Compost Tea

Using Compost Tea to become a Soil Food Web Gardener

You mean…do I drink it???

3 things we’ll discuss

1. The soil food web and its components2. The 3 tools for becoming a soil food web

gardener3. Compost tea brewing and use

Gardening all starts with the soil

What makes up the soil food web?

• Beneficial Microorganisms– Bacteria– Fungi– Protozoa– Nematodes– Arthropods

Bacteria

Bacteria play a major role in plant nutrition by locking up valuable nutrients in the soil

Fungi

Fungi are the primary decay agents in the soil food web

• Ectomycorrhizal fungi• Endomycorrhizal fungi

Nematodes

Nematodes feed on bacteria & fungi, then release previously immobilized nitrogen into the rhizosphere in ammonium

Soil arthropods are important to the community as predators and soil aerators

Arthropods

Soil Aggregates• Soil aggregates are “clumps” of soil particles that are

held together by organic matter, organic compounds and fungal hyphae.

• The spaces within and between soil aggregates are essential for storing water, air, microbes and nutrients.

• Bacteria produce polysaccharides that help with bonding the soil aggregates.

• Fungi grow in long threadlike structures call hyphae that also help bond soil aggregates.

Rhizosphere & Phyllosphere

• Rhizosphere– the region of the soil immediately surrounding the

roots of a plant.

• Phyllosphere– leaf surfaces or total above-ground surfaces of a

plant as a habitat for microorganisms

Microbes in these spheres compete with pathogens for space and food

3 tools a soil food web gardener needs

• Compost• Mulch• Compost tea

Compost

• Inoculates beneficial microbes into the soil and around your yard

• 1 billion bacteria per teaspoon• 400-900 ft of fungal hyphae per teaspoon• 10-50k protozoa per teaspoon• 30-300 nematodes per teaspoon

Mulch

• Standard reasons for use• Prevents seeds from germinating• Keeps soil cool when hot, warm when cold• Reduces evaporation

• “Soil Food Web Gardener” reasons for use• Provides nutrients and homes for soil food web organisms• Is distributed into the soil by worms and arthropods

Compost Tea

• 3 types of compost tea – Passive teas (extract)

• Brewed by placing compost in water for a couple of weeks or more.

• Very little aerobic microbial life.

– Leachates• Liquid that oozes out of compost or worm bins.• Has some nutrient value but little microbial life.

– Actively aerated compost teas (AACT’s)

– Produced by introducing oxygen and a food source to good compost over a 24-hour period and drastically multiplying the amount of organisms

– Is teaming with bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. Up to 4 billion beneficial bacteria can be found in 1 teaspoon

– Very concentrated and easy to apply to plants and soil

Actively Aerated Compost Tea (AACT)

How to make and use Compost Tea

• Non-chlorinated water• Vermicompost• Food for microorganisms

– Bacteria: sugars– Fungi: kelps and humic acids– Minerals & fish hydrosolates

• Air

Applications

• Apply as a soil drench– Dilute with non-chlorinated water and apply

directly to soil – 1:4 ratio compost tea to water

• Foliar applications– Apply to plant surfaces

• You can never apply too much

Important notes

• Avoid exposure to sunlight/UV rays

• Use as soon as possible after aeration and brewing is discontinued

Fine tuning your compost tea

• For trees, shrubs and woody perennials– Prepare a fungaly-dominated tea

• For veggies, flowers and lawns– Prepare a bacterially-dominated tea

Healthy soil makes kittens happy !

• Lowenfels, Jeff & Lewis, Wayne. (2006) Teaming with Microbes. Timber Press, Inc.

• http://extension.oregonstate.edu/douglas/mg/comptea

• http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/compost-tea-notes.html

• This presentation can be found on slideshare.com under the tag words “compost tea”

References and Suggested Reading

Thank You

Jason DeneySustainable Desert Landscape MaintenanceP.O. Box 1324Bend, Or 97709541-610-7619