How To Brew Compost Tea

Once you have fully mature, nice-smelling compost, it's time to brew tea. You will need a 5-gallon plastic bucket and a few aquarium supplies: a pump large enough to run three bubblers (also called air stones), several feet of air tubing, a gang valve (which distributes the air coming from the pump to the tubes going to the bubblers), and three bubblers. You'll also need a stick for stirring the mixture, some unsulfured molasses and a burlap sack, old pillowcase, tea towel, or nylon stocking for straining the tea. An extra bucket comes in handy for decanting the tea. Don't try to make compost tea without using an aquarium pump to aerate the brew. If the tea is not aerated constantly, the organisms in it will quickly use up available oxygen, and the tea will start to smell badly and become anaerobic. Anaerobic tea can harm your plants.

Your compost tea contains many beneficial micro organisms including, bacteria, and protazoa. My favorite critter you can’t see is beneficial nematodes. These microscopic worms are predators that will fan out and consume more than 200 soil dwelling pests including fleas, termites, and many beetle grubs. To make certain you get a good beneficial nematode population add a handful of forest soil, or some garden soil.