If you have an interest in planting but have never heard of compost tea before, you’ve come to the right spot! We all know that compost is used in farming, gardening and other similar activities as it’s full of beneficial nutrients for the plants, but what some don’t know is that compost tea is that and more. Show your already healthy and fresh plants some natural love by adding compost tea into your gardening or farming routine.
Table of Contents
What is Compost Tea?
Your very first question has got to be: what is compost tea? In short, compost tea is a liquid that’s full of all the good stuff your plants and flowers would thank you for. Compost tea is full of nutritions, well-balanced and organically supplemented. It’s made from steeping compost in water, and used as an organic fertiliser that can be added to your gardening or farming routine at any time.
It might be hard to believe that something so powerfully beneficial to nature is so easily accessible. But yet it is. Compost tea can be made right in the comfort of your home without any unnecessary tools that you have to go out of your way to get. As long as you have organic, broken-down compost, you’re good to go. This is so that there are sufficient beneficial microorganisms in the compost. You’ll know it’s good to go when it has an earthy, forestry aroma to it instead of an unpleasant one.
Benefits of Compost Tea
So many farmers and gardeners rave about compost tea because it has countless of benefits for the plants and flowers that they grow. Don’t jump straight into compost tea without knowing its selling points, but rest assured they are some convincing ones that will get you to make a batch of your own straight away. It’s also good to note that the compost tea has the best results when paired with other good and healthy gardening/farming habits.
Nutritional for plants and soil
The compost tea has fast acting nutrients that are extremely beneficial to the plan and soil. Depending on how the compost tea is being used, the part that is exposed to the compost tea can gain from the positive components of the compost tea.
Reduce risk of diseases
The compost tea creates a healthy balance between the plant and soil. Because of this, the healthy plant is able to fight diseases, ward off pests and fungus. Because the plant is stronger and healthier from the help of the compost tea, it’s able to independently make use of its own available nutrients for optimal use.
Supports plant growth
Not only does the compost tea help to fend off unwanted diseases, it also assists the plant in growing greener and bigger leaves or flowers. As it has more beneficial nutrients, the plants are able to bloom more of its vegetables.
Gets rid of toxicity
On top of helping the plants and soil with its wonderful fill of nutrients and microorganisms, the compost tea is also effective in getting rid of the toxicity in the garden that will harm the soil and plants, including insects and wildlife. As it can double as an organic fertilizer, this gives the farmer or gardener the option to opt out of chemical fertilizers that will damage the plants as well.
Types of Compost Tea
There are a couple of types of compost tea, and each having their own procedure. But generally, all of the compost teas have the same benefits and positive effects to the land that uses it.
Aerated compost tea
This is the most commonly used type of compost tea. Aerated compost tea is also known as aerobic compost tea, and it’s just as it sounds. Aerated compost tea is just regular compost tea (compost that is soaked in water) with a whole lot more of oxygen. This is usually achieved by using an aeration pump, similar to the ones found in fish tanks. It’s said that if there’s more oxygen in the compost, it will produce more of the good microorganisms to fight off and prevent the bad ones.
Leachate compost tea
The leachate compost is similar to regular compost tea where compost is left to sit in water. The difference is that leachate compost tea uses vermicompost, which is worm compost. The nutrients are extracted from the living microbes which is what makes it valuable.
Manure tea
The manure tea is extremely popular among farmers. This is often used as a fertilizer, and is made from soaking various aged manures in water. It’s not really recommended to be done at home as it could stink up the whole place.
Plant tea
The process of plant tea is just like compost tea, but instead of soaking compost, plant tea is a process of soaking plants that has extremely nutritious properties to extract those nutrients.
How to Use Compost Tea?
There is no one size fits all when it comes to compost tea. Different gardeners and farmers use the compost tea differently, and all of them work just as fine with equal benefits. How one uses the compost tea is often based on personal preference and style, so it doesn’t really matter how it’s being used, as long as it is being used at the end of the day.
You can choose to apply the compost tea directly to the soil. This is known as a root drench, where the compost tea is soaked into the soil area around the plants. The compost tea would then be seeped into the root system. The best part about the root drench method is that it’s not affected by rainy weather.
Another method is to use it as a foliar spray, or in other words as an organic fertiliser. Fill a pump spray with the compost tea. Be sure to strain the tea through a fine mesh cloth, and dilute it with unchlorinated water if you prefer. This gives you more quantity of compost tea fertiliser, as the ratio of tea to water is 1 to 10. Spray the compost tea fertiliser onto the plants, and reapply after rain if it’s necessary. It’s recommended to avoid applying this during the heat of the day.
Easy Compost Tea Recipe
As mentioned before, making compost tea isn’t that hard. It’s actually super easy and, apart from the time the compost needs to sit in the water, it takes up almost zero time. Once you have all the materials and tools necessary, making batches of them becomes effortless overtime.
Material
Finished compost, unchlorinated water organic molasses (optional)
Tools
Bucket, shovel, fine mesh bag, aeration pump, pump sprayer
Steps
- Make sure your compost is clean, for example, there aren’t any insects or worms in it.
- Put the compost in the fine mesh bag and tie the bag closed firmly.
- Put the tied compost tea bag in the bucket.
- Fill the bucket with unchlorinated water.
- Pump oxygen into the bucket of water using the aeration pump
- Let the compost tea bag steep in the water with the aeration pump going for a day or two.
- When it’s done, take out the bag of compost and pour the tea into the pump sprayer.
Compost Tea-Making Tips
While compost tea is ultimately easy to make, it’s also great to know what can make each batch better than before. With every improvement action taken, you might even be able to see visible differences in the growth of your plants.
Compost quality
The best and only kind of compost is the one that’s fully broken down and finished. Using unfinished compost may do more harm than good to your plants as it may not have the needed nutrients required for compost tea.
Temperature of water
While it may not be an important factor, the temperature of the water for brewing the compost tea might have positive effects. If you’re not able to get the temperature of the water to reach an ideal range, it’s recommended to get a submersible aquarium heater that is usually available in pet stores.
Additional supplements
There are loads of supplements that you can add to your compost tea. With time and experience, you’ll be better at creating unique compost tea that’s most beneficial to your garden. Fish emulsion or powdered seaweed are great additions.
Brewing time
The duration of brewing the compost tea is extremely important. Brewing at a shorter or longer time may cause the compost tea to be less effective than it’s supposed to be. It may even be harmful to your plants. If you don’t see any desired effects on your plants, try increasing the brewing time within the 24 to 48 hour time frame.
It’s also best to use the compost tea as soon as it’s brewed as it’s known to be less effective if it sits longer after brewing.
Cleanliness
It may be a given pointer, but make sure the equipment you use for brewing the compost tea is clean and rid of any unwanted components. Dirty equipment can home harmful bacteria and fungus that will eventually be in your compost tea and then your plants. Use cleaning agents if need be.
If you’re into improving your plants in your garden or farm to reach its full potential, then compost tea is definitely one method you should consider. Depending on the needs of your plants, opt for the type of compost tea that’s best for them. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see visible results after the first batch of compost tea. As they all say, practice makes perfect!
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