Hi Carlos,
I brew my own compost tea is 10 gallon batches typically. Mine is based on vermicompost (I have a flow-through worm bin that I built for easy casting harvesting). I will share my recipe below.
I am no expert so please take my answers with a grain of salt. But I have been doing a little research on this and will share my perspective.
1 If you apply to the brew a few ounces of a product like the Super Soil Buster that has various types of microbes, will they multiply in the brew? Same with Mycorrhizae and Inoculants powder products.
One of the fertilizers that I use is Urban Farms Bio-Active which has all kinds of good stuff in it including Mychorrizae. I put a handful in the bag with my castings when I brew the tea. However I don't believe the mycorrizae are multiplying during the tea making process. They form a symbiotic relationship with plant roots and do most of their growing and multiplying there (mineral and food exchange with host plant, etc.). But what I think the real benefit is, is that the mychorrizae are evenly distributed in the tea at the end of brewing and when you put it on the plants (I typically do my tea as a soil drench) they are in an environment where roots are immediately stimulated and can form quick bonds with tree roots. My very unscientific take
2. Would it help to place some of your own soil in the brew to multiply naturally occurring microbes in the soil of the risk of bad stuff growing is too high?
I think the answer is no. E coli and other bad bacteria grow in most soils. And when compost tea is aerated, it encourages 'good' bacteria growth and discourages 'bad/anaerobic' bacteria growth. However there are many 'bad' soil bacterias that are aerobic, including E coli which would multiply in the tea brewing process. So my take is that the risks outweigh the rewards by adding soil to the compost tea process. I make my vermicompost from kitchen scraps, produce waste, composted leaves and fresh cat pine litter (not used by cats, cat feces contain pathogens), so that I am controlling (as much as one can) the inputs to minimize any bad bacteria growth.
3. Seems like worm casting is the most favored source to start a brew short of growing your own worms where can one find a good fresh source in the Miami area or best to order by mail. Any recommendations?
I agree, growing your own worms is the best option (however I have seen pure worm castings in 10-15 lb bags at my local nursery supply store). I get mine from redwormcomposting.com. I buy 5 lbs. of red worms (eisenia fetida) in October and put them in to a bunch of bins of compost that have been aging over the summer. By spring when I am ready to make tea I have lots of vermicompost available. My gardens are now full of worms, and so is the soil around my fruit trees.
My vermicompost tea recipe:
resources:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1309.htmlhttp://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-tea/making-vermicompost-tea/http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/organic/2002082739009975.htmlhttp://www.bioag.com/images/BioAg_Compost_Tea_Recipe.pdf2x 5-gallon buckets
20 gallon air pump
Tubing
Air stone
Large muslin bag
Long handled brewing spoon
10 gallons of water (sit out overnight to dissipate chlorine)
1 quart of worm casings
(rest of these are optional, but I used them)
3 oz Neptunes Harvest Hydrolyzed fish
2 oz Urban Farms Bioactive Dry
2 oz Texas Greensand
1 tbsp unsulphured organic molasses
1/2 tsp of Epsom Salts (for Magnesium)
1 oz Apple Cider Vinegar
Collect water into 5-gallon buckets and let sit overnight. Use a food grade plastic bucket (lowes), stackable. Let the buckets sit in the sun during the day to burn off chlorine.
Place aerator in bucket 2 hours before brewing to increase oxygen and further drive out chlorine.
Put the vermicompost and dry ingredients into muslin bag and put in bucket. Dump in rest of the ingredients and give a stir.
Aerate for 24 hours and give a stir halfway through hours or so.
Turn off pump, remove tubing and use the mixture in the next ~45 minutes
Dilute as needed for your application