Compost Teas

[opabinia51]

Note that you can also make a Leaf Mold tea by placing chopped up or mulched leaves in a pile (or in a wire cage) and turning them once a week in the fall. Then in the spring place the leaves in a sac of some sort and imerse the sac in a barrel of water for 4 or five day.

Stir every or every other day to keep the tea aerated.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Opa is on to something here; if you are looking to jump-start your organic soil, then the tea is a great way to hit the whole soil profile with goodies...

[opabinia51]

Was at the Organics Festival at the Horticultural Center of the Pacific this past weekend where I met two young ladies who have started a business selling Compost Tea. I bought a jug myself and put it on my two new compost areas.

Anyway, if anyone who lives in the Victoria area wants to buy some compost tea from the ladies, contact HCP and they'll put you in touch with them. I'll be putting some contact information on here in a few days.

[opabinia51]

Okay, I lied. I'm putting the contact information on here today.

Anyway, the company is called: Earth Elixir Compost Teas
And they are located at: 912 Dunsmuir Rd
Victoria BC Canada
V9A 5C3

In about a month (August) they will have a website up and running
Oh yeah, might as well give you the phone number. It is, (250) 858-2384

Anyway, in our fast paced urban society people seldom have time or a desire to make time to make compost or leaf mold teas so, this is an alternative.

Maybe people in other parts of North America or New Zealand( NewZealander) know of other companies that sell such products.

[Rob_ct]

Hi,

I was wondering if you can ever over fertilize with compost tea?
Also, can compost tea cause root burn?
Laslty, is there any harm in "brewing" the tea for too long (I.e. more than 10 days)?


thanks
Rob

[opabinia51]

Actually, no you cannot burn the roots of your plants so long as you dilute the tea before adding it to the plant/soil. Though, I should think that even without dilution, the plants would be fine because the main item that you are adding with a compost tea is organisms.

NOTE: I am definately NOT saying to not dilute your teas though. Definately dilute them at least 4:1 with dechlorinated water.

How to declorinate water without spending money on chemicals:

It's really simple, just fill a bucket with water and let it stand out in the sun for a few hours or even better, a day. The Chlorine will evaporate.

As far as over fertilizing. Well as with every good thing you can have to much compost tea. Adding diluted compost tea to your plants once a week will keep the plants nice and healthy.

Remember that it can be added as both a foliar spray and as a soil treatment. And compost teas are great for new compost piles.

[The Helpful Gardener]

And letting the tea sit a day or two (in the shade) will strengthen it some. I've said it's impossible to burn with organics, and that's not true; it's impossible to burn with commercially available organics used ANYWHERE near listed treatment levels (can't say that about salt based nitrogen)...

But 4:1 will still give you a good strong tea; even twice the water and a two day sit (perhaps with a shot of honey?) will make a good tea...

[opabinia51]

Honey? Interesting, what's the story behind the honey?

[The Helpful Gardener]

I was thinking the shot of honey (sugars) would help develop the cultures of beneficial fungii (sort of like proofing yeast). Just a guess really, (hence the question mark on the sentence) but I'd be interested to hear your take...

[opabinia51]

Couldn't hurt. Fungi are heterotrophs so, I'm thinking that your idea is sound. I'll pass your idea on to Bryce when I have a chance and see what he has to say.


Actually on that note: (or rather, on the note of Legumes and bacteria). I learned while reading today that Legumous plants actually absorb Nitrogen gas from the atmosphere (which, is really easy seeing that air is something like 76% Nitrogen) and pass it down to the Nitrogen fixing bacteria that in and around the Nodules in their roots. The Bacteria fix the Nitrogen (and burn it), pass it back to the legume, excess nitrates are released to the soil and to top all that off. The Legume feeds the commensile bacteria with a sugar solution.

Nature is a crazy place!

(Went a bit overboard there, what I meant to say is that I learned that the plants are actually the ones asorbing the Nitrogen and they feed the bacteria with sugars. But, it's all sound)

[grandpasrose]

This isn't really a compost tea - but it's liquid and the plants love it! When we clean the filter from our pump in our pond, we use the cleanings on our plants. We discovered this when an apple tree near the pond, that we always cleaned the pump under, that had not bloomed or borne fruit in many years, all of a sudden bloomed and had apples and has ever since!
Now we clean into buckets and spread the good stuff around to the tomatoes, roses, clematis, veggies, etc.
VAL (Grandpa's Rose)

[opabinia51]

Ah yes, GRANDPA'S ROSE and not grandparose. Anyway, sounds like a novel idea! What you are doing is adding the nutrients and bacteria/fungi from you pond to the soil around your apple tree. Obviously, the apple tree likes it so now we have yet another way to improve our gardens!

Thanks Val

[Rob_ct]

Hey thanks for the great info about compost tea.

I just have a few more questions about it...

I was searching around for information about compost tea (before I found this site) and one site said that one should not use the tea if it "smells bad".

What exactly do they mean by "smells bad"? Is there any reason for concern about this? That is, should I be worried if my compost tea smells less than earthy?

How long can you leave airrated tea brewing? I take it one just needs to keep adding brown sugar to keep the bacteria happy?

Is there any danger in using stored rain water in the compost tea mixture? I read in a bonsai book, that rain water that is stored can sometimes pick up spores that are harmful to the roots of plants. Is there any validity in this statement?

Thanks
Rob

[opabinia51]

If the tea "smells bad" that means that it has gone Anerobic. Ie) that means that the "air breathing bacteria" are not longer running the show in your tea and that "Non air breathing bacteria" such as sulphar (I can never remember how to spell that word) or some other terminal electron acceptor.

Anyway, to make a long, complicated story short. If your tea smells bad, you'll know it. No crying icon but, ou get the drift. I mean, you could still use it but, with the aerobic (oxygen breathing bacteria) you get a good set of decomposers and nutrient givers added to your soil and your plants.

So, the big question is: How do I make it so that I have good smelling tea? Easy, stir it vigorously at least every other day or even better buy a cheap aquarium airator and stick it in with the tea.



Yes, an aerated tea should be left for at least a week but, I have read that you should even leave it sit (with aeration) for up to 3 weeks.

[The Helpful Gardener]

A friend here has started a business around this and the aeration is the key component to keep it from going bad...

HG

[opabinia51]

A LITTLE MORE INFO ON COMPOST TEAS:

Spraying aerated compost tea on the foliage of your plants will inoculate your plants with beneficial organisms that will eat and devour any pathogens.

Aerated compost teas not only contain beneficial bacteria but, also contain beneficial fungi and nematodes. The nematodes will actually eat the bad nematodes that may reside in your soil.

A single soil drench with aerated compost tea can be effective for up to six months. Though, monthly soakings are very beneficial.

Compost tea can also be misted onto seeds before planting. This provides a healthy host of organismal fauna for the seed.

Add tea to the planting whole when planting or transplanting trees or shrubs

Drench potted plants, both indoor and out

Add the tea to a compost pile to speed up decomposition and not to mention add to the biodiversity in your compost/soil.

For those on Vancouver Island, the ladies at Earth Elixir have their website up and running and have bottles of compost tea for sale.

And don't be afraid to make your own compost tea. It's great stuff.

[Sengyan]

Can mushroom compost be used to make tea? The mushroom compost was made with horse manure and straw. I got it from a mushroom farm and it has been sitting in my backyard to age for 10 months now. Please advise with making method, etc and usage.

Thank you.

Sengyan

[opabinia51]

Oh yeah, that would be fine.