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Seeds for Change Wellness
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Brewing Compost Tea
Tap your compost pile to make a potion that is both fertilizer and disease prevention
Author: Elaine Ingham Source
Start with good compost, give it some water, some aeration,
and some time, and you'll have a multipurpose elixir for your
garden. Gardeners all know compost is terrific stuff. But
there's something even better than plain old compost, and that's
compost tea. As the name implies, compost tea is made by
steeping compost in water. It's used as either a foliar spray
or a soil drench, depending on where your plant has problems.
Why go to the extra trouble of brewing, straining, and spraying
a tea rather than just working compost into the soil? There are
several reasons. First, compost tea makes the benefits of
compost go farther. What's more, when sprayed on the leaves,
compost tea helps suppress foliar diseases, increases the
amount of nutrients available to the plant, and speeds the
breakdown of toxins. Using compost tea has even been shown
to increase the nutritional quality and improve the flavor of
vegetables. If you've been applying compost to your soil only
in the traditional way, you're missing out on a whole host of
benefits
The science behind compost tea
The soil is full of microorganisms that aid plant growth and plant health—bacteria and fungi,
which are decomposers, and protozoa and beneficial nematodes, which are predators. But
there are bad guys, too—disease-causing bacteria and fungi, protozoa, and root-feeding
nematodes. Our goal as gardeners is to enhance the beneficial microorganisms in this soil
foodweb, because they help our plants.
The bad bacterial decomposers and the plant-toxic products
they make are enhanced by anaerobic, or reduced-oxygen,
conditions. By making sure the tea and the compost itself are
well oxygenated and highly aerobic, you eliminate 75 percent
of the potential plant-disease-causing bacteria and plant-toxic
products. To take care of the other 25 percent of potential
diseases and pests, you want to get good guys into the soil
and on at least 60 to 70 percent of your plants' leaves. Good
bacteria work against the detrimental ones in four ways: They
consume the bad guys, they may produce antibiotics that
inhibit them, they compete for nutrients, and they compete
for space.
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.
Making the compost
To make good compost tea, you need actively managed, mature
compost; that is, compost that has been turned a few times and
allowed to heat adequately so weed seeds and pathogens have
been killed. Worm compost also makes excellent tea, without the
hassle of turning or checking the temperature. Tea brewed from
vermicompost that has been made from a fair amount of paper
and woody materials is also high in humic acid, an organic
substance that is especially good for potted citrus or other trees
and shrubs, or perennial plants.
Start with the right kind of compost
You can manipulate compost so it's dominated either by bacteria
or by fungi. Which one you want depends on what you're growing
and what kind of soil you have. You always want a bacteria-
dominated compost tea for use as a foliar spray, whatever the
plant. Bacteria-dominated compost is also best for applying to
the soil before growing vegetables and herbs. Fungi-dominated
compost is good for mulching around berries and fruit trees. But
research has shown that a foliar spray of bacteria-dominated
compost tea is extremely useful to prevent the foliar diseases
that plague most gardens. Thus, most of us need only be
concerned with making a bacteria-dominated compost tea.
For bacteria to dominate, compost should be made from a preponderance of green materials.
You need a mix of 25 percent high-nitrogen ingredients, 45 percent green ingredients, and 30
percent woody material. High-nitrogen materials include manure and legumes, such as alfalfa,
pea, clover, or bean plant residues. Grass clippings from the first two or three cuttings in
spring, when the blades are lush and tender, qualify as high-nitrogen; the rest of the season,
they're simply green material. Green material includes any green plant debris, kitchen scraps,
and coffee grounds, which, although brown in color, contain sugars and proteins that bacteria
love. Woody material includes wood chips, sawdust, paper plates and towels, and shredded
newspaper.
When making compost, measure your ingredients by volume. Try to mix a whole pile at a time.
To get it up to temperature and keep it there, you need a mass that measures at least one
cubic yard. Moisten the pile as you make it so that it is damp but not wet. An easy way to tell is
to pick up a handful of the material and squeeze it as hard as you can; only one or two drops
should be squeezed out. Less than that, add water; more than that, let it dry out.
