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Making your own compost tea is one of the easiest ways to an organic fertilize your garden. It helps plants to grow strong and healthy and increases yields. It is full of plant boosting nutrients and a great alternative to the “miracle-growing” stuff that is sold in stores.
Best of all, it is easy to make your own recipe and it does not cost a lot to make it. You’ll be excited to learn just how easy a compost tea recipe is.
What Is Compost Tea?
Compost tea is a liquid blend of rich organic fertilizer made from aged organic compost. It contains all the fungi, microorganisms (microbes) nematodes, and micro arthropods in liquid that are in finished compost. In other words, it is a healthy finished compost in a liquid form.
In a nut shell – it is a plant health booster.
Benefits of Compost Tea
We all know that compost is one of the best forms of organic fertilizer we can feed our gardens. And then when we make compost tea in a liquid form, the benefits far out way the little effort it takes to make it.
It improves both water retention and nutrients in garden soil, making the soil healthier reducing the need for other fertilizers and frequent watering of the garden.
Compost tea helps plants to resist garden pests and diseases by feeding and making them strong. Strong healthy plants are better able to withstand pests and disease than those that are stressed and weak.
This tea believe it or not also helps to improve soil structure. Let me explain….
In order for garden soil to retain water and nutrients, all the food-web microbes, fungi, nematodes and such have to be balanced. By adding compost tea on a regular basis, these microbes and other beneficial fungi are fed and well maintained. You are even adding additional micro-nutrients to the soil.
This balance allows for clay soils to be more to loosen for air and water to penetrate and helps loose sandy soils to retain and hold water.
How To Make Compost Tea
This is the best part. Making your own is easy and it requires no expensive equipment. Here’s my compost tea recipe I use for vegetables.
You Will Need:
Ingredients:
- 1.5 gallons of organic compost
- Water (non-chlorinated to fill the 5 gallon bucket)
(If you must use chlorinated water, fill a separate 5-gallon with water and allow to sit for 48 hours to allow the chlorine to evaporate)
Tools:
- 5 Gallon Bucket (make sure it is clean – don’t use bleach)
- Mesh Strainer
- Stir Stick
- Vegetable Sprayer if plan to direct spray, otherwise it can be poured into the soil
Instructions:
STEP ONE:
Using a shovel dump 1.5 gallons of aged manure OR finished compost into the five gallon bucket. Fill the rest of the way up with the non-chlorinated water.
If you prefer, you can put the compost into a pillow case or make a “tea bag” with a piece of Agribon Frost Blanket and tie it with twine. This will prevent the need for a strainer.
STEP TWO:
Stir well with the shovel and set aside for 5 days in a dark area. Keep stirred 2-3 times everyday for the 5 days.
STEP THREE:
Gently pour and strain compost tea out of 5 gallon bucket into a container that can be sealed with a lid. I keep mine in 1 gallon jugs. These make it really easy to carry and pour onto vegetable plants.
Tea should be diluted in a ratio of 1:4 or 4 cups of tea to 1 gallon of water. So this makes using gallon jugs even better. I just pour in 4 cups and then fill the jug the remainder of the way with water.
This tea can be made with our with out a pump. Many will sat the tea is better brewed using a aerator but this recipe works great without a pump.
I see no need to complicate things and ad cost to it by purchasing an aerator. Of course, if you prefer to use one, this one is a good simple one.
How To Apply
A solution of tea can be applied a couple different ways. It can be applied directly to the soil by pouring with a watering can or sprayer as a drench. This is how I apply mine most of the time.
Or it can also be applied by being sprayed directly onto the plants themselves as a foliar spray. The way of applying is best if a plant is sick or infested with garden pests.
When To Apply Home Brewed Compost tea
This tea is great for filling holes when transplanting new plants into the garden and then it safe enough to use bi-weekly feeding schedule until plants is grown and finished producing.
I use compost tea when I transplant seedlings such as peppers and tomatoes in the spring time garden. And even fill the row when I direct sow green bean and cucumber seeds in the garden soil.
RELATED: Even if you’ve never gardened before, this ultimate guide for beginners is for you! Learn everything you need to know from over 60 resources, all in one place, to be a successful gardener, including improving soil, cover crops, warm and cool season crops, organic amendments, fertilizing, watering, and so much more.
Planting the spring and fall gardens, compost tea is my “go to” water source.
How To Store Finished Compost Tea
Compost tea can be stored in a container with a lid for up to 2 weeks. It should be kept out of the sunlight in a dark place.
How will you use Compost Tea?
More Gardening Tips:
How To Make Compost Tea
Easy to make organic fertilizer for your home garden. It's a great alternative to the "miracle-growing" stuff. Excellent for your gardens.
Materials
- 1.5 gallons of organic compost
- Water (non-chlorinated)
Tools
- 5 Gallon Bucket
- Mesh Strainer
- Stir Stick
- Vegetable Sprayer (optional)
Instructions
- Dump 1.5 gallons of aged manure OR finished compost into the bottom of 5 gallon bucket. Fill the rest of the way up with the non-chlorinated water.
- Mix with stick and set aside for 5 days in a dark area. Keep stirred 2-3 times everyday for the 5 days.
- Gently pour and strain compost tea out of 5 gallon bucket into a container that can be sealed with a lid.
