Homemade Liquid Fertilzer

[Greenkeeper2021]

Hi all,

Today, I made a liquid feed, 4 banana peels, some kiwi slices, a tea bag, a teaspoon of coffee grounds and placed them into a two litre milk carton, filled with hot water and stirred.

I have 4 other bottles made since December and stored in my garden shed. However, I have heard that this liquid can rapidly ferment and become more harmful than beneficial.

That the liquid will lose microbes, end up with pathogens and can even go moldy if coffee grounds is used.

So I am looking for advice, if anyone uses these homemade compost teas, do you store them, or use as you go?

I have a feeling it is better to use them as you go, but asking if there is a way to agitate or retain the compost teas beneficial nutrients long term.

Thank you for Reading.

 

[Chuck]

Your tea will go anerobic within 2 or 3 days. It is still useable but after it has gone anerobic the oxygen is gone and the microbes are dead. It will have a bad odor. It is still usable but not as good as an aerobic tea. You can kickstart it back to life by adding carbohydrates and air. It is best to use teas shortly after brewing. Teas are NOT fertilizers unless you add NPK to it. Teas do not make NPK and the only NPK is what is in the actual ingredients which is not much. The main purpose of teas is to increase the numbers of bacterias and microbes, which in turn makes it possible for plants to uptake nutrients i.e NPK.

You can easily add oxygen by using an aquarium pump and and airstone. One of the best carbohydrates is molasses.

 

[gittyup]

Google homemade fertilizer recipes. There are many, whether true fertilizer or more soil amendment depends. Most are meant to be used right a way or within a few days.

You might also want to look at the benefits of biochar.

I used to make tea from composted horse manure and molasses for our 2 acre lawn. I made it in 55 gallon barrels using several aquarium aerators. I would let a fresh batch percolate for about 4 days. Then I'd strain it off and use it immediately on the lawn. Within a day or two the grass (tall fescue) would just kinda glow a darker green. It was hard to describe it. I would do this every other week from April through June. Grass was thick and beautiful. I probably should have done it more in the fall but I got tired of straining it. It takes some time to strain 40 - 50 gallons. Had to strain it or the sprayer would clog. In subsequent years I did it less and less, and the grass suffered for it. Then I switched to just spreading the manure directly on the lawn in the fall and late spring. Seemed to work about as good and was way less time consuming. Of course, it requires a special spreader to break it up and spread it evenly without smothering.