Even if you’re brand new to backyard homesteading, you’ve probably heard of compost and something called compost tea. That’s because these natural fertilizers are amazing ways to nurture your plants and receive an abundant harvest.
If you want to grow the best garden possible, give this beneficial and easy compost tea recipe a try. Making a “tea” for your plants sounds odd but it’s one of the easiest ways to increase growth and soil quality while also keeping pests away!
As with anything, you’ll want to know what you’re getting into, and this post breaks it all down for you. You’ll learn about compost tea benefits, potential dangers, best practices, and more.
Easy Compost Tea Recipe
A thriving natural homestead requires hard work alongside trial and error, but thankfully this gardening task mostly requires patience.
Compost Tea Ingredients
You only need two ingredients for this easy compost tea recipe: compost and water. That’s it! Let’s talk a little bit about both.
Quality Finished Compost
Your compost tea will only be as good as the compost you start with, so make sure you’re only using finished compost. It should look like soil and have no chunks of food or other matter like leaves and minimal to no odor.
This process can take anywhere from a few months to a full year, so if you’re looking to make your compost tea soon and haven’t started composting, try contacting local gardeners or gardening stores for a bag of finished compost.
Non-Chlorinated Water
Avoid chlorinated water and use well or spring water whenever possible. If you must use municipal water, make sure you’re filtering it with a high-quality filtration system that removes the chemicals.
The best water to use is well or rainwater.
The second ideal choice is purified water. It has more minerals than distilled, but either would be fine.
Easy Compost Tea Recipe
You don’t need to follow these ratios exactly but they are good as a rule of thumb.
- 1 gallon of non-chlorinated water (preferably well, rain, or purified water)
- 1 ½ cups finished compost
Now let’s get to brewing!
How to Make Compost Tea (Step by Step)
Now that you have your ingredients, it’s time to choose a “brewing” method: non-aerated or aerated.
Method #1: Non-Aerated
This method is the easiest of the two but it does take longer to steep. Non-aerated just means it’s not going to have oxygen added to the mix like the aerated method mentioned below.
Materials:
- 5-gallon bucket
- Mesh bag
Ingredients:
- 1-gallon non-chlorinated water
- 1 ½ cups finished compost
Directions:
- Place all compost into the mesh bag
- Fill the bucket with your water
- Place the mesh bag into the bucket and submerge, giving it a gentle stir to soak all the compost
- Place in a dark, cool place
- Stir every day for a week
You’ll want to avoid letting any non-organic debris or chemicals in the bucket, so cover it with a lid if needed. Just make sure you are also watching for anything like mold or fungus.
Method #2: Aerated
Some say there’s no substantial difference between the two methods but by aerating the water you’re adding extra microbes to the compost tea. This is supposed to be more beneficial to your garden but it could be a hit or miss. There’s no guarantee it will make a significant difference between the two.
The plus side is that this method only requires about 48 hours, whereas the non-aerated method takes at least a week.
The materials, ingredients, and directions are the same as the first method, just with the added aquarium bubbler for the water. Simply leave the water aerator in the bucket as it steeps.
You’ll need to use it right after turning off the aerator since removing the oxygen source can cause a “microbial community crash.”
How to Apply Your Compost Tea
Your tea can be poured directly into the soil or gently sprayed onto the plants themselves. Pouring it into the soil will give the roots nutrients while spraying the plant will help keep pests away.
How Often You Should Apply To Plants or Soil
You can test out different time-frames but once a week is a good start. If you notice the pests are still coming back, try spraying your plants every two or three days.
Something to keep in mind is when you apply the compost tea. Don’t water or spray your outside plants in high temperatures or when it’s full sun. Doing so can steam them or stress them out.
Compost Tea Benefits
There are some incredible benefits of compost tea, thanks to the vast diversity of microbes that are important for any successful garden.
Promotes Plant Growth
Compost tea gives nutrients to the soil that will then go to the plant’s roots, boosting plant growth and encouraging more resilient plants.
Prevents and Gets Rid Of Diseases
One of the reasons people love compost tea is that it can prevent and get rid of plant diseases, whether it’s caused by something in the soil, on the plant, in the air, or from a pest.
Discourages Pests
It can eliminate and discourage pests from coming back when applied directly to the plant or added to the soil.
Simple and Budget-friendly
Making compost tea isn’t difficult or expensive, unlike many fertilizers or DIY methods. It’s mostly passive and costs under $20 depending on your materials.
If you’re still not convinced, this compost tea nutrient analysis will help you see what it can do for your natural homestead.
Compost Tea Dangers and Mistakes to Avoid
There aren’t many dangers or risks to making or using compost tea.
The biggest thing is to make sure that your compost is finished since some organic materials like manure can burn plants on contact. Using unfinished compost is a major mistake that many people make, so just be mindful of it.
Another mistake to avoid is using the wrong type of water.
You don’t want any water that’s been chlorinated, so if you only have access to municipal water, make sure you filter it first. Purified or distilled water is also not ideal because you want the minerals from the water, but they’re better than nothing.
The best water to use would be well, rain, or spring water.
How to Make Easy Compost Tea for Your Natural Homestead
If you want your natural homestead to bloom like never before, try making and applying a compost tea!
There are so many ways to make your backyard homesteading a success without the conventional products from the stores and this is one of them.
You’ll need good water and of course the compost for the compost tea recipe, a bucket, and a mesh bag. If you want to increase microbes, you’ll also need a water aerator. It’s simple, cost-effective, and even fun!
Are you going to try making this easy compost tea? Let me know in the comments below!
