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Napa Valley, CA

Washington State University did some research on aerated and nonaerated compost tea.
Its an interesting read. Here's the link...

http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/magazine%20pdfs/CompostTea.pdf

4/23/2009 2:32:05 PM

Seattle, WA

This has been around for awhile. Take a close look at the studies that she reviewed. Many of them used poor compost, didn't track their dissolved oxygen levels, and in some cases never even tested their tea to make sure the proper organisms were present. There's plenty of studies out now that support the use of compost tea, but is in an issue in that it's an unregulated industry and not all the products and claims live up the what they say they will.

4/23/2009 2:54:19 PM

Alaska

I agree with Linda Chalker-Scott. The Universities that she mentions have done reliable an verifiable studies on the subject matter. They are not pushing a product or a lab test. In the old days it was called Snake oil and those selling it Snake oil salesman. But if ya like brewing tea because it's fun then brew away. For me, it's stick to the compost forget the tea. IMHO.

5/4/2009 1:28:33 PM

Seattle, WA

Scott,

I'd like to humbly disagree. The Universities get money from chemical companies to conduct many of their studies, everyone has an agenda.

As for the studies themselves. Go back and take a look at them. Did they use compost or manure as their starting material? What were their dissolved oxygen levels throughout the course of the brewing cycle? Did they do any microscope work to ensure the quality of their compost teas?

I don't want to come across as pushing a product, but rather a viable technology. It's just another tool for the organic gardener to help in increasing the biology in their soils that's been killed off by compaction, chemicals, and other environmental conditions.

Compost is a wonderful thing for your garden, it provides good benefical biology, as well as organic matter to improve your soil. I don't want to discount the benefits of a good compost or mulch.

When made correctly, compost tea has exponentially more beneficial microbes than compost, and can be applied to the leaf surface or soil around your plant. These microbes will increase nutrient cycling and also provide other benefits in regards to disease suppression and plant health.

Is it a magic bullet? No, I hardly think so.... Is is snake oil? No, I don't think so either. To be fair, take a look at some of the verified, replicable studies on www.soilfoodweb.com.

I've seen first hand the benefits of compost tea, and hear of others having similar results. When working in organics, you don't get the same black and white results that you do with chemicals. Nature doesn't work that way. But, I have seen increased brix levels, yield, and other benefits, where the only changing variable was compost tea applications.

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents on the subject.

5/4/2009 2:50:17 PM