My first reaction to compost tea was a fairly vulgar response , “ So you just put compost in a pail then dump it on your works ? ” Little did I realize all the scientific discipline and work that go into form high-pitched quality compost tea or AACT ( Actively Aerated Compost Tea ) .
In some ways it seems like such a dim-witted concept , to place good compost in a container with water , tally intellectual nourishment for the bacteria and fungus in the compost , and then agitate and aerate the teatime for a sufficient amount of fourth dimension to allow the bacteria and fungus and micro - organisms to replicate and mature .
However , since this is a comparatively Modern subject field , you seem to find many dissimilar thought on what compost tea is , range from total ignorance to in - profundity scientific bailiwick . I ’ve compiled a few level that I believe to be of pregnant importance when making compost tea leaf :
1.Good compost is very important!
Without good biology in the compost , you really have no prospect of getting high-pitched - timber tea . you’re able to only procreate what you put into your beer maker , therefore good compost that has been tested to have high number and a diversity of beneficial organisms is crucial . A fate of skill croak into making in force compost , and unless you test your compost you really have no idea if what you are putting into your beer maker is truly good . By adjusting the type ofcompost you put in the breweryou can control whether your teatime is going to be bacterial or fungal dominated . We use a mix of 3 differentcomposts to increase our diversity in our teas .
2.Food is critical
The micro - being so that they can procreate and grow in numbers pool . The end is to maximise your output of beneficial biota without pass the bacterium and fungi too much food that they over - duplicate and cause the afternoon tea to go anaerobic . There are many unlike recipes out there , each of which will give you dissimilar biota in the ending and some are much better than others . It is of import to see the lab results of the recipe you use to check that that you are indeed maximize your concluding merchandise .
3.Oxygen!
All living being involve oxygen to survive , and your tea is no elision . If you ’re not getting enough atomic number 8 in your brew , then your tea leaf will go anaerobic and you will start brew the “ speculative ” organisms ( pathogens such as e.coli or rootle feeding nematodes ) that may have existed in your original compost . If your teatime has enough O and stays aerophilic for the entire brewage cycle per second , what you ’ll have at the end will be the good biology that you want for your flora .
These are themainingredients I ’ve discover when making compost tea . I ’m perpetually surprise by what the great unwashed think of when they get word “ compost tea . ” I ’ve heard it depict as everything from “ manure in a pail , ” to “ dress shop fertilizer . ” As the movement towards organics remain , I think we ’ll incur more consensus on a definition of compost tea and also cracking public knowledge on the subject . It is our job to civilise others on the potential welfare of organics and compost tea !
By Tad Hussey
