Compost Tea Source

Does anyone have a purchase source for compost tea already made. I would like to try this stuff before I invest in equipment to make my own.

Thanks in advance

Reply to
bchaguy
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Phooey, all you need is a bucket with a lid. Put some green stuff e.g. grass clippings and some dried weeds or whatever add dirt pour in water, wait and you have your tea.

Reply to
Bud

If your municipality offers free compost periodically (as does mine) you can partially fill a vessel of your choosing -- whether just a bucket or a (strong) trashcan -- add water, wait a few weeks (days?) and voila - compost tea.

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

I'd recommend you make your compost first and then make your tea.

Plants themselves don't use all of the energy they make through photosynthesis. For example, 60 percent of a vegetable plant's energy goes to its root system, and half of that energy is exuded into the soil. Of those exudates, 90 percent are sugars; the rest are carbohydrates and proteins. When you think about these ingredients as food, they're the makings for cake. This is high-energy stuff. Why is nearly one-third of a vegetable plant's output going into the soil as energy-rich food? To feed the good bacteria and fungi.

When we human beings kill off bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and other organisms, whether by polluting the air or by spraying pesticides or even by using chemical fertilizers, we're reducing the population of critters that plants feed. That's why one of the simplest and best things you can do for your garden is to spray your plants with compost tea, to bring back organisms killed by chemicals.

Brewing Compost Tea

How to brew compost tea To brew compost tea, you will need a 5-gallon plastic bucket and a few aquarium supplies: a pump large enough to run three bubblers (also called air stones, I use 1), several feet of air tubing, a gang valve (which distributes the air coming from the pump to the tubes going to the bubblers), and three bubblers. You'll also need a stick for stirring the mixture, some unsulfured molasses (preferably organic), and an old pillowcase, tea towel, or nylon stocking for straining the tea (hardware stores have nylon bags that painters use, I believe for filtering paint). An extra bucket comes in handy for decanting the tea. Don't try to make compost tea without the aeration equipment. If the tea is not aerated constantly, the organisms in it will quickly use up the oxygen, and the tea will start to STINK and become anaerobic. An anaerobic tea can harm your plants.

There are several different levels of teas as well as different recipes and styles. Level 1: Put a shovel full of good compost in a 5 gallon bucket of water, wait one week, and apply to garden or lawn either full strength or up to a 1:4 water ratio. This is an excellent source of ready available soluble nutrients. NOTE: If you stir your brew daily or every other day, it helps get more oxygen to the mix for better decomposition and better aerobic microbial population growth.

Level 2: Do same as above, but now add to the recipe a few cups of alfalfa pellets or some other cattle feed. Now you have extra nitrogen and trace elements from the bacterial foods.

Level 3: Do all above plus now add the air pump bubbler. Now you have more aerobic microbes to add to your soluble nutrients in the tea.

Level 4: Do all the above and now add a few tblsp of molasses or other simple sugar products. Now you really maximize the aerobic microbes in the tea, which in turn produce even more extra soluble nutrients from the bacterial foods.

Reply to
Billy

The folks that "rewrote" the book also started the customary "research Institute" based on their version of the circle of life. PhDs gotta eat too. If not perhaps you can find one of their "Certified Soil Foodweb Advisor(sic) " in your area ($$$$$) . What ever that is. Personally I would stay stay away from any one who claims their are a dirt or soil doctor. The infamous PT Barnum thing comes to mind.

Dr. Chalker-Scott below has a quick summation. Just remember you need a reliable source of pathogen free material especially if you or yours have a suppressed or compromised Immune system. Note not all anaerobic bacteria are pathogens and there are pathogenic aerobic microbes as well. Bacteria breeds very quickly.

USDA: MICROBIAL ECOLOGY AND SAFETY OF FRESH ON-FARM ORGANICALLY GROWN PRODUCE

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USDA guidelines:
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Dr. Chalker-Scott's view:
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Reply to
Gunner

On Jul 23, 5:42=A0pm, Billy wrote some crap about:

What a bunch of pseudoscience BS!

Reply to
Gunner

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