707-992-5172 info@boogiebrew.com

Boogie Brew F.A.Q.’s

Q: Can you brew too long ?

Yes, compost tea does not do well beyond 72 hours.

Q: How long can you keep Boogie Brew after it’s made?

A: You can keep Boogie Brew Tea for an additional 2-3 days after brewing by continuing your aeration with a minimum 25 liters of air per minute. During an extended aeration period like this you can add Boogie Brix to feed the living organisms in your tea and extend the life of your compost tea.

Q: Can this be used on all types of plants? (blueberry, strawberry, asparagus, peppers, tomato, flowers, grass)

A: Yes, our BB compost tea is beneficial to all plants and its safe for animals and humans to drink but, don’t.

Q: How often should I apply Boogie Brew compost tea?

A: We recommend once weekly at 1:5 dilution rate but not less than once monthly at 1:20 dilution rate to see the results.

Q: Is there a suggested time of day to use for optimum results?

A: No time is best because every day is different.

Q: When should I foliar spray my plants and trees with Boogie Brew?

A: You should not get your plants wet if they will be receiving direct sunlight before they have a chance to dry out. Getting plants wet in direct sunlight can cause the liquid droplets to act like thousands of mini-magnifying glasses that could burn spots onto your plants. For this reason the early morning and late afternoon are usually the best times to spray the garden.

Q: I saw a picture of Boogie Brew Pro on Amazon with 3 bags pictured, is the tea a 3 part product? I don’t understand what the 3rd bag is for.

A: The picture is misleading. The Boogie Brew Pro is a 2 part tea, the third bag is the outer packaging that contains the 2 inner bags of Base and Boost. We have no control over how other people represent out product on Amazon. This information is more clearly explained in a video on our website here.

Q: Do I need an air pump or can I just brew it in a bucket alone?

A: You will indeed need to use an air pump to obtain a satisfactory extraction of both biological and organic nutrients from the tea. Even a low power, inexpensive aquarium pump and single air stone can be used with a 5gallon bucket to create a sufficient infusion, although with a lower output air pump you will want to brew the tea for at least 12 hours first. Then you may apply the resulting tea concentrate” into another reservoir, diluted with chlorine free water, to feed your plants with.

Q: Is that chlorine filter similar to the hard water filter I use for my mister system?

A: As far as your question about the filter, it is not designed to “soften” water in the manner that a sodium treatment filter would. You must not use “water softener” filters on your agricultural water. The sodium and other “softening” salts will harm plants!Hydroponics demands that the base water have low ppm’s (parts-
per-million) so as not to imbalance the absorption of the chemical salts in the hydroponic fertilizer. With a quality compost tea and mild soil-based organic feed systems, the bacteria in the tea and healthy soil substrate will produce enzymes which work to break down the salts, or hard mineral deposits, and
render them far less hazardous to your root system. Effectively the tea and its biology becomes the “water-softener” through nature’s bacterial action and breakdown of minerals.

Q: Is there a cheaper method of filtering? I am not planning on misting the brew but I have a filter on my misters that says it takes the calcium out of the water… can I create my own filter somehow?

A: Our Boogie Blue Filter will effectively scrub the chlorine and chloramine from your city water as well as other harmful elements like fluoride, mercury, DDT, and other chemicals which kill beneficial microbes, from all water that you apply to your plants. It is a chemical filter, not an inline reverse osmosis, (RO), filter.

Q: My well water has high sodium content, which is just terrible for my garden plants. Would the Boogie Blue garden hose filter help to neutralize a decent amount of the salt in my water?

A: That is a good question and the short answer is no, the boogie blue filter will not remove “salts”, (i.e. dissolved solids), from well water. It will only remove about 10 to 15% of a source water’s dissolved solids. The other 85% or so can easily be removed with an RO, (Reverse Osmosis) system. The Boogie Blue Filter’s specialty is effectively scrubbing chemicals such as chlorine and chloramine so that soil biology can thrive. In addition, other harmful elements such as mercury, pesticides and heavy metals are removed by the Boogie Blue’s KDF55/KDF85 filtration membrane.

These kinds of substances are all antagonistic to beneficial soil microorganisms and thus harmful to healthy soil biology. Before you invest in the expense of an RO system to lower your water’s sodium levels, try to use some Boogie Brew Tea on your plants. The enzymes secreted by the beneficial organisms in a quality compost tea can work wonders to ‘soften’ or neutralize the effects from excess salts. This is something we experienced ourselves when we lived in a rural region which was plagued with excess sodium levels in the ground water.

Plants which weren’t treated with tea suffered greatly and some even died from the “burn” they experienced. Those that were given a twice weekly dose of compost tea performed far better. Although we have no doubt that the quality of results would have been considerably better still had we used the luxury of a full blown RO water system, it was nonetheless nice to achieve gardening success with our low quality sodium rich water from regular applications of Boogie Brew.

Q: How long does the filter you sell last and what about the boogie brew how long does it last in its packaged form?

