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bigvegnut

What are your best compost tea recipes?

16 years ago

I have been reading up on it a lot and it seems everyone is different. From just compost to molasses to yest to alfalfa meal to all sorts of concoctions. What is your favorite recipe?

Comments (3)

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    For Actively Aerated Compost Tea (AACT) I use the following in a 5 gal bucket:

    3 Cups of vermicompost placed inside a paint filter bag along with an airstone - Removed after 8 to 10 hours.
    2 teaspoons unsulphered molasses
    1 ounce fish hydrolysate
    1 ounce liquid seaweed - I put this in at the end of the process.

    After removing the bag of vermicompost the batch of tea is brewed for an additional 12 to 18 hours. My air pump has two outlets which I have attached to a three valve gangline. This allows me to have one airstone in the bag of compost (to help break the bacteria free from the compost) and two stones in the bottom of the bucket. This provides lots of aeration diring the entire process. Originally, I split one of the air lines with a "T" splitter but I found that one of the airstones did not get enough air. Some airstones have less/more resistence inside causing more/less air to move through it. By going to a gangline I get a strong force of air through each airstone. NOTE: don't use a pillowcase or pantyhose. The weave is too small. And, if you consider any soil buildup that can occur inside the bag the holes can get pretty small. This is particularly important when you are considering that fungi are so much bigger than bacteria.

    Make sure to find out if your city treats the water with chlorine or chloramine. Chlorine can be easily outgassed by placing the airstones in the bucket and running the air through them for about 30 to 40 minutes. If your city uses chloramine (like my city does) go to the fish department of a pet store and get the drops that break the chloramine bond (be srue to use twice as much as the bottle says to use). After puting in the drops and mixing let it stand for 15 minutes. Stir once more and then begin making the tea.

    I apply the AACT once a month. I apply a liquid seaweed, fish hydrolsate, and molasses solution twice a month. Lately I have been applying the seaweed, fish hydrolysate, and molasses solution weekly. It appears the plants really benefit from it. Plants absorbe nutrients through the leaves 50 times faster than through the roots. I use a pump sprayer for all of these applictions. When I fill my one gal sprayer with the tea I leave the aristones running in the bucket while I apply the tea. I refil the sprayer and then replace the airstones. This way I can use the sprayer to get the top and bottom of the leaves and the tea that is still in the bucket continues to be aerted.

    Fish emulsion and fish hydrolysate are pretty much the same thing except that hydrolysate is made using a cold process. This process is supposed to retain more nutrients than the heated process the emulsion goes through. Hydrolysate also promotes fungi. Even though annual plants have developed a preference for bacteria I think it is also beneficial to have lots of fungi in the soil as well. Fungi becomes more of a consideration when you apply the tea to perennials bushes and trees. Perennials and trees have developed a preference for fungi over bacteria and so I want fungi as well. Since I use the same batch of tea for both the veggie garden and some of my bushes I use the hydrolysate in stead of the emulsion. If you only use the tea for your veggie garden then there is no difference between the two.

    Tom

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    my favorite way to make compost tea with no fuss is to place a load of finished compost into a paint strainer bag and then put the bag into a five gallon bucket and then put the whole kit and caboodle underneath the condensate discharge of my air conditioning unit and let it fill up overnight and the next morning I pour the liquid around the plants that need it.
    I don't add anything extra, but if you want to add molasses or honey or sugar or yeast or horsey biscuits or fish parts puree or hay or grass clippings or whatevah, it's all good (depending on which side of the compost tea fence you happen to be standing on.) Me? I straddle the fence most of the time. I understand why stuff should be added to the tea and I understand why the same stuff shouldn't be added to compost tea, what ever works and is easiest is the way I roll. feed the soil and the plants will thrive
    cuz
    it all leads back to compost

  • 16 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Mine is simple and cheap. I take a shovel full of compost from a number of my bins; and put it in a 10 gallon bucket. I use rain water; if not available, tap water which has sat three days to remove residual chlorine. I run a little Walmart fish aireator ($7.50) for eight hours a day. After one, two and three days; I strain some off and bottle it. Since the technical articles offer different benefits for various brew times, this seemed like a good idea.

    And this year I added a few ounces of fish emulation.