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Location

Message

Date Posted

Keizer, OR

I'm a rookie grower! Should tea only be applied to the soil. Are there benefits in doing a foliar application? If so, whats the best way to apply?

10/31/2009 9:50:28 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

tomfly, you should apply as foliar as the plants get larger. drench when small. in addition to enhancing soil biology the microbes in the tea inhibit the growth of foliar pathogens. best applied thru a gas powered backpack sprayer if not available then a hose end applicator. the tea can clog the nozzle of a pump compression sprayer pretty easily. jim

11/10/2009 9:35:41 AM

DeWitt, Iowa

Im just wondering if you dont have a pump in the bucket can it still work?

11/10/2009 11:03:59 PM

Keizer, OR

Thanks

11/10/2009 11:17:51 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

grant, no it is the airation of the tea that allows the microbes to grow. do not think of it as making fertilizer- rather you are growing beneficial microorganisms.

11/11/2009 3:48:21 PM

Seattle, WA

By adding air you're selecting for "aerobic" microbes. These are the ones that tend to be most beneficial.

Check out "Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff Lowenfels or go to www.soilfoodweb.com or www.simplici-tea.com or www.microbeorganics.com

All 3 sites will give you perspective on what aerated compost tea really is. I suggest doing some research before you start trying to brew. It's not complicated, but it's easy to screw up as well.

11/12/2009 5:32:35 PM

Las Cruces NM

Be careful using the term compost tea! The original compost tea was made simply by soaking bags of manure/compost in rain barrels to leach out nutrients and thus making water soluble fertilizer. To say this doesn’t work is simply false -- this method has been around for centuries with proven results! It’s grandma’s secret recipe! So the answer pumpkinman question is yes! HOWEVER, what is being called compost tea here is a newer approach/method/discovery of “microbe brewing”, where air is percolated through a microbe rich source (like worm castings) along with a growth medium having sucrose, glucose and/or fructose to grow beneficial (hopefully as heed tad12’s bad tea comments) aerobic microbe populations. I say be careful in using the term compost tea as these are two wholly different concoctions with different purposes!

11/13/2009 11:15:18 PM

Keizer, OR

Was the original compost tea made when dinosaur's walked the earth?

11/13/2009 11:53:51 PM

Las Cruces NM

Probably natural form, but Man was hunter/gathers then so probably didn't use it and I would imagine they stayed their distance from dinasaur dropings??? But compost tea is certainly amoung the earlest liguid fertilizer used in horticulture! Urine may have been first!

11/14/2009 7:38:20 PM

Keizer, OR

Is urine a good source of micro nutrients?

11/14/2009 10:39:11 PM

Bloomington, IN

free water soluble nitrogen. :)

11/14/2009 10:56:50 PM