What is compost tea?

All organic gardeners know that compost is a great thing. But now, there is something even better and that is

compost tea. If you start with a good compost you will have a versatile elixir for all your garden needs.

Compost tea helps prevent foliage diseases while increasing plant nutrients and removing toxins that damage plants. It will enhance the taste / flavor of your vegetables. So why not give this tea a try by buying or brewing it yourself? You will not believe the results!

Four ways good bacteria work:
Helps compete for nutrients.
Dine on the bad varmits
Helps produce antibiotics for use against warts.
They push off the bad varmits.

Compost tea that is properly prepared has a large number of microorganisms that will benefit the growth and health of your plants, as well as the soil in which they live. The microorganisms that live there are good and bad. What the tea does is make sure the good guys win by introducing beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes.

Fertilizing

Harmful bacteria live best in soils that do not have good air circulation. Good bacteria live best and will thrive in soils well ventilated with oxygen. This is where good compost tea comes in, made the right way. When you have a well oxygenated compost, you automatically get rid of 3/4 of the bad varieties. In addition, by using harmful insecticides or chemical fertilizers we reduce the amount of beneficial microorganisms in the soil.

Plants produce their own energy and food and half of that goes to the roots and some of that goes to the surrounding soil and guess who gets that? Right, the good guys, and then it turns into a beneficial cycle.

The following is taken from the internet and shows that compost tea is becoming a force in gardening.

Report of the Compost Tea Task Force of the National Organic Standards Board April 6, 2004 Introduction In 2003, the National Organic Standards Council convened a Compost Tea Task Force to review relevant scientific data and inform its recommendations on 'What constitutes a reasonable use of compost tea?

The Task Force was comprised of 13 individuals with knowledge and experience in organic agricultural practices, organic certification, EPA pathogen regulations, compost, compost tea production and analysis, plant pathology, food safety, and environmental microbiology.

compost tea

Throughout their discussions, members consistently recognized the growing interest among certified organic and conventional growers in using compost teas, and the need to develop effective bio-based tools to control plant fertility, pests and diseases.

A primary reason for producing compost tea is to transfer microbial biomass, fine particulate organic matter, and soluble chemical components from compost to an aqueous phase that can be applied to plant surfaces and soil in ways that are not possible or economically feasible. with solid compost.