The internet is dilute with directions , advice , equipment and warnings about compost tea . This article explores how to make it , its benefits , potential downsides , and current good practices .

What is compost tea ?

Historically , compost “ teas ” were made by freeze a udder of compost , or mayhap manure , in a bucket of water , lease it rob for a few days until the water darkened , then using it as high - nutritive piss for plants . I retrieve that my grandparents call for crybaby manure in an open wine cask where it would be thin out with rain piss , then stirred and used to water the tomatoes . Today , this is n’t a recommended practice . The awful smell soup , now call leachate , not tea , is anaerobic , trapping undesirable anaerobiotic bacteria and potentially morbific bacteria like E coli and Salmonella .

The product that is favored today is called Actively Aerated Compost Tea ( AACT ) . The brewing technique is to use a container , chlorine - barren water and some high quality , in full decomposed red-hot compost , preferably in a mesh bag , and an aeration system , like a multi - outlet aquarium heart with a couple of zephyr Stone to keep the piss extremely activate . Some formula suggest additive to further the growth of worthy bacterium and fungus . Processing time is about 2 days , and it is recommend that the tea be used straight off after processing is completed , before the thriving microbial biotic community exhausts the usable oxygen supply .

Is it deserving the try ?

There are many enthusiastic supporters who believe it is . AACT goes a lot far than compost . Five gallons is enough to dose a typical base plot . Well - made AACT can have 4 time as many microbe as regular compost . Because the nutrient are largely dissolved , they can be quickly absorbed by plant life .

Furthermore , besides being used unfiltered as a soil drench , dribble AACT can be used as a foliar spray . treat plants can then absorb food through their botany and the “ good ” microbes can theoretically help limit disease by some compounding of attacking and outcompeting pathogen . It can also be used to stimulate microbial bodily process and decomposition in a compost batch .

Questions and Limitations

There are detractor , however . They bespeak out that the nourishing value of an AACT batch is some fraction of the nutrient in the small amount of compost used to generate the tea , which is spread across a much larger sphere . There is no argument about being able to get very eminent microbe population , but there is little control over the types of bacteria , batch to batch , and there is some danger of building pathogenic population , depend on the organism in the original compost . Beyond this , does it really make sense to build the microbe universe if there is n’t enough organic matter in the soil to fee them once they arrive ? Finally , while there are many title of contribute disease opposition and ascendency , there are also legitimate cogitation that find little or no benefit from foliar spray software .

near practice for successful software

The conjunct propagation around the country pop the question positivistic but limited information about compost Camellia sinensis use . But there is hatful of “ how to ” info about AACT from constituent agriculturist and their put up establishment . The best advice for successful program is :

How to make AACT

There are many retail outfit offered for brewing AACT . However , here is a DIY approach that is practical for most home nurseryman :

A last assessment

While Actively Aerated Compost Teas are n’t necessarily a panacea for all garden ailments , they can be an good way to strengthen the soil germ population and assist in disease and insect resistance . Where there is already fair to middling soil organic matter , they can boost decay activity and nourishing availableness for plants . They are a quick mean of rebuilding microbic population that have been harmed by use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides . They are certainly easy to apply than square compost and are a good way to stretch a limited compost supply . While nourishing content is modest , their dissolve state makes nutrient immediately plant - available . Some users even think the brewing process is fun .

But , concerns about pathogens and varying effectiveness of foliar program are to be taken seriously . At the same time , while the literature is filled with pathogen warnings and questions about batch - to - heap effectiveness as a foliar disease preventative , there are also many effusive stories about and photos of plush gardens attributed to use of AACT . And , while there are plenty of admonition , I have n’t found example of actual harm linked to it . It has been around a long fourth dimension . I get laid my grandparents were believers . That say , following the NOSB guidelines makes good sense .

At the least , if you are forge toward following more born and constitutive soil building and gardening practice , AACTs are another potential peter in your creature dresser and for many of us , deserve of a honest trial .

Sources :

“ Compost Tea to Suppress Plant Disease , ”   University of Vermont Extension , http://www.uvm.edu / vtvegandberry / factsheets / composttea.html

“ National Organic Standards Board Recommendation for Guidance : Use of Compost , Vermicompost , Processed Manure and Compost Tea,”https://www.ams.usda.gov / sites / nonpayment / file / media / NOP%20Final%20Rec%20Guidance%20use%20of%20Compost.pdf

https://georgiaorganics.org/wp-content/themes/GeorgiaOrganics/Downloads/pdf/CompostTeas.pdf

http://www.soiltest.uconn.edu/factsheets/CompostTea.pdf

http://www.cag.uconn.edu/plsc/soiltest/documents/foodsafetycompostfactsheet6-14.pdf

http://www.mofga.org/Publications/The-Maine-Organic-Farmer-Gardener/Spring-2004/Compost-Tea

Compost Tea lit review

https://web.extension.illinois.edu/lms/downloads/57644.pdf

https://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CompostingSAS2016comp2.pdf?fwd=no