A liquid fertilizer high in nutrients called compost tea is produced by steeping completed compost in water. It’s a great approach to recycle kitchen waste and give your plants a boost of vital nutrients and helpful bacteria. We’ll go over how to make compost tea from kitchen waste, its advantages, and how to utilize it in your garden in detail in this thorough post.
What Is Compost Tea
Compost tea is a liquid compost extract containing nematodes, bacteria, fungus, and protozoa among other microbes. The breakdown of organic material and the provision of nutrients to plants are greatly aided by these bacteria. You may concentrate and extract these helpful bacteria and apply them straight to your soil or plants by making compost tea.
Benefits of Using Compost Tea
Compost tea has various benefits for your garden:
delivers plants a concentrated supply of nutrients
Boosts the water-holding capacity and soil structure; promotes plant development and health
Deters insects and diseases of plants
raises the number of helpful microbes in the soil
May be applied as a soil drenching or foliar spray.
offers a sustainable and ecological substitute for chemical fertilizers.
Organising Your Compost
You need finished compost on hand before you can brew compost tea. Organic stuff, such kitchen garbage and yard clippings, breaks down into compost. Use of mature, well-decomposed compost is crucial to guarantee the absence of dangerous bacteria and weed seeds.A nearby nursery or garden center sells excellent compost if you don’t have any of your own.
Composing Your Materials
Supplies required to prepare compost tea include:
Five or ten gallon pail or container
A straining cheesecloth or burlap bag
optional sulfured molasses
An agitator paddle or stick
Water, if at all feasible dechlorinated
How to Make Compost Tea from Kitchen Waste
Follow these steps to make your own compost tea:
Water up your bucket or other container. Dechlorinated water is best if at all possible because chlorine can destroy the helpful bacteria in the compost tea. To for the chlorine to evaporate, leave the water for a few hours.
To the water add the completed compost. Using caution not to pack it down too firmly, fill the container about halfway with compost. For best aeration, the compost should be loose.
If preferred, stir in a tiny bit of unsulfured molasses. Molasses gives the microbes in the compost food, which promotes their growth and proliferative ability.
Using a stick or paddle, well mix the compost, water, and molasses (if using).
To maintain moisture and keep debris from falling in, cover the bucket with a lid or burlap bag.
Stirring once or twice a day, let the compost tea simmer for 24 to 48 hours. Tea gets more concentrated the longer you steep it.
To eliminate any solid bits, filter the compost tea through cheesecloth or a burlap bag after it has steeped. Your compost tea is the liquid that results, prepared for application to your plants.
How to Use Compost Tea
Several applications of compost tea can help your soil and plants:
As a soil drenching: Spoon the compost tea directly into the soil surrounding your plants, being sure to fully moisten it. This facilitates nutrient and beneficial microbe introduction to the root zone.
When used as a spray for foliage Spray your plants’ leaves and stems straight with the compost tea. Along with giving a rapid increase in nutrients, this can aid to fend off foliar diseases and insects.
As a seedling or seedling soaks For a solid start and to provide helpful bacteria to the root system, soak seeds or seedlings in compost tea before planting.
To lessen transplant shock and stimulate root development, soak bare-root plants or root balls in compost tea before transplanting.
Compost tea should ideally be applied 12 to 24 hours after it has been brewed since the microbes will eventually start to die off. For even application of the tea, always use a watering can or spray bottle; do not oversaturate the soil or plants.
Frequency of Application
While knowing how to make compost tea from kitchen waste is important, the frequency of applying compost tea will depend on the specific needs of your plants and soil. As a general guideline:
Apply compost tea every two to four weeks to established plants during the growth season.
Apply compost tea every one to two weeks to seedlings and young plants to promote growth.
Apply compost tea to lawns every four to six weeks during the growing season to encourage a lush, healthy grass.
Always keep an eye on your plants and soil, and change the treatment frequency as necessary to suit their reaction and general health.
Vital Tips on Compost Tea
Your compost tea could have turned anaerobic, or oxygen-starved, if it smells bad. To stop this, stir the mixture more often or aerate it with an aquarium pump.
The bacteria are actively growing and eating the available nutrients if you see froth or bubbles developing on the compost tea’s surface.
Make your tea using mature, completed compost only. Weed seeds or dangerous pathogens may be present in incomplete compost.
For optimal effects, keep any leftover compost tea in a dark, cold location and utilize it within 12 to 24 hours.
Discover the compost source and steeping duration that suit your garden the best by experimenting.
Compost Tea Dangers
Compost tea can offer a perfect setting for the growth of dangerous germs such as Salmonella and E. Coli. These bacteria can contaminate compost tea and, if ingested or sprayed on edible crops, be quite dangerous to health.
Anaerobic Conditions: During brewing, the compost tea can become anaerobic, or oxygen-starved. An inferior and maybe toxic compost tea can result from this as the beneficial microbes die off and dangerous anaerobic bacteria flourish.
Variability in Compost Quality: Depending on the source materials and degree of breakdown, the compost used to make the tea might have quite different qualities and microbial contents. More likely to have dangerous bacteria is younger, less developed compost.
See also: How to install a chimney cap without a flue
Conclusion
Mastering how to make compost tea from kitchen waste is a simple and effective way to provide your plants with a boost of essential nutrients and beneficial microorganisms. You may lessen your need on artificial fertilizers and increase the health and productivity of your garden by using compost tea on a regular basis and by following the instructions in this book. Enjoy the many advantages of compost tea by starting to make it yourself right now!