A: To answer your question, please remember that our Boogie Blue Water Filter does remove chlorine and lasts up to 45,000 gallons. However, we conservatively rate its life expectancy at 35,000 gallons depending on the salt levels of your base water. For example, if you use 50 gallons per day, the filter will last you 2 years. The tea will age by increasing a white fungal powder in the bag since our packaging is very eco-friendly which is 25% post consumer and made from 40% recycled paper meaning everything in the bag is allowed to breathe. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about the lifetime of the bag as well as the tea. We use biodegradable bags (non GMO) which are made from cornstarch, vegetable oils and compostable polymers, etc. After 3 months, the bag itself will start breaking down due to the tea’s actual microbes using the cellulose content of the bio bag as a food source! With no polyethylene it’s safe to be recycled in your backyard waste.

Q: I was wondering if your compost tea can be used in a hydroponic garden. If so, how much can be used say in a 70gal reservoir?

A: Yes, you can definitely use the tea in a hydroponic system. I would use the tea at a dilution of 7 to 10 full strength gals mixed into the 70gal res. That’s a 1:10 dilution, approximately. Apply the tea this way about once every 5 to 7 days. Be sure to use chlorine free water and aerate the reservoir. Ideally, apply the diluted tea as a flush , (try not to mix other fertilizers in your res with the tea). If you have some existing nutrients in your reservoir when you top it off with diluted tea, which will be fine as long as the nutrients remaining in the reservoir are at low strength. After using the tea, top off your reservoir with chlorine free water and please use much lower strength hydroponic nutrients through out your entire feeding cycle (half usual strength).

For your system, I would prepare a 5gal bucket with 2 cups of dry tea in the bag. Aerate for 5 to 12 hours, and then add the resulting mix to your 70gals. Keep your res aerated and top it off with half strength fertilizers during the following days.

Q: I was just wondering what would be the best temp to brew at. I brew my Xtream tea around 70.

A: The tea will grow and reproduce most efficiently at 68-70 ̊F. This is the temperature at which you should brew your tea, regardless of the current soil or air temperature where you’ll be applying the tea. The tea lasts longer and is more stable when brewed at the lower end of that temperature range. So we suggest keeping ideal brew temps below 70 degrees.

Q: Can I foliar feed with boogie?

A: You bet you ca`n foliar! Do it twice a week all the way till 3 weeks to go. They will love it!

Dilute 1:5 and filter any residue if necessary through a strainer.

Q: I would like to know if anyone has tried using boogie brew in an aquaponic system?

A: We have no direct experience with the use of Boogie Brew in aquaponics. However, the feedback we have received from aquaponic enthusiasts has been very positive. Since Boogie is “Veeganic”, thus possessing no harmful animal pathogens that could cause potential harm to fish species. To quote a satisfied customer: “Sunday, the 6th of May, I added 1gallon of boogie brew, and foliar feed all plants in the system. Monday, the 7th, I found an explosion of tilapia fry. I was very impressed with boogie brew, and the benefits it boasts. I feel very confident, in using boogie brew, and although, I only put 1 gallon added to approx. 150 gallons. I am looking forward to adding more brews to the system.”

Q: What is the optimum range of pH for boogie brew tea?

A: Proper pH for effective Boogie Farming is actually quite high on the scale; do not be afraid to see pH indicators hovering in the 7.5 and over range! Though that sounds far from optimum for healthy plant growth, our own direct growing experiences taught us that the plants simply loved being fed a tea with a pH above 7.5. That sounds absurdly high, wouldn’t you think? Well, keep in mind that with Boogie Brew and compost teas in general, you are feeding the soil first, which, in turn, directly nourishes the plant with organic and super bioavailable “live nutrients”. The whole process, when kept on a positive schedule, will generate a powerful “web of life” biorythmic cycle that results in unbelievable growth rates; frequently faster and always healthier than plants that are fed a typical fertilizer regime of hydroponic, (i.e. chemical) “nutrients”. Also, something else to keep in mind is that higher pH ranges always help in furthering high populations of the aerobic and beneficial organisms which tend to thrive in alkaline rather than a cidic environments.

Therefore a high pH in your tea’s reservoir is actually quite desirable, as it is a direct indicator of beneficial biology. If you discover that your tea’s pH has dropped to more acidic levels, (below 6.5), then your tea has in all likelihood spoiled and should actually be discarded! (It’s probably now “bad tea” and has lost its favorable population of beneficial organisms). If you really must adjust your pH upon feeding good compost tea to your soil, then please only add your pH buffer at the end of your tea’s brew cycle/preparation phase. Wait till you are about to directly infuse your growing media with Boogie Brew and add just enough pH buffers to lower it to your desired levels,(those levels should still exceed at least 6.3 to 6.7).

Also, last but by no means least; please only use an organic variety pH buffer such as citric acid or Vitamin C crystals. These natural kinds of pH buffers provide an additional food source to your tea’s beneficial organisms rather than acting as destructive and antagonistic elements that chemical pH buffers like phosphoric acid contain.