Compost Tea - Use Your Garden Composter to Make Organic Liquid Feed
Of course you could make things a whole lot more simple by using an Envirocycle Compost Tumbler with built in Compost Tea maker included!
As you may have guessed, here at garden composter we are HUGE fans of garden compost. But we don't just use ours as a mulch or hummus rich soil improver. We create our own organic liquid feed too. Learning how to make compost tea is a really good way to get the most from your garden composter.
We never use ordinary commercial fertilizers because they are so harmful to the environment. I much prefer to use green or eco plant feeds. They work well, especially for plants which have had some kind of set back such as disease or a change in the weather. Organic fertilizers are definitely my choice. It means, we know we're not polluting the water table or indeed, our own land. Using organic feed means we keep all the insect life happy too. And, yes some of that insect life is a nuisance but if you get rid of it all you end up with even more problems.
We need to keep the predator insects alive by not using artificial fertilizers. There are fewer predator insects in the garden so they take longer to recover if their numbers are reduced. The insect pests, however abound in much bigger numbers and so recover from any reduction much more quickly. If there are no predator insects around when the pests recover they can wreak havoc unchecked! So please, look after the helpful insects in your garden.
Lots of commercial liquid feeds contain way too many nitrates though. They promote overly sappy growth. Which, while it looks nice initially, it really doesn't do your plants much good in the long run. A balanced slow release fertilizer is usually what's called for in the garden.
Since you're being a good garden composter, creating lots of lovely compost why not use some to make your own environmentally friendly slow release fertilizer?
Make Compost Tea from Your Garden Compost Bin
Making liquid feed is simple. Take an old bucket with a well-fitting lid and fill it about a third full with well rotted garden compost. Then top it up with water.
Put the lid on, but not too tightly. You want to keep nosy pets out but also let out any gases which are created.
Leave the liquid feed bucket for two to three weeks. The compost will ferment in the water producing bubbles of gas. The goodness of the compost will be leached into the bucket of water which should end up looking pretty brown and unappetizing.
When you want to use the organic liquid feed simply dilute it till its the colour of weak tea. I reckon dilute it about 1:10 parts water initially.
Use the feed in place of a commercial liquid feed on any plants you think will benefit. It's good for those really hard working plants such as the heavy cropping tomatoes in the summer. This liquid fertilizer should contain the complete range of nutrients needed by most plants, since its been made from a well varied compost heap.
As you're feeding the plants with liquid you're making it easier for the roots to collect all those nutrients. Plants can only really absorb nutrients when in soluble form.
As you take your homemade organic liquid feed out of the bucket, just top it up with more water. Eventually the compost will run out of goodness to impart to the water but it takes a while. Just dilute the mixture with less and less water as the solution weakens. If you always aim for a weak tea coloured solution to give your plants you'll be using the right amount. Once the solution is not giving you much more goodness, throw the compost on the garden and make some more! I usually keep one bucket on the go for months on end so it does last a while.
So, that's how you use your garden composter to make organic liquid feed. Frugal, simple and most importantly very effective. Of course you could take the even easier option and buy an urban compost tumbler which incorporates a reservoir and spigot for collecting the liquid compost tea which naturally drains from your garden compost.
