Thanks for the responses Tom, Rick, and Christine.
Tom, I normally make the GPS tea 6 gallons at a time (2 - 3 gallon batches) using a 16 Qt. stock pot and a 23 Qt. enameled steel canner. The tea is concentrated. 3 gallons of tea is mixed with 3 gallons of water to make 6 gallons of spray. It is shelf stable and doesn't require refrigeration. Kept out of direct sunlight and at room temperature it will last for over a year. It can be used stand alone or with other teas and inoculants such as rosemary and horsetail tea and lactobacillus inoculant. I buy the spices from a restaurant supply store $2 - $3 for an 11 - 16 oz bottle. Nothing wrong with being cheap.
To make 3 gallons of concentrated tea, place a large pot on the stove and add 2 gallons of hot tap water. Add 1/2 cup of garlic powder, 1/2 cup of ground red pepper, and 1/2 cup of ground (not rubbed) sage to the pot. Stir the pot. Add 1 gallon and 1 quart of hot tap water to the pot making a total of 3 gallons and a quart of water. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to a slow boil and allow to boil covered for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, leave it covered and allow to cool overnight. Don't try to work with hot liquids.
After the tea has cooled it needs to be strained. I use an old coffee carafe and gallon pickle jars. I stretch knee highs or pieces of nylon stocking about 8" long with the end knotted over the jar top and use a rubber band to hold the stocking in place. You want 3 or 4 inches of the stocking inside the jar to hold the spices. After the pickle jar has been filled with tea, remove the stocking; squeezing the tea from the stocking as you go. (I wear disposable gloves ). Then I use a funnel to pour the strained tea into 2 liter drink bottles for storage until needed. I remove the labels from the bottles and use a sharpie to identify the contents. It's always nice to know what you're spraying on your plants.
To use the tea, mix with an equal amount of water and spray plants to the point of run off, top and underside of leaves. I add 2 tablespoons of molasses per gallon of spray as a sticker (This will keep the rain from washing your tea off.) I also use 2 tablespoons of Palmolive Orange dishwashing liquid (it has Orange oil) as a spreader and mild insecticide ( It makes the tea cover the leaves rather than running off.)
Respray new growth and fruit after 10 days to 2 weeks.
I probably should note some of the things I add to this base tea, such as the horsetail tea (used as a natural fungicide, and immune booster) are high in nutrients so I'm actually doing a foliar feed when I spray. Some plants respond to this more than others.
Thanks for the links Rick. It should make it easier for those who haven't been following this subject to understand what's going on.
Christine, I'll try to start the bacillus thread in the next couple of days. Lots going on right now.
Claud
