Brewing Teas with Fruit Additions?

Indoor The Grow
#1

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So I’ve heard about making teas with bannanas skins for a little potassium boost… Seems logical. How about adding some strawberries in there too? Below is part of a quote from what I was reading.
I’m in week 5 of flower and girls are looking great. My current regimine includes only feeding once per week followed the rest of the week (as needed) by watering with cal-mag and micro; this is where I thought about adding the fruit. I’ve been feeding teas only made with top dress amendments from Roots Organics. Any thoughts?

Strawberries are loaded with [antioxidants] and beneficial plant compounds, including:

  • Pelargonidin. The main anthocyanin in strawberries, this compound is responsible for the bright red color
  • Ellagic acid. Found in high amounts in strawberries, ellagic acid is a polyphenol antioxidant that may have many health benefits
  • Ellagitannins. Related to ellagic acid, ellagitannins are converted to ellagic acid in your gut .
  • Procyanidins. These are antioxidants commonly found in strawberry flesh and seeds that may have beneficial health effects

Anthocyanins
More than 25 different anthocyanins have been found in strawberries. Pelargonidin is the most abundant
Anthocyanins are responsible for the bright colors of [fruits] and flowers.

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#2

Strawberries are also loaded with mites. Give one a look with your magnification.Whatever you do, I wouldn’t want to introduce them into my tent

#3

Good thought! Don’t want to go there again.
Thanks!

#4

@dhudson strawberry greens (the tops and stems) are great to brew for a tea loaded with micros and a small npk boost. The strawberries themselves are for the compost.

The bananas as well need to be composted first or dry fermented before they can be used in a tea.

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#5

Thanks! When I first wrote this is was intreagued by Anthocyanins ability to aide in bright colors of fruits and flowers. The more I read I realize it’s WAY too geeky for me to think about incorporating into a mj grow; I’ll just drop temps the last couple of weeks!

#6

@dhudson anthocyanins are a class of pigments and flavenoids with antioxidant properties. If you want to increase those by including things in your grow you need to break it all down first.

Plants do use vitamins and antioxidants like we do. They just produce their own, though they can take them up through foliar feeding and from the soil as well. It just first needs to be in a form they can process first.

It’s why sometimes I’ll include organic l-ascorbic acid (vtamin c powder) in my regimine as pH down. It’s also why I include berries and citrus fruits in my compost. Berries are easier than citrus fruits because they break down easier and faster. Citrus peels either need to be hot composted, dry fermented before being added to compost, or broken down into fine bits before being put in a worm bin so the worms can actually digest it.

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#7

Thank you kindly; that’s pretty cool information!!! However it seems that you’re telling me I’m not on to any kind of new revelation… :rofl:
I’m pretty new around here, and after some looking around just a little, it appears you know your stuff. I appreciate your input! Do you think it’s feasible to use vitimin C powder in place of pH down routinely or should I just use on occasion as you indicate?

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#8

@dhudson it depends on if you grow hydro or soil.

It isn’t harmful for hydro, but it can cause salt and precipitate build up in your res if used too frequently and possible pH issues if you don’t keep a clean res.

Now as far as organic soil it’s a God send. You can use it as often as you like really, but I alternate between using l-ascorbic acid and molasses so I can get sugars to my microbes too. It doesn’t just work as pH down either, but it also neutralizes chlorine and chloramines. On top of that studies have proven that vitamin C is essential for photosynthesis and overall plant health. It increases vigor and plant resistance to ozone issues and smog. Plants produce their own vitamin C, but they can also absorb it via foliar feed and through the roots which will increase the efficiency of photosynthesis and other systemic functions because the mitochondria don’t have to expend the energy to create their own vitamin C. It also increases the plants ability to create other antioxidants as well as helps it increase the efficiency of producing flavenoids, phenols, and terpenes. Vitamin C is also an essential cofactor for metablozing enzymes and in processing organic and inorganic metals needed as micro nutrients (calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, etc…) There’s a lot more to it as well, but I haven’t read that study for a while so I don’t remember 100% of the specifics, but it’s good for plants.

B vitamins (specifically B-1, B-2, B-6, B-7, B-9) and vitamin E, will also help the plants. Bs and E will increase vigor, increase biomass, increasr drought resistance, and cold resistance as well a load of other things. This goes for most vascular plants actually.

Foliar feed is 200-400 mg a liter for vitamin C if you’re interested in trying it. If you add b vitamins you can use about 200-400 mg a liter for them too. Vitamin E is not water soluble, but you can put it in the soil and it will be broken down and taken up. Vitamin E can be used safely at around 1000 mg a gallon in watering each week as far as I have found in studies. (Yes, I said it isn’t water soluble, but the water will bring it deep into the soil to be broken down instead of it sitting on top)

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#9

Tons of info. Thank you!!!