Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
tohechito

Compost Tea?

tohechito
18 years ago

Add the Compost to your garden forget the tea. Good compost goes farther and last longer. It not only adds biology it adds nutrients. Balance is what you want not a contrived brew of overblown microbes that imedeatly start to die off when you take them out of the heated bucket of over oxygenated water. BEWARE OF SNAKE OIL SALESMEN!!

Comments (6)

  • dunkel
    18 years ago

    You might want to look at a few diaries of growers at B%#Pum%@$*s.com. One guy there grew giant pumkins his first year and got 1 800 pounder and 1 1,095 pounder. He used compost tea and lots of horse and cow manure in the soil.

  • tohechito
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    If he used all of that horse and cow manure in the soil like you say then that was a big part of his success. Adding CT was just a waste of his time, redundant. Also the seed he used was no run of the mill seed. Do an experiment, try growing something that is a moderate to heavy feeder in a pot in a soiless mix using nothing but Compost tea. Then also grow same type plant in another same size pot using a good organic blend of soil and see what happens. Make sure you use a large enough pot to grow the plant to full maturity. I've done this very same experiment many times with several different plants using locally bought Compost tea products following thier instructions to the letter. The plants in the organic soil always out performed the plants I used nothing but the Compost Tea on!! Mind you as the plants deplete the nutrients in the soil based pots the plants do slow down some but by then they are still way better looking and farther along than the CT plants. Aerated Compost Tea is not a fertilizer, it's biolgy your adding when you brew and use it. At least that is what they preach in thier cult. Using good organically enriched soil has all of that a more. Again don't be fooled by SNAKE OIL SALESMAN!!

  • ozmantis
    18 years ago

    Compost teas are meant to added to good soil not sand or soiless mix jeez. Its to add micoherds to the soil that in turn help to break down the organic matter etc etc. Snakeoil or not, I am going to keep using it and find that my plants are better for it.

  • tohechito
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    I think one of lures of ACT is the mixing and brewing. And the belief that one is going all natural. No chemical fertilizers or pesticides needed. Saving you lots of money. Yea right, that's just plain bunk!! Well composted organic materials, organic fertilizers such as fish meal, kelp meal, bonemeal, bloodmeal and the list goes on. When added directly to the garden give you far more bang for your buck. If you're trying to break down organic matter then add that overblown microheard to the compost pile not the garden.To much decay in the garden ties up nutrients mostly nitrogen. One of the most needed by the plants. You say you are seeing an improvment in your plants when you use ACT on them? I would dare to say your soil is very poor. Good properly maintained rich organic soils do not benefit from the use of ACT. Waste of time and money.

  • rou1
    10 years ago

    Check out: "The secret is in the soil" on You Tube.

  • Natures_Nature
    10 years ago

    "Good properly maintained rich organic soils do not benefit from the use of ACT. Waste of time and money."

    You make it seem that people are dropping their wallets for compost tea. Of course, you got the crowd who has the money to hand out.. But most home gardeners spend next to nothing on making compost tea. I agree with some of what you say, but your making it seem like compost tea is snake oil.. You basically take a five gal bucket, throw a aquarium aerator and some compost, wait about a day, and water your garden with it. It is well known the benefits of compost tea, you might want to try it for yourself.

Sponsored