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It seems some research is suggesting that maybe usiing both may be beneficial depending on the type of problem. Non-aerated is claimed to live and thrive where aerated cannot. I have seen claims by companies that non-aerated lasts longer in soil. Thoughts

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334110380_Effect_of_aerated_and_non-aerated_compost_tea_against_some_fungal_phytopathogens

3/8/2022 7:27:03 AM

Grittyville, WA

Oxygen will affect the oxidation state of soil minerals. Some minerals are more available when there is less oxygen. But it wouldnt be good to suffocate the roots completely. Soil temps and organic matter might affect the oxygen available in the soil.

3/8/2022 2:33:48 PM

Lodi, California

I don't know much about non aerated, but my thoughts are that compost tea is supposed to inoculate the soil with beneficial microbes. And the best way to do that is to create a compost tea environment similar to the soil environment, because that's where they're going to live. If you put non-aerated compost tea on soil, it's going to aerate pretty fast. Then what happens to the organisms you inoculated?

There's also the idea that anaerobic bacteria tend to be bad. Again, not an expert, and I don't know the validity of this, just that it's what a lot of people say.

To Gritty's point, I believe tea is mainly for the beneficial organisms, not a source of minerals or fertilizer.

3/9/2022 11:11:26 AM

I would highly suggest looking up benefifial anaerobic microbes "BAM" as it is used organic people for a variety of things including your garden. You have to make it right or just the same as aerated teas they are bad for garden. Bad batch equals bad germs. You know the old smalls bad thing. Some big companies are selling it now as well as organic sites.

3/9/2022 5:29:03 PM

Seattle, WA

The issue I have with these results in regards to disease suppression is that every batch of compost tea is going to be different. No two batches are the same so it's really impossible to get replicable results. You can use the same batch of compost and brew at the same temperature, elevation, brew length, etc...and still end up with a different consortium of microbes. Just changing the brew length from 18-24 hours will change what's in the tea.

So while the authors may have gotten certain results in their paper, I would be hesitant to assume you might get similar results in your patch. It's worth experimenting for sure and there's certainly good research to show that some facultative anaerobes have benefit in healthy soils like lactobacillus for example. I do think properly aerated teas are "safer" in regards to certain things like fusarium or e. coli being limited in growth since they are facultative anaerobes. Ultimately, using a good qualtity compost is the most important variable.

4/9/2022 12:55:03 PM