@@user-ql5hu1nl5d sounds like a great idea, and the good thing is they transplant well!

Yes, you can absolutely use regular table sugar! I would say about 1 cup of sugar per gallon. Happy brewing! 🙂

Hi! The crowns that I saved in the video did not grow in the spot where I planted them. Perhaps I cut them too short and they didn't survive. Oh, well, I still have Valerian growing in the original spot where I harvested them, likely from self sown seeds/leftover root clusters. As for making tea with the crowns, you probably could, although I would dry them first. Valerian root is supposed to be dried before consumption, so I've heard. I hope that answers your question. 🙂

I'm in the army and in sere school we learned a lot about herbs and natural medicines to make use of when in non permissable environments, on my morning walks, off mission, I noticed a bunch of valerian growing and had never heard of it, very informative video, thank you very much for your thorough nature!

Good question, I'm really not sure. I don't see anywhere in the instructions that says you can't, so I'd imagine it would probably be fine.

I got the seeds from www.gardenshaman.eu/# while supplies last. 👍

Hey, thanks for the thoughtful tips! Just a few things to consider about those ideas and why they may not be as practical as they sound. I could probably move the LEDs a little closer, but they can only reach so far and I want to make sure that the lights cover all levels, especially as I start more seedlings. I'm not sure how well having the shelves back to back down the middle would work, because then there wouldn't be room for my large seedling mat, which is essential for keeping loose pots in and catching excess water. That would also complicate my main grow light bar, because where would it go? I could just have my LEDs wrapped around from the back, but that could cause more legginess as all the seedlings grow way towards the back trying to reach the LED light. The system I have now is working fine and it will only be another month or so before I can move all the seedlings to my new outdoor greenhouse which will include its own heating system. Does that make sense, or have I misunderstood some things? 🙂

Hi, yes, I bought the Air Still by itself. I know the company makes accessories that are sold separately, but those are mainly for if you were distilling Alcohol, but they are not necessary to do so. If you are only making hydrosols, then all you will need is the Air Still, your Herbs, Water, and something to collect it in. Hope that helps! :)

@@codysmovies100 Yes it does. thank you so much :D

Thank you, she is greatly missed. 💕

Thanks, Mom! 💕

Possibly, I'm not sure. If you'd like to give it a try, I'd be interested to hear the results.

Hi, thanks for subscribing. No need to worry, I don't have kidney issues. I don't eat a whole lot of rhubarb either, just as an occasional snack. I appreciate your concern though. 👍

That sounds like a great idea, only I plan to have plants everywhere. Most of them will be direct sown anyways, but I think I will have enough compost to make it work. 🙂

I haven't done that, but I imagine that would be fine. Normally I just run it with water afterwards.

I have only used mine for distilling water so far and use white vinegar to clean it, I was wondering if the strong smell might taint the still for future use of water or other plants? Would using the vinegar be enough because you can only really clean the drum and the inside of the lid.. Also - would you still leave the carbon filter in do you think?

@@mariaking81 from my experience, yes, it does leave a bit of a flavour for future water use, but it goes away after a couple runs of just water. I haven't needed to use vinegar, but I don't mind my water tasting a bit herbal, as long as those herbs are safe to consume, of course.

@@codysmovies100 thank you so much for replying, appreciated

In hindsight, that would have been a good idea.

I'm not sure, it doesn't say. It just says ONE GALLON on it. I would imagine it would be US gallon, because that seems to be the standard for measuring this type of liquid.

Thanks for the tips. There is definitely always more to learn for sure! My still doesn't come with a temperature control, it's at a fixed temperature, which can be inconvenient in terms of different boiling points. When I made the video originally, I had no idea that absolute oils were created using solvents. It really is interesting to see everyone's different ideas on how this can be done!

@@codysmovies100 I watched your video to see if I should get one myself for both alcohol and essential oils. It's a tough call considering the leakage. If I do get a glass one it'll be more useful for chemistry, just not compact. It really helped to shed light on the product's good and bad points thanks. Some timestamps might help with a video this thorough.

Yes, very strong. It is pretty typical with every hydrosol/essential oil I've attempted to make. I've discovered recently that the hydrosol water itself goes great on it's own in a diffuser! It makes just as much scent as having the pure essential oils drops in the diffuser and I think makes a great excuse not to go through the hassle of separating the oil in the first place.

@@codysmovies100 The oil is in suspension with the water. Use salt to help separate them (dissolve the salt).

@@freehat2722 do you just put the salt in the separator or in the collection jar?

@@mariaking81 In the separatory funnel with both layers. It helps to kick out oils from the water layer. If you have an emulsion layer between them some people use a vibrator to break it up or a lot of time to allow them to separate. After that collect the layer you want.

No problem, thanks for watching! I have yet to try with a full chamber, but I suppose fresh herb would be better for that as it's a larger volume than dried. I would need to find the right herb as well, that is one with a higher concentration of oils of course. I did put my hydrosol to good use though, used it in used spray bottles for cleaning with a pleasant scent which worked nicely.

