Gardening at Home - Compost tea is already used as natural garden tonic since a long time ago. Compost tea can fertilize and improve the overall health of your garden crops. So in this article, I will share about compost tea recipe and how to make compost tea at home.
How to Make Compost Tea
There are several compost tea recipes available around the world but basically there are two methods to make compost tea as follow:
1. Passive Compost Tea
Passive compost tea is the simplistic and most common used. To make compost tea using this method, just soak tea bags in water for a couple of weeks. The liquid is then used as fertilizer for plants.
2. Aerated Compost Tea
Aerated compost tea is more costly and need more effort compared with passive compost tea. You will need some additional ingredients such as humic acid, kelp, and fish hydrolysate. Additional tool like air and/or water pumps is also required. However, making compost tea using aerated method give some advantages, it takes less brewing time so the fertilizer will be ready within a few days as opposed to weeks.
Compost Tea Recipe
1. Passive Compost Tea Recipe
To make passive compost tea, you need to soak tea bag in water with composition 1:5. Keep in mind to avoid water that contain chlorine. You may use rainwater or water from well. If it is not possible, you can use chlorinated water but remember to sit them at least 24 hours before used.
- Place the compost in a burlap sack.
- Suspend the compost in a tub or 5-gallon bucket of water.
- Allow them to “steep” for a couple of weeks.
- Stir the liquid 1-2 times every day.
- Remove the bag once the brewing period is complete.
- Apply the liquid to plants as fertilizer.
2. Aerated Compost Tea Makers
You can buy commercial brewers for aerated compost tea which is available in the market or garden supply center. However you may build it by yourself which is more cost effective.
- Add compost / tea bag straight to the water in a 5-gallon bucket or fish tank.
- Strain or place the compost tea in a small burlap sack or pantyhose.
- Stir the liquid a couple times each day every 2-3 day.
So there are compost tea recipe and how to make compost tea at home.
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