Problems with Compost

compost tea being made in the sun

How to Make Compost Tea

Compost tea is not a special tea that people drink, but rather a liquid that is made from compost. The best way to make compost tea is to place a cup of your own home made compost into a panty hose and tie into a ball. This will act like a tea bag and when hung in filtered water it will spread into the water. The thing to do is to tie the compost ball onto a stick and drop into a gallon (or larger) container of water. Glass bottles make the best compost tea. Colored glass like wine or beer or ? will also make good compost tea containers as they absorb the suns energy. The container should be placed in the sun. The length of time depends on what you are using it for. Like photo above with several different types of compost tea going.


The info below tells you the length of time to make compost tea and the purpose to use it for.

    1 hr...............Normal compost tea spray good for bacterial sprays, mineral sprays. will help to prevent diseases on most plants and trees. Should have no odor.

   4 hrs..............a stronger mixture, excellent for controlling most bacterial diseases. Works great on roses, most vegetables and trees.

  24 hrs.............a powerful mixture for controlling rust diseases, blight diseases, also repels most insects especially ants.

  48 hrs............This is good for very bad fungus related diseases . Should not smell bad, but should be strong smelling.

You can increase effectiveness of the above mixture by adding one or more of the following combinations (depending on use):

Soap will increase effectiveness as a wetting agent.
Use any natural soap for this purpose. Only add enough to wet the water. Try 5 tablespoons per gallon water

Molasses can be sprayed along with the compost tea. The trick is to add the molasses (about 1/2 cup for a gallon or if using 50 gallons use 1 quart) , add when you first make it. Allow to sit in the sun for several days.

Vinegar can be sprayed to increase the energy of the plant reducing diseases and pests. Use 1 cup in a gallon compost tea or no more then 1 cup in 50 gallons compost tea.

Filtered Water
Important note: when making compost tea it is more effective if you use filtered water instead of city water (which has chlorine which kills bacteria). If you don't have a filter use spring water or solarized water.

Solarized water can be made by placing water into a large glass container (allows the most sun light to contact the liquid) but a large bucket will do. Allow to sit for a day or two, turning every few hours.



• see also Natural spray page
  Nutritional Spraying Dept

• see also Bacterial page
  Making Your Own Enzyme / Bacterial Spray

• see also Milk page
  Controlling Diseases in your Garden using Milk

• see also Rock Dust page
  Rock Dust Dept

• see also Baking Soda page

• see also Foliar page
  Making Your Own Organic Foliar Spray

   

  andy lopez

  Invisible Gardener

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