Once the pile is made, you can add kitchen scraps as they accumulate. Bury them in the center
in different places to help maintain heat in the pile. Small additions don't upset the ratio. If
needed, you can balance the green additions with shredded newspaper or wood shavings.
A good compost pile really cooks
The pile will heat up right away, as microorganisms start breaking down the material. The pile
must stay between 135°F and 160°F for three days. At 135°F, weed seeds, human pathogens,
most plant pathogens, and most root-feeding nematodes are killed. The pile shouldn't go above
160°F because at that temperature large numbers of the beneficial organisms begin to be killed.
Within a day or two, the center should reach 135°F. Measure the temperature with a long-
stemmed thermometer. A 20-inch compost thermometer is nice but not necessary; I use my
turkey thermometer. Just be sure to stick the probe deep into the center of the pile. Take two or
three readings from several areas of the pile each day for the first week when you first start
making compost, so you get a feeling for what is normal. If you make the same mix again and
again, after several batches you won't have to monitor quite so closely.
When the temperature gets to about 155°F, turn the pile with a pitchfork or a shovel. This mixes
the cooler materials on the outside to the center and brings air into the pile, preventing
anaerobic conditions. Within a day or so, the pile will be back up to 155°F, and you'll need to
turn it again. Expect to turn the pile every day or two for about the first week to get it and keep it
in the 135° to 155°F range. After that, you can let it alone, maybe turning it once or twice more
during the next few weeks. The more you turn the pile, the more the compost tends to become
bacterial. That's because any kind of disturbance destroys fungi by breaking up their mycelia
and helps the bacteria beat the fungi by bringing the foods bacteria need into range for the tiny
individual bacteria.
As the compost matures, the temperature will drop gradually until, after six to eight weeks, the
center of the pile is cool or barely warm to the touch. The compost is now ready.
Brewing and using the tea
To brew compost tea, you'll need a pump, some air tubing, a gang
valve, and three bubblers. Once you have fully mature, nice- smelling
compost, it's time to brew 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), 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. 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.
Also, keep in mind that tea made using this bucket method needs to brew for two or three days
and then be used immediately. If you work Monday through Friday, start the tea on Wednesday
or Thursday, so it will be ready in time to apply it on the weekend.
If you're on a well, you can use water straight from the spigot. But if you're using city water, run
the bubblers in it for about an hour first, to blow off any chlorine. Otherwise, the chlorine will kill
all those beneficial organisms you've gone to the trouble of raising.
Tea time
Once you have safe water, fill the empty bucket half full of compost. Don't pack it in; the
bubblers need loose compost to aerate properly. Cut a length of tubing and attach one end to
the pump and the other to the gang valve. Cut three more lengths of tubing long enough to
reach comfortably from the rim to the bottom of the bucket. Connect each one to a port on the
gang valve and push a bubbler into the other end.
Hang the gang valve on the lip of the bucket and bury the bubblers at the bottom, under the
compost. Fill the bucket to within 3 inches of the rim with water, and start the pump.
When it's going, add 1 oz. of molasses, then stir vigorously with the stick. The molasses feeds
the bacteria and gets the beneficial species growing really well. After stirring, you'll need to
rearrange the bubblers so they're on the bottom and well spaced. Try to stir the tea at least a
few times a day. A vigorous mixing with the stick shakes more organisms loose and into the tea.
Every time you stir, be sure to reposition the bubblers.
After three days, turn off the pump and remove the equipment. If you leave the tea aerating
longer than three days, you must add more molasses or the good organisms will start going to
sleep because they don't have enough food to stay active. Let the brew sit until the compost is
pretty much settled out, 10 to 20 minutes, then strain it into the other bucket or directly into
your sprayer. You'll have about 2 1/2 gallons of tea. If you want, this is the time to add foliar
micronutrients, like kelp or rock dust. Use the tea right away, within the hour if possible.
You can put the solids back on the compost pile or add them to the soil. There are plenty of
good bacterial and fungal foods left in them.
Author: Elaine Ingham Source
Start with good compost, give it some water, some aeration,
and some time, and you'll have a multipurpose elixir for your
garden. Gardeners all know compost is terrific stuff. But
there's something even better than plain old compost, and that's
compost tea. As the name implies, compost tea is made by
steeping compost in water. It's used as either a foliar spray
or a soil drench, depending on where your plant has problems.
