Compost and compost tea

[Chuck]

Since compost is just decomposed organic matter like your grass clippings, leaves and bananna peels what now? You only have a small amout left after you shoveled the rest into your beds and used more as potting soil. Well, making compost tea will do more good with a tiny amount of compost than you can ever imagine.. There are two ways to make compost tea. The basic non- aeroated and the actively aeroated. The basic is just putting a little compost, maybe a handful of your organic fertilizer, maybe a dash of fish emulsion, stirring it up with a stick and letting it steep for an hour or two and then using it to help water your plants. This organic technique will do all kinds of good things for your soil and your plants, nothing wrong with this at all, but nothing to compare with what actively aeroated compost will do. So how do I do this miracle of actively aeroating my compost. First, go somewhere like a pet store and buy the biggest most powerful aquarium air pump you can afford, a little plastic tubing and the biggest air stone that your pump will work on. Steal a pair of your wifes panty hose, go into your garage and grab an old 5 gallon paint bucket and you are all set as far as the mechanics of it are concerned. Now, what to make the tea out of? There are probably more favorite receipies for compost tea than there are fleas on a hairy dogs back. All of them good. All of them multiply greatly the number of micro-organisms in the soil, the fungi and the helpful bacterias. But to start put a handful of your compost into your wifes panty hose, then maybe a small handfull of worm castings, maybe a spoon full of blood meal or alfalfa pellets. Tie a not in the panty hose to keep all of the stuff from floating out and throw it into the bucket and fill it up with water. Then when all this is done and the pump is going and the airstone bubbling away add 1 oz of molasses. The molasses will jump start the brewing process. Add any other organic liquid supplement at this time like one of my favorites liquid seaweed. Let it bubble for 24-36 hours depending on the temperature. If you brew the tea too long in too warm a temperature it will go anerobic. Once you have a good batch of tea brewed use it as soon as you can. It has a short shelf life. You can use your tea as a soil drench or as a foliar spray but you will have to strain it if using it as a spray

 

[R.R.]

Steal a pair of your wifes panty hose,

Thanks for the post, Chuck. Next week a friend is gonna teach me how to deal with the yucky worms, and how to collect worm castings. Now I know how to make the tea. How often do you water the plants with the tea?

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for the post, Chuck. Next week a friend is gonna teach me how to deal with the yucky worms, and how to collect worm castings. Now I know how to make the tea. How often do you water the plants with the tea?

What I do is pour about a quart on the base of the plant every other time I water. As for the worms if you do organic gardening correctly you will have more worms in your soil than you can shake a stick out. A couple of weeks ago we had a storm and it severly damaged some of my tomato plants and when I pulled them up there were dozens hanging of off the root ball. You will never have to buy fishing worms again. After it rains, if it ever does again, there will be these little dirt pyramids on top of the ground. That is worm castings. Its much easier to go to your nursury and buy a small bag. They aren't expensive.

 

[headfullofbees]

Here in the UK, where it isn't as warm as in Texas, I find it takes three days to reach maximum micro-organic activity.

This stuff is dynamite!

 

[Chuck]

Here in the UK, where it isn't as warm as in Texas, I find it takes three days to reach maximum micro-organic activity.

This stuff is dynamite!

If you add Mycorrhizae to you tea start off with no more than 1/4 teaspoon in your 5 gallon bucket if you also add molasses. Molasses will make it explode in numbers and I don't want it to go anaerobic. If everything ok next time go up to 1/2 teaspoon and so on

 

[headfullofbees]

If I may add one point:
It will greatly help your tea become that wonderful microbic soup if you make sure there's no chlorine in the water.
If you can, use harvested rainwater, but if you have to use tap water, it's best to leave it in the bucket, uncovered, overnight, to dechlorinate.

 

[rick d PADGETT]

What I do is pour about a quart on the base of the plant every other time I water. As for the worms if you do organic gardening correctly you will have more worms in your soil than you can shake a stick out. A couple of weeks ago we had a storm and it severly damaged some of my tomato plants and when I pulled them up there were dozens hanging of off the root ball. You will never have to buy fishing worms again. After it rains, if it ever does again, there will be these little dirt pyramids on top of the ground. That is worm castings. Its much easier to go to your nursury and buy a small bag. They aren't expensive.

What are you doing to get all of the worms?I have about 3 /4 in of straw under my tomatoes and see a good many under there.

 

[Chuck]

What are you doing to get all of the worms?I have about 3 /4 in of straw under my tomatoes and see a good many under there.

I incorporate compost into my soil before I plant and that and using compost tea makes a very nice home for the worms. I also mulch heavily under my plants to maintain moisture and lower soil temps

 

[Vinaya]

We can create compost from kitchen waste and garden waste (fallen leaves). Once we have good quality compost, we can mix the compost in a water tank, add some portion of bio-microorganism or bio enzymes and create compost tea.

 

[davidinsydney]

I’ve been reading on compost tea. What exactly is compost tea meant to do and how does it work?

 

[Marck]

All sorts of extravagant claims are made about compost tea. In truth, the most you can say about it is it makes a weak liquid fertilizer, with less nutrients than the compost it was derived from.
In any situation where it is appropriate, mulch or amend with whole compost or other organic matter, instead of brewing 'tea'.

In containers where drainage and space issues limit such amendment, you will often want a fertilizer stronger than compost tea, though for a plant that is slow-growing and not a heavy feeder compost tea may be sufficient.

Actually if you are interested in a fairly potent fertilizer that is free, consider your own urine!
You make about a gallon a day and the average N-P-K is 11-1-2.5.

 

[davidinsydney]

Thanks Marck. It doesn’t sound like it’s worth all that effort at all then?!

 

[davidinsydney]

Forgot to ask, how diluted should urine be when applying it as a fertiliser, I’m interested to test it out for myself.

 

[Marck]

I don't use urine in containers or on crop plants, though it surely possible to do so.
I just collect mine and pour it undiluted into my compost pile or in-ground planting beds.