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Actively Aerated Compost Tea This technique is courtesy of Elaine Ingham, Ph.D., a noted soil ecologist, author, and the founder of Soil Foodweb, an international group of soil biology laboratories.
What you'll need:
Several feet of air tubing
An aquarium pump (500-gallon-tank size) large enough to run three bubblers (also called air stones)
A gang valve (which distributes the air coming from the pump to the tubes going to the bubblers)
5-gallon plastic bucket
Three or more bubblers
About 1 pound of compost
Microbial food, such as kelp powder or fish powder/emulsion, or humic acids (available at garden centers)
A stick for stirring the mixture
A mesh bag (an old pillowcase, cheesecloth, tea towel, or nylon stocking will do) for brewing, and for straining the finished product.
1. Attach one end of a piece of tubing to the pump and the other end to the gang valve.
2. Connect a bubbler to each of the three ports on the gang valve with tubing.
3. For adequate aeration, weight or tape down the bubblers so that they sit on the bottom of the bucket. Clean the weights, or replace tape, with each batch.
4. Fill the bucket with 4 gallons of water, leaving enough space on top so the water can bubble without spilling. Aerate municipal water before adding compost until you can't smell any chlorine.
5. Add the compost. If you plan on using the tea in a sprayer, place the compost in a mesh bag with several fish floats or Ping-Pong balls so it will tumble at the surface.
6. To feed the microorganisms, add 1 to 5 teaspoons microbial food. More food will be needed in cold temperatures, less when it is very warm.
7. Stir vigorously a few times daily to shake free as many organisms as possible and to increase aeration. Reposition the bubblers after stirring so they're well spaced.
After brewing
Maintain aeration until you use the tea. Do not expose it to high heat during the summer.
After one to three days, strain the tea into another 5-gallon bucket using a mesh bag.
Put leftover compost solids back on the compost pile or in the garden.
If the tea smells bad, it's anaerobic-don't use it! Put it on your weeds.
For best results, apply the compost tea to plants within one hour of brewing.
Worm Tea
Worm Tea
The most potent compost tea you can make starts in the bottom of a worm bin. Peter Fossel, Gardens Manager at The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's estate in Nashville, Tennessee) and an active member of our OG.com community, shares his easy and creative way to collect the rich brown liquid worms produce, which is full of good microbes for your plants.
"Within a few weeks, dark brown worm juice begins to fill the empty milk jugs. I used this as a transplant solution in my organic vegetable gardens at home, and it worked quite well. Then I tested it as a foliar feed on a row of beans. Within two days, the treated beans were at least twice the size of the nontreated plants. I tested it again as a foliar feed for cole-crop and lettuce seedlings; same story. There is something amazing to this stuff!"
What you'll need:
10-gallon opaque plastic tub with lid
Electric drill
Wire screen
Plastic milk jug
Funnel
Straw or hay
500 red wiggler worms
1. Drill closely spaced holes in the bottom of the tub for drainage.
2. Cover the holes with screen to keep worms from escaping.
3. Place the tub on a shelf, with enough space to fit the milk jug and funnel underneath.
4. Under the holes, position the funnel so that liquid will drain from the holes into the empty milk jug.
5. Fill the tub with straw and red wiggler worms.
6. Replace the lid, with a few holes punched for ventilation (cover the holes with screen to keep flies out, if present).