Why go to the extra trouble of brewing, straining, and spraying
a tea rather than just working compost into the soil? There are
several reasons. First, compost tea makes the benefits of
compost go farther. What's more, when sprayed on the leaves,
compost tea helps suppress foliar diseases, increases the
amount of nutrients available to the plant, and speeds the
breakdown of toxins. Using compost tea has even been shown
to increase the nutritional quality and improve the flavor of
vegetables. If you've been applying compost to your soil only
in the traditional way, you're missing out on a whole host of
benefits
The science behind compost tea
The soil is full of microorganisms that aid plant growth and plant health—bacteria and fungi,
which are decomposers, and protozoa and beneficial nematodes, which are predators. But
there are bad guys, too—disease-causing bacteria and fungi, protozoa, and root-feeding
nematodes. Our goal as gardeners is to enhance the beneficial microorganisms in this soil
foodweb, because they help our plants.
The bad bacterial decomposers and the plant-toxic products
they make are enhanced by anaerobic, or reduced-oxygen,
conditions. By making sure the tea and the compost itself are
well oxygenated and highly aerobic, you eliminate 75 percent
of the potential plant-disease-causing bacteria and plant-toxic
products. To take care of the other 25 percent of potential
diseases and pests, you want to get good guys into the soil
and on at least 60 to 70 percent of your plants' leaves. Good
bacteria work against the detrimental ones in four ways: They
consume the bad guys, they may produce antibiotics that
inhibit them, they compete for nutrients, and they compete
for space.
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.
Making the compost
To make good compost tea, you need actively managed, mature
compost; that is, compost that has been turned a few times and
allowed to heat adequately so weed seeds and pathogens have
been killed. Worm compost also makes excellent tea, without the
hassle of turning or checking the temperature. Tea brewed from
vermicompost that has been made from a fair amount of paper
and woody materials is also high in humic acid, an organic
substance that is especially good for potted citrus or other trees
and shrubs, or perennial plants.
Start with the right kind of compost
You can manipulate compost so it's dominated either by bacteria
or by fungi. Which one you want depends on what you're growing
and what kind of soil you have. You always want a bacteria-
dominated compost tea for use as a foliar spray, whatever the
plant. Bacteria-dominated compost is also best for applying to
the soil before growing vegetables and herbs. Fungi-dominated
compost is good for mulching around berries and fruit trees. But
research has shown that a foliar spray of bacteria-dominated
compost tea is extremely useful to prevent the foliar diseases
that plague most gardens. Thus, most of us need only be
concerned with making a bacteria-dominated compost tea.
For bacteria to dominate, compost should be made from a preponderance of green materials.
You need a mix of 25 percent high-nitrogen ingredients, 45 percent green ingredients, and 30
percent woody material. High-nitrogen materials include manure and legumes, such as alfalfa,
pea, clover, or bean plant residues. Grass clippings from the first two or three cuttings in
spring, when the blades are lush and tender, qualify as high-nitrogen; the rest of the season,
they're simply green material. Green material includes any green plant debris, kitchen scraps,
and coffee grounds, which, although brown in color, contain sugars and proteins that bacteria
love. Woody material includes wood chips, sawdust, paper plates and towels, and shredded
newspaper.
When making compost, measure your ingredients by volume. Try to mix a whole pile at a time.
To get it up to temperature and keep it there, you need a mass that measures at least one
cubic yard. Moisten the pile as you make it so that it is damp but not wet. An easy way to tell is
to pick up a handful of the material and squeeze it as hard as you can; only one or two drops
should be squeezed out. Less than that, add water; more than that, let it dry out.
Once the pile is made, you can add kitchen scraps as they accumulate. Bury them in the center
in different places to help maintain heat in the pile. Small additions don't upset the ratio. If
needed, you can balance the green additions with shredded newspaper or wood shavings.
A good compost pile really cooks
The pile will heat up right away, as microorganisms start breaking down the material. The pile
must stay between 135°F and 160°F for three days. At 135°F, weed seeds, human pathogens,
most plant pathogens, and most root-feeding nematodes are killed. The pile shouldn't go above
160°F because at that temperature large numbers of the beneficial organisms begin to be killed.
