We first learned about compost tea during a visit at a local nursery. There, they sold this super-nutrient plant food by the gallon, and it promised to help my ailing plants like no other prescription could do. Now that we know what it's good for, and have our own compost pile in the backyard, we're ready to make our own — it's cheap and easy, and it's like gold for plants!
The basic premise here is to steep your compost in water, which concentrates all the nutrients into the "tea." Then, you dilute your concentrate with water and use it to feed the plants. It takes all those highly-concentrated nutrients directly (and quickly) to the roots and can be applied on an as-needed basis.
What You Need
Ingredients
High-quality Compost (made in your own yard or bought at a local nursery); compost made from manure is best for this project
Water
Equipment
Two large buckets (5 gallon or larger, depending on the size of your garden)
Strainer or mesh (Alternately, turn to a pond pump and see links at the bottom of this post)
Instructions
1. Start with good, nutrient-rich compost. You'll want to use compost from your own yard or purchase some from a local nursery.
2. Fill your bucket about three quarters of the way full with compost. Don't pack it in like brown sugar; instead, let it fall loosely into the bucket. You want water to be able to steep the compost as if it was loose-leaf tea.
3. Prior to adding water, be sure to relocate your bucket to a spot where it won't get direct sunlight. You'll want it to be in a place where it'll be warm, but not where it's in danger of being scorched by the sun or sitting in shade all day. Think "happy medium." Some sources say that the compost brew should reach 135 degrees; others just say make sure it gets warm but doesn't boil.
4. Once you've found just the right place for your bucket, add water to fill to the brim.
5. Steep the compost for about a week, stirring once a day.
6. Time to strain! You want to pour your compost tea through a strainer or mesh and into your second bucket. It might be good to enlist a friend to help with this step.
7. Your bucket of compost tea is almost ready to use. To fertilize and replenish plants' nutrients, dilute your compost tea in a watering can, one part compost tea to ten parts water in a watering can.
8. To use your diluted tea, pour it directly into the ground surrounding the plants, being careful to avoid the leaves (if your tea is high in nitrogen, it might burn the leaves if direct contact is made).
9. The strained compost can be added back to your compost pile, or spread around your plants like mulch. (Don't use it for another batch of tea right away, though, as it's not a little drained of nutrients.)
Additional notes:
We turned to the easiest and most accessible way, with many tips coming from this article at DoItYourself.Com and even more tips coming from the helpful folks at our local nursery.
Want to kick it up a notch, avoid the straining, and use a pond pump? Follow these directions at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, or these instructions at FineGardening.Com.
(Re-edited from a post originally published on 2.18.2011 - CM)
(Image: Amber Byfield)
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True compost tea is aerated.
I have a worm compost. The bin has holes in the bottom and a tray collects the excess liquid that drips out the bottom. I just collect the stuff with a turkey baster every couple of weeks and mix it with water (at a ration of 1:10). Plants love it--it's particularly great for coaxing orchids and other flowering plants to bloom.
An easy method would be to drill a bunch of holes into the bottom of the bucket that holds the compost. Stack that bucket into the final "liquid" holding bucket. Add the water. When you want to separate the liquid from the solids simply lift the compost bucket out and let it drain.
You might need to agitate the compost while it is draining to get as much liquid as you can out of it.
@pedalpowered
aerating the solution is simple as shaking the bucket to introduce more oxygen into it. Or you could use a aeration stone and air pump if you are so inclined.
Thanks for the tip--will use it!
Great post! Thanks AT!
Compost tea is probably a useful thing. But the matter is that it takes a lot of time to be prepared and nobody knows what kind of bacteria and funguses he grows. Instead of it you can take already done and guaranteed microorganisms which will work in the soil and on plants as fungicides and insecticides. Any harm, any lost time, any equipment. The whole you need is the biological preparation and water. To be sure visit the page www.altcompostea.x90x.net You’ve never seen something better.