Can seaweed tea go off?

[redser]

Hi,
I drew a few of litres of tea off from where I was brewing it a couple of weeks ago. It was light brown/tea coloured. I used some and kept the rest in a plastic milk jug in the tunnel. Had a look at it last night and it's gone dark green and smells rank, really really bad. Whereas there wasn't much of a smell when I first put it in. So does it have a shelf life? Not sure if I can safely use it on my tomato plants.
Thanks a lot

[Feral007]

Cooked seaweed tea! Not sure altho people do seem to be talking about the smell of the gardening tea's and I'm wondering myself how appealing they will be to our enthusiatic dog.

[planetologist]

I know nothing about seaweed tea, but plants need inorganic nutrients, whereas bacteria and other microbes use organic nutrients that would be in seaweed and turn them into inorganic nutrients (and also volatile organic compounds, and under anaerobic conditions H2S and such, hence the smell), so I'd say the smelly stuff is still fine for tomatoes. If you inundate the soil with anaerobic liquid for long enough the roots would die.

[redser]

I feel like its 2am and I'm watching the Open University. Sorry I dont understand. My original batch is in a 30 litre tote just covered with thick cardboard so it has air. When I drew some of the liquid off it was tea brown which is what I expected and not very smelly. I used some and sealed the rest in the plastic milk jug and put it in the tunnel. Now it is rank, dark green and I didn't mention this before but is cloudy, like stuff has grown in it. I used a seive when I drew it off the first time so it was clear. So maybe the heat and lack of air has created the inorganic nutrients good for feeding. But I dont get the last bit. Do you mean because it was sealed in the jug it's a different sort of brew than if it was in an open bucket of something? And not a good idea to use it for long? Bet you have a science background dont you Thanks for the answer, very interesting.

[Feral007]

Yes, I'm following this too - but not understanding it all as I haven't had my 2nd cup of coffee yet - well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I do want to ask tho about making the tea. Someone in another thread said that the container you made the tea's in MUST have a lid. So can someone or everyone preferably say what they have found, before I take the tops off my plastic containers?

So, Lids on? Or Lids off? And why, and why not? Thanks

[jacob]

Lids on, mostly because of the smell... I'm reckoning redser's niffless seaweed tea wasn't ready yet. Mine's stinking. (Not used it yet and it's the first time I've tried this.)

[dominic10]

re lids: I'm doing various teas this year. In one container I didn't have a lid and eventually it attracted lots of flies - perhaps they wanted to drink. There were lots of dead flies in the liquid and the smell was quite rank. Managed to get two beer making thingies for 50p (what a bargain) from a car boot so lids firmly on - I am intending to decant it into 4 pint milk cartons. We seem to have a lot of bluebottles/flies around at the moment. Sorry I can't help with your original query.

[planetologist]

I feel like its 2am and I'm watching the Open University.

You're too kind

But I dont get the last bit.

That was just the disclaimer: don't use too much, but the more free draining your soil, the less likely this is to be a problem.

Do you mean because it was sealed in the jug it's a different sort of brew than if it was in an open bucket of something?

Probably only temporarily. Soil is amazingly good at breaking down all those smelly compounds, so it should end up the same in the end.

Bet you have a science background dont you

Yes, but marine, so don't think what I say is the truth, or even the best of what is currently accepted.

[redser]

Thanks a lot! Sounds like good science to me Cheers

[Feral007]

Yes, but marine, so don't think what I say is the truth, or even the best of what is currently accepted.

A marine scientist.......so when the polar caps finish melting and we finally get some moisture up here, you'll be one of the best people to ask questions to! Cool!

[Two_Sheds]

I have my brews in 5l water bottles, lids on: to keep the smell in and the flies out. I've made comfrey brew for 7 years now, no problems with it at all (except once a lid popped off, because I'd not left that 2" air gap under the lid)

This year I'm doing seaweed & comfrey together ( because seaweed alone isn't good enough ). The seaweed doesn't smell for the first few weeks, but the comfrey absolutely stinks. It's meant to.

[solway cropper]

You are unlikely to get anaerobic decomposition unless you put a sealed lid on. I use open tubs with a cover of plywood just to keep out the rain, small animals etc. The air can still get in and the stuff usually only stinks when you stir it up. As TS says, it's meant to.

With seaweed it's not just the trace elements that you get but the alginins, enzymes and other complex substances which are biologically active and assist in breaking down soil nutrients to make them available to the plants.

I think it was the year before last that I gave all my tomatoes no additional feeding but home made seaweed tea and they produced excellent crops.

[Feral007]

I'm liking all this information - thank good ness Redser's seaweed tea got stinky!

[Florence Fennel]

Taught by TS, I brew my comfrey tea in 2 litre plastic milk bottles, stuffing in the leaves and adding water and leaving a gap at the top so they don't explode. It's a brilliant system and much better than brewing in a bucket and decanting as I was doing - too much stinky spillage with that method!

[redser]

Brilliant, that's all great info. Thanks so much. Am going to use the brew over the weekend.