've got three spigots at my house....plus when I called the Water Co....they said that getting water cost more from the hydrant than at a house. So thanks for the savings!!!

I don't know what Rockford uses in their water lines, but will find out.

If it's chlorine and not chlorine....how much humic acid will I need for 50 gallons?

Will this show up in an oxygen meter? I know I want the level high, when brewing tea....right?

Any little tips will be greatly appreciated! Just starting out, and trying to learn as much as I can for people who've done compost tea brewing.

On getting expensive compost from Purple Cow Organics.....I would buy maybe a yard, and then I would have enough for the season. I do know it only uses a little bit of compost in the mix. I just thought the best would be better to start with. Right?

[lawncuttinfoo]

When they tell you what they use they should be able to tell you what rate they use (ppm). This will determine your nuturalizing rate.


We have 70 resi customers with 3-5 apps per year, we use 30 lbs of compost per year, total, that's it.

A yard of compost, my goodness, just starting out? That's 7000 customers at our rate. Thinking you need to double check your numbers.

Wait, do you work for Chemlawn (trugreen)?

[jonthepain]

You might consider adding some worm castings in with your compost when brewing.

[Rick13]

Any extra compost from Purple Cow Compost I would use at My House. Plus I don't mind spreading any extra compost through out My Yard with My Ecolawn Spreader.

As fast as I can usually get compost....it seems to disappear fairly quick....not now....but come Spring Time...I'm hoping to be busy spreading organic compost in customer's yards with the Ecolawn Spreader.

What do you sell your 3 to 5 applications at? I was thinking around $65.00 per application. This way, it will be close to what the big chemical lawn companies sell at....if not more.

Yeah, the organic compost tea mixture will be interesting....not sure what would be a good "All Around Organic Compost Tea Recipe"...(for grass, trees, and bushes)???? This will be for only a 50 gallon tea maker....if anyone wants to share some more of their knowledge.

Nope, I don't work for anyone....just a solo worker/owner.

[NattyLawn]

Another thing to look at is the Gator vs Kubota. At a previous job, I used a Gator, and when you would step on the gas it would go at a slow speed and then "kick in". I always worried about tearing up wet turf or dew ridden turf even with the turf tires. Kubota's do cost more, but there are diesel models that can handle carrying the weight of 50 or 100 gallons. I don't know if they have the "kick in" like the Gators do.

It's tough to price applications at a set price. So you're saying if I have a 25k lawn and my neighbor has a 10k lawn it's the same price? I don't think so. Know your costs for the truck, fuel, tea, water, travel time, application time then you can come up with a price. Setting random prices usually leads to lost money very quickly.

As far as a recipe, what brewer are you planning on using? If you go with Tim Wilson's recipes are included..

[Rick13]

Are the general group of people who use Tim Wilson's recipes happy???

Anything different or any other tips or personal experiences you've seen better?

Yes, I'm getting Time Wilson's brewer to start with.

[lawncuttinfoo]

Originally Posted by NattyLawn

It's tough to price applications at a set price. So you're saying if I have a 25k lawn and my neighbor has a 10k lawn it's the same price? I don't think so. Know your costs for the truck, fuel, tea, water, travel time, application time then you can come up with a price. Setting random prices usually leads to lost money very quickly.

Well said, it also leads from business to hobby. (business makes money, hobby cost money)

[Rick13]

No...sorry.... I didn't type as fast as I was thinking.

I thought I would start my prices at $65.00 for Organic Compost Tea Spraying....and then go up based on yard size.

If it's a bigger yard....it would cost more money....but for a 5000 square foot yard I would start my price there.

I would end up spraying 30 to 40 gallons of tea at that price.

For me to make 200 gallons of tea (just materials)....not including labor, truck, or my time....just materials to make the tea will be around $20 to $25. That is what I have figured out so far.