Compost Tea
Compost is one of those must have things all gardeners will at some point decide to create. Every garden needs compost but there are many different forms of garden soil and many different forms of compost.
One of the best kinds of Compost is one called compost tea and no you don't drink it or make it from left over tea bags. But like the tea you may drink compost tea is made from steeping compost in water and the resulting mixture can be used in sprays or watered into the soil his would depend on the problem with your plants.
The advantages of brewing and using compost tea compared to just digging in the compost directly are many. When used as a spray on liquid you can help suppress foliar diseases and increase the amount of nutrients absorbed by the plant this breaks down the toxins quickly which again help ith leaf or stam disease.
It is rumoured that compost tea can also help improve the flavor of vegetables but I cannot confirm this. Stop applying your compost by only using the normal mehod of shovelling it and spreading it around the plants, mix yourself some compost tea and make it go further too.
Making compost tea is fairly straight forward there is nothing difficult to it but you do need good mature compost to make it. Your compost should be at least a few weeks old and have been turned a few times allowing the heart to build up at the heart of your compost bin. This ensures that any weed seeds and pathogens in th compost have been killed off.
Another rich nutrient form of compost for making compost tea is worm compost and this sort requires less turning. To brew compost tea that is high in humic acid, good for potted citrus and other trees or shrubs,you can use compost made using more paper and woody materials. This sort of compost is called vermicompost.
When your compost has fully matured it's time to start brewing your compost tea. This is best done using a 5 gallon plastic bucket, a pump big enough to run three airstones, a length of air tubing a gang valve and three airstones or bubblers as they are sometime refferd to. You can purhase there from your local aquarium supplier, garden supllier or pet shop.
Your going to need something to stir the mixture up with, a stick will do, some organic molasses if you can get hold of this. If not ordinary molasses will surfice. Next you will need something to strain the tea through such as a pair of panty hose or stocking a tea towel or even an old pillow case can be used.
It's important not to try making compost tea without the aquarium equipment as you really need to aerate the tea well before strainging it. It's useful to have a second bucket to hand for decanting the tea.
If the tea is not aerated properly organisms will quickly use up the oxygen and the tea will start to smell really bad. This smell indicates that the tea has become anaerobic and should not be used as this would do more harm than good for your plants.
Compost tea made this way will need to brew for a few days and then should be used straight away. Starting it midweek would have it ready for you to use at the weekend. So check the weather forecast you don't ant to have a bucket of compost tea ready to spray your plants if it's going to rain all weekend.
One of the best kinds of Compost is one called compost tea and no you don't drink it or make it from left over tea bags. But like the tea you may drink compost tea is made from steeping compost in water and the resulting mixture can be used in sprays or watered into the soil his would depend on the problem with your plants.
The advantages of brewing and using compost tea compared to just digging in the compost directly are many. When used as a spray on liquid you can help suppress foliar diseases and increase the amount of nutrients absorbed by the plant this breaks down the toxins quickly which again help ith leaf or stam disease.
It is rumoured that compost tea can also help improve the flavor of vegetables but I cannot confirm this. Stop applying your compost by only using the normal mehod of shovelling it and spreading it around the plants, mix yourself some compost tea and make it go further too.
Making compost tea is fairly straight forward there is nothing difficult to it but you do need good mature compost to make it. Your compost should be at least a few weeks old and have been turned a few times allowing the heart to build up at the heart of your compost bin. This ensures that any weed seeds and pathogens in th compost have been killed off.
Another rich nutrient form of compost for making compost tea is worm compost and this sort requires less turning. To brew compost tea that is high in humic acid, good for potted citrus and other trees or shrubs,you can use compost made using more paper and woody materials. This sort of compost is called vermicompost.
When your compost has fully matured it's time to start brewing your compost tea. This is best done using a 5 gallon plastic bucket, a pump big enough to run three airstones, a length of air tubing a gang valve and three airstones or bubblers as they are sometime refferd to. You can purhase there from your local aquarium supplier, garden supllier or pet shop.
Your going to need something to stir the mixture up with, a stick will do, some organic molasses if you can get hold of this. If not ordinary molasses will surfice. Next you will need something to strain the tea through such as a pair of panty hose or stocking a tea towel or even an old pillow case can be used.
It's important not to try making compost tea without the aquarium equipment as you really need to aerate the tea well before strainging it. It's useful to have a second bucket to hand for decanting the tea.
If the tea is not aerated properly organisms will quickly use up the oxygen and the tea will start to smell really bad. This smell indicates that the tea has become anaerobic and should not be used as this would do more harm than good for your plants.
Compost tea made this way will need to brew for a few days and then should be used straight away. Starting it midweek would have it ready for you to use at the weekend. So check the weather forecast you don't ant to have a bucket of compost tea ready to spray your plants if it's going to rain all weekend.