How to Brew Compost Tea

If you are an avid gardener like me then you already know the benefits of compost tea. If you are new to gardening then you must get to know compost tea.

Compost tea is a great source of nutrients and enzymes that your plants crave. The best part is you do not need to go to the store to buy it. You can make it right in your own backyard.

This tutorial shows you how to make compost tea. Is the exact step by step process from my new book, "Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person".

Brew some compost tea today and your flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs and other plants will love you for it.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• compost
• two 5 gallon buckets
• filter or strainer such as old window screen or cheese cloth
• molasses
• aquarium air pump
• 3-way plastic gang valve
• aquariym air line tubing
• a stick to stir
• work gloves

1. 
    

   Attach your aquarium pump to the 3-way plastic gang valve with tubing about one to one and a half foot long. In the picture to left I have marked the connection to each area where the tubing connects to. I am using the Tetra Air Pump. This particular model can aerate up to 40 gallons, plenty of power for our needs and ranges in value from $15 to $23 depending on where you buy it.

2. 
    

   Attach 3 tubes to the gang valve, per the instructions of your gang valve manual, that are long enough to reach the bottom of your bucket. Usually 2 to 3 feet will do. I am using the Topfin 3-Way Plastic gang valve. It costs about $3.00 at Petsmart. It creates a nice solid connection to the tubing and has clamps to hold the tubing in place.

3. 
    

   With the gang valve hanging off the side of your bucket, add a little compost and then maneuver the tubing so they are separated far enough from each other so air will be distributed evenly. Once you have the tubes right where you want them, slowly add in enough compost to where the bucket is a little more than half full.

4. 
    

   Fill the bucket with enough water to where it is about one and a half to two and a half inches short of the rim of the bucket as shown in the picture to the left.

5. Turn your pump on. You should be seeing plenty of air bubbles. Your compost tea is now brewing. We have one final step in the brewing process and that is to feed the bacteria.

6. 
    

   Add one to two ounces of molasses to your bubbling mixture. This will feed the healthy bacteria in there and really make your compost tea top notch.

Tips & Warnings

• Once your brew is going, give it a good stir two to three times each day
• Let your compost tea brew for two to three days, but not longer otherwise your bacteria could start dying off and that could harm your compost tea and render it useless
• Once it is done brewing pour the contents of the bucket into a second bucket through a strainer such as an old window screen

Resources

• Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person
• Follow me on Twitter
• Read my gardening blog