Notes
Tea should be diluted in a ratio of 1:4 or 4 cups of tea to 1 gallon of water.
Tea can be applied directly to the soil by pouring with a watering can or sprayer as a drench.
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Dianne Hadorn is the owner of Hidden Springs Homestead nestled in the hills of East Tennessee. She is a Master Gardener and enjoys helping others learn how to grow and preserve their own food and sharing tips for living a more sustainable life.
This was a good read. I make all kinds of “teas” for the garden- banana peel, comfrey and most recently chicken manure. Our one raised bed still needs lots of amending but everything else seems to be doing great so I keep brewing up different “teas”. Hahaha!
Love this Melissa!
I have a old freezer that died. We put it in my shed and I have been filling it with dirt, red wrigglers and my kitchen waste. It has a drain for overflow of water. Is that considered tea? It come out the color you have or does it have to sit in the freezer for it to turn into tea? I don’t want to drown my worms.
Monica
Hi Monica,
This is a really good question. The liquid in the bottom of your freezer is actually a leachate from the scraps being broken down by the the worms and super full of good stuff for your garden. You can drain this and use it.
This is a form of compost tea. You can dilute it to make it go farther, but it is full of microbes and fungi. I did the same thing only with cow manure and water, which mine was diluted with the rainwater. So yes, your liquid is “pure grade” if you will, compost tea. Play around with it and figure out a recipe for dilution and feed it to your garden. NOTE: It is high in nitrogen, so be careful not to overdo on plants that don’t need a lot of nitrogen.
Happy Gardening,
Dianne
Got a question. I have a old freezer that died. We put it in my shed and I have been filling it with dirt, red wrigglers and my kitchen waste. It has a drain for overflow of water. What is considered tea? I read once that the water from the overflow is not tea. But it is the color of your tea, actually darker really. Is it tea or does it have to sit in the freezer for it to turn into tea? I don’t want to drown my worms.
Monica
Hi Monica,
This is a really good question. The liquid in the bottom of your freezer is actually a leachate from the scraps being broken down by the the worms and super full of good stuff for your garden. You can drain this and use it.
This is a form of compost tea. You can dilute it to make it go farther, but it is full of microbes and fungi. I did the same thing only with cow manure and water, which mine was diluted with the rainwater. So yes, your liquid is “pure grade” if you will, compost tea. Play around with it and figure out a recipe for dilution and feed it to your garden. NOTE: It is high in nitrogen, so be careful not to overdo on plants that don’t need a lot of nitrogen.
Happy Gardening,
Dianne
This is amazing. I am relatively new to veg growing. I got my allotment last late spring and my first attempts have been a learning curve.. trying again from scratch, now my plot is clean and ready. And i struggle from living somewhere with a naturally poor soil, so this will definitely come in handy! Thanks 😉
I’m glad you found this helpful. Sadly, most all soil is poor but it can be amended – which is great! This will help too. Please, feel free to ask questions if you have any.
Happy Gardening
I’ve heard about compost tea but never really thought much about it. I have a compost bin in my backyard, now I need to make some tea. Thanks for all the great info.
Heather, I’ so glad you are going to try it. You’ll love it! It’s a great organic fertilizer.
Thanks for the tip!
I actually got a small bottle of compost tea from a local farmer about 2 years ago. Buuuuut I haven’t used it because I wasn’t sure how. (I’m like you and hate throwing things away… I might be a bit of a hoarder, but that’s another habit that I’m trying to break 😂)
If we actually get our garden going this year, I’ll use it before we plant!
Thanks for the tips!
Hi Emily,
The great thing is, it does not expire! It is amazing stuff for sure. BTW – When you figure out how to break the habit of holding onto things, please let me in on the secrete. I laugh because of all the “stuff” I have in the garage. “I will use it for this and this and this.” But I don’t seem to get to “this” Ha, but it’s out there when I do!
If you have any questions about getting your garden started, please feel free to reach out. Good luck and thanks for reading!
Dianne
I love how you made some accidentally! What a great way to feed the garden, it’s even more incentive for me to get around to installing rain water tanks.
Amy,
Oh, rain water tanks! I so badly need to do this myself. I was just given a 250 gallon food grade tank from a friend last week. I’ve got to go pick it up. I’m hoping to use it to water my garden this summer. I’ve got to “rig” is up to drain, so I will be researching a way to build a tower for it to sit on or something like that. Thanks for reading
Hi, how often do you water your plants with compost tea?
Hi TaMara,
I water with compost tea about every 2 weeks or at least 2 times a month. I just mark it on my calendar. I do this all growing season, but I do additional waterings if plants are stressed with some disease or pest, I’ll give them some extra to help them be stronger to overcome.
Hope this helps,
Dianne
I love your “lazy” way of making compost tea! I can be so forgetful about stuff like that, too, so I love that you made the most of it! 🙂 Last year, I made a compost tea with a bunch of nutrient-rich early spring “weeds” (or herbs, depending how you look at it!) and manure. Totally forgot about it! Although it definitely reminded me once I started smelling it! Let’s just say that it was a very strong batch! 🙂
That is too funny! Yep, I didn’t plan that for sure. LOL, I was just trying to SAVE the great aged manure I had been given. It all worked out really well. I’ll bet yours did smell with those “herbs” in it! Strong batch to go much further.