Aerated Compost Tea?

[cookiesdaddy]

Hello everyone - what is the general feeling about Aerated Compost Tea on this forum? Do you use it and swear by it? Or you think it's just a fad? I got intrigued by the idea and tinkered with it, brewing 3 batch of tea this past week already.

There are many vids on youtube and articles saying it's the best thing, but there are also many claiming it makes no difference. Haven't seen any post on this forum talking about it so I thought to ask what your experience is on it. Thanks.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i know someone mentioned using rabbit manure tea but i'm not sure about the compost tea. i tend to use the water from my fish tanks as a fertilizer for tomatoes and peppers which works well. but obviously this isn't quite the same thing.

 

[so lucky]

You have to keep it aerated with an aquarium pump, right? I have read about it, but haven't seen any comparative tests to see if it really makes a difference.

 

[ducks4you]

Ha, Ha, I just let my chickens help me with compost tea by "fowling" the water, rinsing out the water bowl into a bucket and pour THAT in my beds.
I think the aerating is just a fad bc SOMEbody did it once and their plants grew better, so NOW, it's a thing.

 

[MontyJ]

I used a compost tea brewer back in my giant pumpkin days. Aerated is the way to go. Non-aerated tea will quickly go anaerobic and stink to high heaven. I can't attest to scientific evidence from my own experience as there was no controlled environment. My plants performed well, but may have performed just as well without the tea applications. However, I do believe that the incidence of Powdery Mildew was greatly reduced for pumpkin plants due to the tea. Again no scientific evidence to support this, but I did note a dramatic decrease, if application was started before PM arrived.
Spraying must occur during the warmer parts of the day, when the leaf stomata are open, as most of the leaf surface is impermeable otherwise. However, most nutrients don't travel well through that part of the plant. When I considered how a plant breathes and takes up nutrients, I questioned the nutritive value of tea applications. As the plant warms, the stomata open to release water vapor in an attempt to cool the plant, much like perspiring. As water is released into the atmosphere, make up water is drawn from the soil by the roots. Obviously, nutrients are drawn up along with the water. Expecting tea to enter the stomata while water vapor is exiting seemed contrary to me. I have since given up the process.

But, if interested, here is my old brewer:

 

[ducks4you]

Guess I could be wrong. But, don't have any more time in the day, so I'll stick with my chicken method.

 

[MontyJ]

Guess I could be wrong. But, don't have any more time in the day, so I'll stick with my chicken method.

I think your method stands a better chance of success than compost tea. At least your getting the nutrients to the roots.

 

[MontyJ]

And just to be clear, we are talking about foliage applications right? If you are talking about root drench, then tea is definitely beneficial, but should also be aerobic.

 

[cookiesdaddy]

Interesting set up Monty. I just used an air pump, but one that is stronger than the regular aquarium pump. I just bought a sprayer and will try that next. So far I just water the roots with the finished tea. I have a couple of squash plants that have mildew. Will spray only 1/2 of the leaves to see if it makes a difference.

Yeah I know the whole compost tea maybe just a fad. But I love to tinker so will try this for awhile until I get bored with it