1. "Organic" ferts can burn plants just as easily as synthetics. If there's too much N in the ferts, you'll damage plants. I cut my compost/seaweed tea at least 2:1 with water before using it as a drench, and more for foliar spray.

2. I don't strain mine. I let it sit quietly before dipping it off the top of the barrel, and don't have any sediment problems, even with the pressure sprayer.

3. I keep a batch going like sourdough bread, year-round. I make it by soaking a basketball-sized burlap bag of compost and Eel Grass (and a rock) in a 40-gallon covered barrel in full sun. When it get's low, I fill with water, and I change out the 'teabag' twice a year.

There are arguments against compost tea, some suggest that the only way is activated compost tea, search.

I have a little system that is more for my convenience than any recommendations from people who study such things.

I took a 5 gal bucket and drilled holes about 5 inches from the bottom on the sides. I filled it with kitchen scraps and urine. I would take this leachate and mix about the rate of liquid fertilizer each time I watered and the plants grew like weeds. At one point I used it stronger and it burned the plants like roundup. Weak worked well, stronger, not so much!

This is a link to a little experiment IÂm doing with my 5 gal scrap bucket and coffee grounds.

Here are pictures of the project, the hosta is growing like a weed this spring with only one weed. The first is going dormant last fall and second is this spring looking for weeds, only one this entire spring?

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0500273415060.html

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More like alfalfa tea than compost tea. How much alfalfa? If you used more than 3 cups of alfalfa in that bucket, you'll want to dilute with water, probably by half, maybe more if you are using it on houseplants. Since houseplants are usually watered more frequently than outdoor plants, is it good to water with a dilute solution of fertilizer with every watering rather than one big fertilizing 'cause you end up washing out a lot of it within a couple of days.

In the future, you can make an alfalfa "tea bag" by putting the alfalfa into the leg of some old pantyhose and steeping the bag in the water.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alfalfa tea formula needed (since the search will not work!)