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Compost tea brewing is fun! It is both a science and an art. No two tea brews are exactly the same. We use our teas as soil and foliar applications on literally everything we grow in the garden and on our lawn. The simplest recipe for aerated compost tea is just mature compost, plus any non-chlorinated water source (or rain water or pond water), plus any sugar source (i.e. molasses products are the most common among aerated compost tea brewers).
This photo shows a good creative aerobic compost tea brew. Notice the aquarium air pump protected inside the white bucket. A good aerobic tea should always have a pleasant yeasty, wine, or fruity smell. Sometimes an aerobic tea has foam on top, like in this photo. Even though I love making aerobic teas, and use them on almost everything I grow, non-aerated teas have a function in my garden plans also. These anaerobic teas are mostly used on my hot compost stockpiles as activators, or in the fall/winter season on unused soil before spring time.
I have so many uses for my various aerated compost tea recipes, that I refresh my homemade 15 gallon tea brewer every week! I never re-use the same compost or ingredients in each brew recipe. The leftover remains go back into my compost pile, or they are used as a side dressing in my lawn or garden.
The more bubbles or foam the better! However climate and temperature and seasons have a lot to do with whatever aerobic micro-herd you grow in an aerated compost tea brew.
I make most of my own homemade sustainable fertilizers. I either use them in my aerated compost tea recipes, or use them directly as protein fertilizers in my garden beds.
This rose was fed aerated compost tea as a foliar and soil drench. With the help of some extra corn meal, this plant never had any serious fungal diseases!
Aerated compost tea is also great for acidic loving shrubs. This plant grew over a foot in one season from frequent compost mulches and tea brews. For years, this shrub never grew much until organics were applied to it.
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