Did you start with water with no cholorine?
Did you get air into the water before adding the castings?
You might want to read up on the whole molasses thing as some advise against it.
It is possible that the tea is just as good or better without it.
If diluted, I would use non cholorine, airated water to dilute with.
I have not made or used any but that is what I have read about the subject online in a nutshell.

Airated tea seems similar in purpose to Preparation 501. Interesting reading all the same area of what the material is doing.

Jim, are you making aerobic tea with an air pump? My first batch will start when it finally quits raining. I plan an aerobic tea with 1 pound of castings per 5 gallons of water. I will add aged kelp and tuna biochar, and a little molasses for flavor. 48 hours and I will drench my many, many plants. I have heard that you can dilute 50/50 or more. It depends on your needs. Let us know how it goes.

Pete

add a bit of rye starter to your tea and let it ferment for a couple of days, the russians swear by it!

Should have been a bit more clear...sorry. I am using collected rain water, so chlorine is not an issue.I do use an air pump with 2 stones. I had used only 4 tsp of molasses on the last batch and didn't get good foam on top. Adding a 5th tsp really made it foam like it should (based on videos I researched). I used 1 cup straight on my veggies and favorite flowers, then sprayed the rest in a sprayer set to the max on the dial at 8oz/gallon. - Jim

There was link here recently of an oscr casting harvesting system. Thanks to Fosteem1 for this one. I followed the link back to the strawberrystore website and watched another video where the owner was addressing a group of vegetable growers somewhere on the east coast (Viginia maybe). He was telling how he used casting tea directly on seedlings and how it not only helped growth rate but suppressed some of the pests and diseases he had problems with.

Clive Edwards from Ohio state was cited as the man who was doing the research. I have since read some of Edwards' articles on his research. He mentions using various rates from 5% to 20%. In some of the research he uses tomatoes and cucumbers citing some tremendous results. But what I do NOT recall is if he is making the tea and then diluting to that rate. I seem to think he was referring to the ratio of castings to water by volume. He also does NOT advocate the use of sugars to enhance the tea.

I started a batch early this morning using 5 cups castings in 4 gallons which should give close to an 8% tea. But I did decide to 'enhance' the tea. But with about 1/3 gallon of urine instead of a sugar. I figured the microbes in the casting acting on the nitrogen content would give the brew a jumpstart. No kidding.. the stuff foamed like warm beer. Also smells a little, but it is out in the garage.

I plan to use some on most of the transplants in my garden tomorrow. I will not use it on or around the direct food types though like my lettuces.

yuck

Just out of curiousity, I bubbled tap water with molasses - no castings or anything else. On the 3rd day it foamed.

Which is about when it foams for me with castings.

I was hoping to use the tea way earlier than 3 days. I planned to use it this morning (36 hours) but it looks like rain is on the way so guess not.

Trying to figure the best way to apply. Since I want to apply it to the the foliage, I guess I'll use a watering can and then just drench each plant.

I looked close and have not seen bugs on the plants but my hardy hibiscus usually attract a little fly that lay eggs on it. Those larvae turn the leaves into lace. Maybe this year, I'll have a cure.

It looks like the rain bypassed us so I drenched my tomato plants. The VC tea was really dark. I found the watering can did not work well once i got to the bottom third of the brewing bucket-too much suspended material. I need to rig a way to strain the stuff through a coffee filter and then maybe I will buy a little sprayer to apply it.

I used 5 cups VC in 4 gallons of water. But the guy who grows strawberries uses only an oz per gallon. I'm including the link to an article he wrote.

http://www.redwormcomposting.com/gardening/the-strawberry-store-vermicomposts/

Pjames- Guess you now have Tea-pee??? thanks, I'm here all week. Please don't forget to tip the staff.

As far as straining goes....This is how I do it. I brew with the castings dumped into the bucket. I then set up an empty 5 gallon water bottle, with a funnel on top and a food strainer in the funnel. I pour the tea bucket into the water bottle and then dump what ever is in the food strainer back in the bins. The worms attack it! I then put a sock over the mouth of the water bottle and pour it back into the tea bucket. I put it in a hose sprayer and it hardly ever clogs. Hope this helps. - Jim