Compost tea is the perfect way to boost your plants growth and obtain higher yields – naturally!
Better yet, you can make it for free using your own compost! Use compost and cover crops for building great soil structure and vitality – AND boost plants during the growing season with a simple homemade natural liquid fertilizer on the plants called compost tea.
See also: How to make your own compost
Compost tea is the all organic “miracle-growing” solution to fertilizing the garden – minus the chemicals and high salt content that commercial fertilizers add to your soil.
It works its magic in two ways – feeding your plants through the roots (soil zones around plants) and the leaves (foliar zones). Unlike synthetic fertilizers, it won’t build up chemicals and salt levels that can slowly destroy your soil structure.
Instead, adding nutrients that build it!
Compost is very important in building healthy soil. You can add large amounts of compost to all of our planting beds each year, as well as a good shovel full in every single planting hole.
How to make compost tea
You will need a 5 gallon bucket, stir stick, water, and a few shovel fulls of finished compost.
Start by filling your bucket about 1/3 full of compost. Use compost from the bottom of your pile, where organic matter has decayed the most and is teeming with life.
Next – fill the bucket to the within an inch or two of the top with water. It is best to use well water (we use our rain water) because there will be no chlorine or other chemicals.
Chlorine can kill off many of the helpful bacteria and organisms that are alive in compost. If you only have access to city water, no worries – simply fill the bucket a few days in advance and let sit outside. The sun and air will work its magic and within a few days, almost all of the chlorine will be gone.
Stir the compost good with a stick or the end of your garden shovel. Over the course of the next 5 to 7 days, stir the bucket a few times each day.
This aeration of the water and the stirring of the compost helps to release more nutrients into the water, much like dunking a tea bag releases more tea into your drink.
At the end, simply strain the mixture through a piece of burlap, mesh screen or our preferred method – using a strainer.
Store in an air tight container to keep it at it’s best nutrient levels.
How to use it
Compost tea can be applied about every two weeks to your garden plants once plants and transplants have become established. By established, it means that they have been in the ground 7 to 10 days and are over the initial shock of transplant.
Apply with a watering can or a simple garden sprayer – soaking the area around the root base and the leaves of each plant with the solution.
The minerals and nutrients are then absorbed through the leaves (foliar absorption) as well as through the root zone – doubling the effect. As with watering, it is best to apply early in the day before the sun is too hot and the tea can burn the leaves of plants.
Repeat the compost tea applications every two weeks until about mid July. Too much of a good thing can also be bad. You want plants to develop strong roots and stems – but too much and the plant will spend all of its energy creating thick foliage and not much fruit. 4 to 6 total applications seem to be the perfect mix for giving plants the boost they need for higher yields.
The best part – its 100% natural, with no fear of having to use any chemicals in your garden.
Source: oldworldgardenfarms.com
