Compost Tea/Brewing
 

Would like to hear your experiences in making, use, results and recommendations. I plan on buying a brewer or making one in the very near future. Ami

Ami-I brew compost tea-no reason to buy one of those fancy brewers. Here is a link to how I got started:

[url]http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pages/g00030.asp[/url]

I brew tea all summer long. I use a plastic 5-gallon bucket. I put a generous shovelful of finished compost in the bucket (maybe filling the bucket 1/4 full), add a double handful of rabbit pellets, a couple glugs of liquid molasses, and fill it up with water. To keep the temp consistently warm, I set it up in the greenhouse. I use an aquarium/pond aerator with an air stone attached and let it cook for about 48 hours.

Just don't forget one of these:

[img]http://www.fiendishthingies.com/gas%20mask%20side.JPG[/img]

mdvpc, Good stuff! I think I will build one myself also. I've done quite abit of research on the web and will post some more links.

Sherry, is that an aquarium heater you have in your brew container? If it is that's a good Idea. Do you use your tea as a soil drench or folier spray? Ami

Ami, yes it is an aquarium heater. Unfortunately, I broke it when I stirred up the tea and I never replaced it. I do think it's a good idea though. I generally use the tea as a soil drench, but I do sometimes put it in a sprinkler can and drench the foliage as well. It needs to be strained quite well in order to use it in an actual sprayer. Oh, and I dilute the brewed tea about 5 parts water to 1 part tea before I use it.

Hi All,

This is my first time making compost tea. I followed the instructions that mvdcp recommends. However, my tea has a lot of little white worms floating on top.

Does anyone know what these might be and if they are something that I should be concerned with? Thanks.

Alex

Alex-I would start over. I use a micronized compost so I have never used my own compost. Hopefully someone else will post on this thread-but white worms dont sound good to me.

Michael,

Not sure what to make of them. I read a couple articles that suggest that they might not be serious. Red worms are good apparently. I'm hoping someone with more experience can give me some advice. They are definately not maggots.

Alex

Alex,

I'll take a stab at those white things.

Perhaps most common in compost piles are black soldier fly larvae. These are voracious consumers of compost. They help break the compost down. The larvae are about 15-20 cm long, and flattened. Often they are white to dirty white.

Their presence is not a problem. It's just not esthetically pleasing.

These larvae are ~30% protein, so they make excellent chicken feed.

There's no gaurantee that's what are floating in your tea. There are other bugs that like compost. Can you give a better description?

I've got a link to composting through OSU's Extension service. I just took the compost specialist class. This means I know just enough to make a fool of myself when someone asks a question. LOL!

Hmmm. Where is that link????

[URL]http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lane/horticulture/documents/ABeginnersGuideToCompostTea.pdf[/URL]

and plans for making a 25 gallon compost tea brewer:

[URL]http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lane/horticulture/documents/25gallonRubbermaidbrewerplans_2_.pdf[/URL]

I have had (and used) a 25 gallon compost tea brewer for two years now. I got it in a clearance sale at half-price. I have always used worm castings mixed with other items to brew my teas. I use the tea both as a soil drench and a foliar spray. I really like it, but I don't really need such a large one, so I give gallons away to friends and neighbors. [That must really irritate the retailers who charge $5.99 per gallon.] :P I figured out that my cost is down to 25 cents per gallon or so.

I like adding different ingredients to tailor my teas to specific kinds of plants. I have some bat guano that has no N, but is high in P. It dissolves in the tea. That's great for my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and squash/melons.
I can add fish emulsion instead as a soil drench for greens and corn. I almost always add liquified seaweed.

Hmmm. I'm reminded that I still have to pull out my brewer to clean it up. Oh, boy.

Good luck!!

Michael
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Here are some more links:

[URL]http://compost.css.cornell.edu/Composting_homepage.html[/URL]

[URL]http://eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/edmat/html/grow/compost.html[/URL]

[URL]http://eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/edmat/html/EC/EC1247/EC1247.html[/URL]

For a link in Spanish go to Oregon DEQ that has a link for a composting manual in Spanish language:

[URL]http://www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/composting.html[/URL]

I made a simple tea brewer with a 5 gal bucket and aquarium pump and hose, using worm castings w/ added oat flour in a paint strainer bag, and brewed w/ molasses, following these instructions:
[URL]http://dchall.home.texas.net/organic/teamaker/PDFs/brewer.pdf[/URL]

mressequie, definately good stuff. Here are a few sites I came across. Ami
[URL]http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Tea/tea1.htm[/URL]
[URL]http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/PDF/compost-tea-notes.pdf[/URL]
This is a book I came across. Price is high, but if your into organics its pretty complete.
[URL]http://www.niir.org/books/book/zb,,73_a_5_0_3e8/The+Complete+Technology+Book+on+Bio-Fertilizer+and+Organic+Farming/index.html[/URL]
Here's some more.
[url]http://dchall.home.texas.net/organic/teamaker/[/url]

Michael,

Thanks for all the great info. I added molasses and some alfalfa meal to the current batch. I made my first one last week, with the white worms, and used it on some of my plants. So far so good. I'm almost sure that one of my peppers has perked up after the teatment.

The current batch is brewing and looks good, lots of foam on the top, probably from the alfalfa.

BTW, if you grow roses organically, they love a cupful of alfalfa when they begin to bud.

Alex

Started making it as a folar then made bigger batchs and are now up to 8 gallons at a time. I start it on thurday, spray as a folar feed on saturday and then a soil drench on sunday. I have added just about every thing in a brew bag, alfalfa pelets, Kudu pellets, compost, seweed, bat guano, sea bird guano. I make up a gallon batch of Garrett juice for the spray and then use the rest is a drench. plants love it.

Oooh! Honu and Ami,

Good stuff!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Excellent reading.

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Ami,

I've got a simple question I'd like to pose. Throughout my life I have asked this of people who hail from Germany. My maternal grandparents emigrated to the US in the 1920s. They came from a tiny village called Bitz. I am told I have many cousins still living there, though no one has made any contact in decades. So.....my question:

Have you ever heard of Bitz? Do you know anything about it? It's in the south. [I have yet to meet anyone who has been there.]

Michael

P.S. I hope this is okay. I apologize if it is not.
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