Compost tea is one of the greatest things in the world if you like fast growth and healthy plants. Out there is a synaesthetic mix that turns compost to Superman strength levels and the great thing is, all you need to make it is compost, water and a container of some sort.
Compost tea is often used by gardeners that grow for size (usually in competitions) to make the biggest, tastiest crops around but often when you ask them how they make it, they’ll give you a huge recipe which includes a lot of stuff you probably won’t have around the home. The great thing is, both are good, you can use this method or their one, they’ll both do the same job.
On to the ingredients for our tea. The type of compost you use doesn’t really matter at all, anything from homemade to store-bought is good as long as you can get a decent amount of it. For the water, if you can get hold of a hose, I’d recommend that for reasons I’ll explain in a minute. The container size depends on how much you want but I’d say 5 gallons is a great starting figure.
To combine them and get it brewing, dump the compost into the container to start off with, I wouldn’t recommend adding the water first. How much you use is entirely up to you, the great thing is that if you think it’s not quite right, it’s easy to dilute or strengthen at any point. Having said that, I’d say around 4-5 (medium) handfuls is good to start off with. Break it up a little, throw it in and go grab your water.
Remember when I said to use a hose? It’s because the compost tea needs air inside of it to break down properly. Without the air you’ll have the anaerobic bacteria in there and they stink something awful after a while. Don’t worry if you don’t have a hose, you can easily just use a watering can or anything that holds water. Pour it in from a reasonable height up to around 3-4 inches from the top, which will be our spillage protection. Once it’s full up, grab a stick and start stirring until you get the tornado in a teacup effect. Check out the images below for how you know you’re at the right stage.
The great thing about compost tea is that you’ve just made a free, organic fertilizer and don’t have to worry about over-fertilizing your plants ever again (smiley face). You’re free to add this in each watering session, but if you want to use it in a spray bottle for your leaves, try using an old (preferably clean) sock or leggings/stockings to sift out the larger chunks of compost that will be left over.
Last note, don’t add a lid to this, you want to expose it to as much air as possible at all times so remember to stir it everyday too until you’ve reached the point that you’re using it – just dunking a container in and disturbing the water will by enough by then.
