The soils in central Florida suffer from extremely low levels of microbial activity, which is the key difference between “soil” and just plain old dirt. Compost tea is the best natural Soil amendment for Plants in our local soils! That’s a big claim, but it’s true because the tea is brimming with millions of living microbes!
Studies have shown microbial activity due to pesticide and fungicide use as cause significant depletion of microbial activity in the south, or perhaps in your yard they have never been improved from their native state. When compost tea is applied to your yard, garden, or houseplants, the microbes give a jump-start to your soil and plants by eating minerals and organic matter and making them available to plant roots.
Our soil is basically "sand" and fertilizers and nutrients leech out of the soil quickly, so they have to be reintroduced once every two or three months. Chemical fertilizers over time find their way to our drinking water and our lakes / Rivers systems causing serious damage to the environment. Early studies have shown the nutrients found in compost tea don’t appear at this time to have negative effects in our water system.
Compost Tea is a Microbe Brew, it’s a living soil amendment that instantly goes to work balancing your soil and feeding your plants by working with the minerals and nutrients already present in your soil. It requires no prep work—just sprinkles it over your lawn and garden beds using a standard watering can or a standard hose and applicator, then waters it in until your soil is thoroughly moistened.
We start with worm composting, a system that converts food waste and other organic material into the most useful soil amendment on the planet with the help of Alabama jumper worms. As organic material passes through the gut of the worm, it is converted to castings—stable little balls of nutrients readily available for uptake by plant roots. The castings are then brewed in highly oxygenated water under conditions that are optimal for the beneficial micro-organisms present in the castings to reproduce rapidly. When finished, Microbe Brew tea is a liquid teeming with living microbes and beneficial plant-growth compounds.
Anecdotal evidence suggests these teas may be effective against pathogens associated with foliar and fruit diseases. The theory is that bacteria, fungi, and other components in the tea act as biological controls. These organisms may work by inducing plant resistance, inhibiting pathogen growth, or outcompeting the pathogens. Some compost teas apparently contain large numbers of beneficial microbes that compete for space on leaves and fruits, denying pathogens space to colonize. Others apparently contain antimicrobial chemical compounds produced through decomposition and inhibit pathogen growth.
Brewing compost tea is a more active process. By adding a food source, such as molasses, and adding more air to the mixture, you not only extract nutrients from the compost, but also grow a diverse population of beneficial soil microbes within 12 hours. Adding the microbe-rich liquid to your soil boosts the number of “good guys” and provides many benefits, such as increasing the uptake of nutrients and protecting plants from disease.
Making Extract
To make a simple compost extract, add 1 gallon of finished compost to a 5-gallon bucket. Fill the bucket to within 6 inches of the rim with water and stir it occasionally. After 3 to 12 hours, strain the liquid through cheesecloth into another bucket, and use straight or diluted when to water your plants.