Within a day or two, the center should reach 135°F. Measure the temperature with a long-
stemmed thermometer. A 20-inch compost thermometer is nice but not necessary; I use my
turkey thermometer. Just be sure to stick the probe deep into the center of the pile. Take two or
three readings from several areas of the pile each day for the first week when you first start
making compost, so you get a feeling for what is normal. If you make the same mix again and
again, after several batches you won't have to monitor quite so closely.
When the temperature gets to about 155°F, turn the pile with a pitchfork or a shovel. This mixes
the cooler materials on the outside to the center and brings air into the pile, preventing
anaerobic conditions. Within a day or so, the pile will be back up to 155°F, and you'll need to
turn it again. Expect to turn the pile every day or two for about the first week to get it and keep it
in the 135° to 155°F range. After that, you can let it alone, maybe turning it once or twice more
during the next few weeks. The more you turn the pile, the more the compost tends to become
bacterial. That's because any kind of disturbance destroys fungi by breaking up their mycelia
and helps the bacteria beat the fungi by bringing the foods bacteria need into range for the tiny
individual bacteria.
As the compost matures, the temperature will drop gradually until, after six to eight weeks, the
center of the pile is cool or barely warm to the touch. The compost is now ready.
Brewing and using the tea
To brew compost tea, you'll need a pump, some air tubing, a gang
valve, and three bubblers. Once you have fully mature, nice- smelling
compost, it's time to brew 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), 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. 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.
Also, keep in mind that tea made using this bucket method needs to brew for two or three days
and then be used immediately. If you work Monday through Friday, start the tea on Wednesday
or Thursday, so it will be ready in time to apply it on the weekend.
If you're on a well, you can use water straight from the spigot. But if you're using city water, run
the bubblers in it for about an hour first, to blow off any chlorine. Otherwise, the chlorine will kill
all those beneficial organisms you've gone to the trouble of raising.
Tea time
Once you have safe water, fill the empty bucket half full of compost. Don't pack it in; the
bubblers need loose compost to aerate properly. Cut a length of tubing and attach one end to
the pump and the other to the gang valve. Cut three more lengths of tubing long enough to
reach comfortably from the rim to the bottom of the bucket. Connect each one to a port on the
gang valve and push a bubbler into the other end.
Hang the gang valve on the lip of the bucket and bury the bubblers at the bottom, under the
compost. Fill the bucket to within 3 inches of the rim with water, and start the pump.
When it's going, add 1 oz. of molasses, then stir vigorously with the stick. The molasses feeds
the bacteria and gets the beneficial species growing really well. After stirring, you'll need to
rearrange the bubblers so they're on the bottom and well spaced. Try to stir the tea at least a
few times a day. A vigorous mixing with the stick shakes more organisms loose and into the tea.
Every time you stir, be sure to reposition the bubblers.
After three days, turn off the pump and remove the equipment. If you leave the tea aerating
longer than three days, you must add more molasses or the good organisms will start going to
sleep because they don't have enough food to stay active. Let the brew sit until the compost is
pretty much settled out, 10 to 20 minutes, then strain it into the other bucket or directly into
your sprayer. You'll have about 2 1/2 gallons of tea. If you want, this is the time to add foliar
micronutrients, like kelp or rock dust. Use the tea right away, within the hour if possible.
You can put the solids back on the compost pile or add them to the soil. There are plenty of
good bacterial and fungal foods left in them.
Start with good compost, give it some
water, some aeration, and some time,
and you'll have a multipurpose elixir for
your garden.
water, some aeration, and some time,
and you'll have a multipurpose elixir for
your garden.
It's not coffee—it's tea. Well-brewed compost
tea is rich in microorganisms that are highly
beneficial to your plants' growth and health.
tea is rich in microorganisms that are highly
beneficial to your plants' growth and health.
When the center of the pile reaches
about 155°F, it's time to turn it. Mixing
air into the pile brings the temperature
down, but within a day it will climb back
up.
about 155°F, it's time to turn it. Mixing
air into the pile brings the temperature
down, but within a day it will climb back
up.
To brew compost tea, you'll need a
pump, some air tubing, a gang
valve, and three bubblers
pump, some air tubing, a gang
valve, and three bubblers