How to Make Compost Tea | Gardener's Path

Gardeners know compost will enrich their garden soil and aid their flowers and vegetables to thrive. You can also make a tea from the material that is easy to brew and has many benefits for the garden and indoor plants.

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As the name implies, this is a liquid derived from ‘steeping’ or ‘brewing’ compost in water. It is nutrient-rich, especially in nitrogen and has beneficial micro-organisms in it.

The extraction can be used to drench the soil after seedlings have been transplanted into the garden. The tea aids the seedling transplant in developing a strong root system.

For this reason, it can be used to nourish seedlings in flats. The liquid can also be applied to houseplants. Plants which seem droopy or unhealthy benefit from the nutrient shot the infusion gives when fed into the soil beside them. It is a good replacement for fertilizers or pesticides which may be toxic.

The mixture restores helpful micro-organisms into the garden that were killed off by use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It supplements whatever has already been done to enrich the soil.

The liquid can also be sprayed directly onto the leaves of vegetable, flowering, and berry plants, as well as shrubs and trees.

When sprayed like this, the tea serves as short term protection against various diseases including potato blight, powdery and downy mildew, and fungal problems. It is not a cure for plants with already existent diseases.

If there are toxins present, the speed at which they decompose is increased when liquid is applied to the leaves. Dr. Elaine Ingham, a