@@codysmovies100 : That’s awesome! You know, while you’re Gaining experience with this, you could choose a biomass that’s not expensive and very abundant in your area. For example, in my area, during the warm times of the year, clean streams have lots of mint. It can be had in pretty much unlimited quantities, and would be an ideal Herb with which to start off. If you live in a more boreal area so that you already have snow down, and are unlikely to have something like mint, you could choose labrador tea. That’s super abundant, and you can harvest as much as you need in a fairly small area without affecting the environment. You are is an excellent point about dehydrated versus fresher. I think that’s gonna depend on how the herb was dehydrated. Because fresh herb tends to have a much higher moisture level, which I know you already know, but the reason why this is significant is because the end product is a lot less potent. If you use a dehydrated product, you get a much more potent and product, theoretically, but that would depend on how dehydration was accomplished. If it was accomplished at two higher heat level, chances are that so many of the aromatics and aerosols will have been driven out Along with the moisture. That’s not very desirable. But if you know that it was dehydrated at low temperature, then there’s a very strong possibility that it’s a very high-quality product. With most commercially-Dehydrated biomass, we don’t really know about that, except if they put it on their websites. And of course the other consideration is that with commercially prepared plant materials, we have no way of knowing exactly how long they were in storage or transit, and under what temperatures and conditions they have been. This also makes a big difference to the quality and quantity of essential oils that they’ll contain. Anything you could basically harvest from your backyard, assuming you don’t live next to a huge polluter, will probably be an excellent bet in terms of knowing that you’re not going to be concentrating any pesticides which may have been applied or environmental pollutants/toxins. The only point of it which I would really caution of person he is that certain resonance plants produce a nice quality resin/essential oil, but they can gum up the works. So just being aware of that might make a difference to what a person chooses for the type of apparatus chosen. I agree. You found one very excellent use for the hydrofoils. Not to mention, if you can use the Hydro cells freshening a room, you get to save the essential oils for other applications. Great thinking! :-)

@@daphneraven6745 I do have various herbs that grow abundantly in my garden, though it's practically winter right now, I would have to wait until spring to try with those. I suppose using something like conifer bows (fir, pine, spruce, etc) would be the most sustainable way for now. All I would need is to collect a large, preferably fallen branch and work with that. Thanks for your ideas, they open the door to a lot of possibilities. I'm sure I'll be able to make an absolute oil someday, it will just take a lot of trial and error.

@@codysmovies100 : You’re very welcome indeed. Even now, when it’s almost winter, they are good candidates to try with. If you find enough of something to pack the barrel of your installation unit quite full, without having it so densely packed that obstructs the flow of the steam through the biomass, you’ll end up with some essential oil. But if you only have a little bit of biomass, then you’ll end up with a lot of hydrosol and maybe no essential oil at all. If memory serves, you were using labrador tea as your biomass. I don’t know about where you live, but that grows wild in the woods, and it’s a type of rhododendron, so the leaves are green even under 6 feet of snow. While I am not suggesting that you go digging any snow, if the snow hasn’t arrived yet, you could easily Take your shears, and selectively pick a nice large bag of biomass, let it dry out a little bit, or even dehydrated, and then process it in your distillation unit. I think it be really pleased with the result. All the same, I’ve never known anybody to produce labrador tea essential before. I bet it’s awesome. :-)

@@daphneraven6745 yes, I did use Labrador Tea in the video, but it was dried material that I purchased from an online vendor. It does not grow wild in my direct area (that I know of), though I have found it in the past a couple hours drive away. Not practical with the current price of fuel these days. I think tree bows would be the easiest option for now. Of course it's the time of year my Mom collects branches to make Christmas wreaths, so I could get 2 birds with one stone and use the leftover branches to make essential oils.

In my experience, that hasn't been necessary. Soap and water works just fine to disinfect and I've never owned (or needed) a hydrometer. When it's done, it's done and usually turns out fine. I'm not concerned about knowing the ABV either as long as it's drinkable, no one gets hurt.

It's funny how people think there is o ly one way to brew

You're very welcome :)

Always a good thing to do!

Glad I can help :)

Thank you so much! I'm growing my own hops this year too, I started them from seed actually 3 years ago and now they finally look like they are about to make cones! Glad you like the channel :)

Good to know, apparently there are accessories you can get for this unit that will allow you to do that more easily. Might have to look into that, thanks.

@@codysmovies100 : you can just spend a strainer in there that’s an expensive, commercially available locally. I’m sure they probably do sell accessories to go with it, but you may have a strainer or steamer Right in your covert that’ll fit in there no problem. Some of them are adjustable so that’s easy.

I just read the other comments. Did you try putting in a strainer? or freezing the hydrosoal yet?

Best of luck! :)