Link to the above mentioned video.

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy way to make compost tea

I've never made compost tea. I make the compost then just spread it under and out beyond the dripline of our roses.

But I'm interested in hearing about this tea subject too...

Thank you, Jasmine, for that video-link. Compost tea would be less stinky than alfalfa-tea. Menards here sell a 18 lb. bag of compost granules (dry small black pellets) ... only $2 per bag. I'll going to soak that in a bucket under hot sun to see if that works.

Sharon (Enchantedrose) mentioned about Alaska Pennington pellets not available locally. I think soaking Tomato Tone, NPK 3-4-6 with gypsum works better than soaking RoseTone, NPK 4-3-2 without gypsum. Why? gypsum has been documented to increase utilization of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus & trace elements.

Both TomatoTone and RoseTone have Feather meal, chicken manure, bone meal, alfalfa meal, green sand, humates, and sulfate of potash. The chicken-manure in there might make the tea stinky. I made tea from Pennington pellets, NPK 4-6-6, but that doesn't have chicken-manure, so very low odor. See below link for EnCap compost-dry-granules, sold $2 for 18 lb. bag at Menards:

Here is a link that might be useful: Encap compost dry granules, $2 per bag

Menards sounds like a good store. I don't have them out here, but I'll be able to find compost at my local garden center. I wonder if I should purchase one of those fish tank pumps to aerate the tea. The guy video I posted said it wasn't necessary, but a lot of others say it is. There are so many recipes for the compost tea too. I'm interested in using it as a foliar spray to see if it makes a difference with pest and disease resistance. As for the soil, I think I will just spread the compost directly on the dripline as Jim mentioned.

Hi Jasmine: Folks recommend UNNECESSARY stuff to make a profit ... stirring with a ladle works just as well as a pump. I stir my fertilizer-tea once a day, and hot sun breaks it down fast.

More than a decade ago I sprayed fungicide with a cheap $1 plastic sprayer ... worked great. Then I bought a BIG sprayer-pump for $10 and was a pain. So I quit spraying, and quit rose for years. I mixed Menards' compost-granules ($2 per bag) in the planting hole, will report the result.

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 10:09

We get a lot of rain here. As it was pouring out yesterday I thought to myself that compost I spread under each rose bush probably turns into tea everytime it rains a lot...

Thanks. I'll skip the expensive equipment.