Compost tea provides several excellent benefts to the organic gardener. It will give your plants a nutritional, boost and help them to better absorb nutrients by improving the soil with aerobic bacteria and beneficial fungi. It can also improve photosynthesis and deter insects when sprayed on the foliage.

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You will need:

                         5 gallon bucket(s)

                         Compost

                         Rainwater 

                         An aquarium bubbler pump

                         2-3 bubbler stones per bucket

                         1/4" hose to attach the bubblers

                         Plastic T's

                         Access to an electrical outlet

                       

The set-up is fairly simple- fill your bucket(s) half way with compost, top it off to about 2" below the rim with rainwater (tap water contains chlorine which will kill the  bacteria and fungi). Attach the hose to the bubbler pump and enough T's and hose to attach 2-3 bubber stones. Stir the bucket to distribute the mud and insert 2-3 bubblers into the muck in the bottom of each bucket(s).

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Plug the pump into the outlet and you are on the way! DANGER! YOU MUST ATTACH THE PUMP TO A SHELF OR TABLE SO THAT IT CAN NOT FALL INTO THE WATER!!! ​Our pump has a couple of tabs into which we can drive a screw to attach it to its shelf.

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Give the bucket a good stir with your hand every day and re-position the bubbler stones in the mud. The stones are delicate so no tools! In about three days you will have a tea that will help feed your garden and improve the plant's ability to absorb nutrients.

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The tea can be scooped directly onto the base of your plants. Count on about 1 quart of tea per plant. The remaining mud can be put back in the compost bin.

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Reserve some of the tea and filter it through an old t-shirt or stalking and spray it directly on the foliage with a pump type sprayer- they come in various sizes. Be careful not to spray in direct sunlight or you might burn the plants!

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We use the compost tea as an adjunct to compost. Your plants convert soil into vegetables and will actually be able to see the soil level in your raised beds or buckets go down as the plants grow. Add compost regularly to maintain soil levels. We make tea about every two weeks and add tea whenever we top or side dress with compost.

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Don't use the left-over mud from the tea directly on the plants as it will actually create a sort of cap over the soil. It is better to add some nice loose compost in order to maintain air in the soil. 

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For acid loving plants such as strawberries use composted leaf litter that contains oak. The oak leaves contain tannic acid that can help to lower the Ph. of the soil. Feed the plants some of this acidic tea and then mulch with the composted leaf litter.