How to make compost tea

Compost tea is a great way to feed your plants and vegetables with the nutrients they need to thrive. The process of creating a liquid from compost making its component parts soluble allows nutrients to be sent straight down to the roots where they can be quickly absorbed.

Fertilising your garden with compost tea is a great way to replace chemical and synthetic fertilisers which are unsustainable and bad for our planet. You can make compost tea production apart of your home waste recycling system creating fertiliser which is both free and superior for your garden.

Compost tea actually helps to suppress plant diseases and pests by acting as a more natural fertiliser in tune with soil ecology allowing plants to absorb more nitrogen and grow more robustly. The process of composting in your garden and making compost tea from your own compost bin means you’re utilising soil microorganisms local to your soil boosting your composts ability to boost soil life.

Creating compost tea is very easy but there are some fundamental things you must consider to make it most effective. The best way is to use compost you have created yourself in a compost bin, tumbler composter or pile. Make sure you use very well rotted composted of which the component parts are very fine. You may have to dig down deep in your compost heap to find the very black rich compost full of nitrogen.

Fill a bucket or large container one third full with your compost and fill the rest with water to brew. In a perfect world you can add dead mineral accumulator plants such as comfrey to boost minerals in your compost tea. Allow the mixture to sit for three to four days to allow the compost and mix occasionally to allow the nutrients to mix with the water.

Strain your compost with a cheese cloth or fine sieve to remove large particles and solids. The compost should now be a dark colour, dilute this at a ratio of 10:1 with water to create your finished tea which is the colour of weak tea. Water your plants with this as you would any fertiliser twice a week in the growing season for best results.