Compost tea

[ChanellG]

Has anyone ever used compost tea? I read somewhere that it is good to have a large container and to put a goldfish in to keep the mosquitoes under control. I know you can make liquid fertilizer from food scraps, but compost tea seems like a good idea for feeding plants and keeping them healthy.

 

[SpringBreeze]

Hey! I've never used it before, but I have heard of it, that and manure tea. Interesting stuff. I can't say anything about how to use, but I can say if you do it right you'll like the effects. Our soil has become so depleted and abused, we need to do everything possible to replenish it. I know some small-time farmers swear by it. I also know when making the tea, it can go wrong. Something about if it smells good, then it's good. If it smells revolting then it's gone anaerobic and needs to be thrown away.

 

[ChanellG]

Hmmmm, hadn't read anything about smell being an issue, but I guess if you use manure you would have to expect that as a possibility. Then again standing water can get stinky after a long time so I guess you have to watch out for bacteria and algae. There certainly is a lot to learn with this stuff! Thanks for responding!

 

[simoza01]

Has anyone ever used compost tea? I read somewhere that it is good to have a large container and to put a goldfish in to keep the mosquitoes under control. I know you can make liquid fertilizer from food scraps, but compost tea seems like a good idea for feeding plants and keeping them healthy.

Compost tea makes excellent fertilizer . There is a version produced from worm farming .

 

[ChanellG]

Compost tea makes excellent fertilizer . There is a version produced from worm farming .

Is the version from worm farming difficult to create? It seems to make compost tea you have to have a pump and special ingredients in addition to the compost. I always thought you just put the soil in a container and added water.

 

[simoza01]

Properly set up , you can have your own compost tea collecting system around the existing worm farming .

 

[ChanellG]

Properly set up , you can have your own compost tea collecting system around the existing worm farming .

I wouldn't mind a worm farm, but I just don't have the space indoors. I would do it outside, but I am concerned about how I would protect it during the winter.

 

[dhrynio]

I did it this last summer and used mostly alpaca manure with some cow manure. I did a much more scaled back version though. Alpaca manure is safe to use straight away but what I had was mixed with a lot of bedding so I mad my own way to do it so I would end up with a liquid to pour on.

I took a large bucket and piled it with manure, filled it with water and let it sit for a few days in the sun, then poured off the liquid and mixed that into my watering can. The difference was amazing, the tomatoes went crazy!

 

[ChanellG]

That's interesting that you did it that way without needing to aerate it. You basically made sun tea, but did you stir it at all during the process? There seem to be a lot of ways of doing it, and people all claim their way works, so if you're getting good results a pump is obviously not required in all situations.

I acquired organic compost, but so far I have just been using it to plant stuff. I am almost halfway through the 5 gallon bucket, so I'll need to get more soon.

 

[dhrynio]

I think the reason it worked this way is that I used almost all alpaca manure, so there was no need to be concerned if it was made properly. I did it mostly to make a way to fertilizer without having to put piles of it on the tops of my buckets of tomatoes. I left about a 2" space between the soil and the top of the bucket and did not have room to add any more solid fertilizer.

I don't think this method would work well if you used a manure that could burn plants. I think it would be too short a time and would need the aeration. But you are right there are many different ways to do it. That is the great part of gardening, there are a million ways to achieve great results!

 

[ChanellG]

I'm not using manure at all, though I don't remember asking the person I got my compost from whether or not he had used any. I just assumed he hadn't since we are in the city. I may have to give him a call. Then again, we talked about my desire to make compost tea and he said I could hand stir it, but I had to aerate it again before using it.

 

[dhrynio]

Yeah compost in the city is probably hard to come by!
If you you know anyone who has a farm or know of a farm outside the city, you coud ask for some of the manures that you can mix right in with the soil and not have to compost. Rabbit, goat, llama and alpaca are all safe to use without composting. I learned my lesson last year after I got that huge pile of cow manure that could not be used until composted. Instead I made an hour trip to an alpaca farm and bagged it up in air tight bags witch held just fine until I needed it!

 

[ChanellG]

Compost in the city is easy to come by. I know people who compost and I am about to start making my own. I don't really have an interest in using manure; I plan on setting up a bin for my kitchen scraps and other organics. I'll probably also set up a small worm bin indoors. I understand those produce a liquid also.

 

[dhrynio]

I really want to start a worm bin. Maybe next year after some research and planning. I found a local fishermans store that has the right worms, but finding big plastic bins here is a challenge. I can find the more rigid plastic but not the rubbermaid kind that you can easily drill holes into.

 

[ChanellG]

Well, Danni, there are kits you can get, but if there is no equivalent to Walmart or Target where you are, you can always order bins and have them shipped to you. I am guessing you are not in the city where you can check out what the nearest big box store has to offer, but you could always use buckets instead of bins.