 A
liquid “LIVING” Soil Amendment
For Turf and
Plants
Compost tea is a highly concentrated liquid microbial
solution for lawns and plant beds and is produced by extracting beneficial
microbes from high quality compost. Our compost tea is obtained from Worm
Castings.
First we place
the compost into “tea baskets” and submerge them into water that is highly
aerated. Then we add nutrients (catalyst) to the water. The process takes
about 18-24 hours to produce a good quality earth tea. Our compost tea is
a registered soil amendment with the GA Dept of Agriculture.
Actively Aerated Compost Tea
provides:
-
Microbial activity
- A
source of foliar and soil organic nutrients
-
Chelated micronutrients
-
Nutrients in a biologically available form for both plant and microbial
uptake
The
microbial functions are:
- Compete
with disease causing microbes
- Degrade
toxic pesticides and other chemicals
- Produce
plant growth hormones
-
Mineralize plant available nutrients
- Fix
nitrogen
- Occupy
plant surfaces leaving no room for pathogens to infect the plant
Compost
tea will help to create a BALANCED SOIL FOOD WEB.
An
optimal soil food web will:
-
Help to suppress disease-causing pest organisms
- Improve
nutritional quality of the soil
- Produce
good soil structure, improve water infiltration, oxygen diffusion and water
holding capacity
- Retain
nitrogen and other nutrients such as calcium, iron, potassium and
phosphorous.
-
Decompose plant residues rapidly
- Produce
hormones that help plants grow
Compost Tea Frequently Asked Questions
What is Compost Tea?
Compost tea is a liquid produced by leaching soluble nutrients and extracting
beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes from quality compost. The brewing process is
performed at constant temperature, although the growth of the organisms may
elevate temperature as a result of their reproductive heat produced.
Tea production is a brewing process. What is your purpose in making tea? If you
want to inoculate a highly beneficial group of bacteria and fungi, protozoa and
possibly nematodes, buy good compost that has these organisms, and make Actively
Aerated Compost Tea. There are a number of excellent tea makers on the market,
we recommend Growing Solutions
Inc.
Why use Compost Tea?
Compost tea is used for two reasons: To inoculate microbial life into the
soil or onto the foliage of plants, and to add soluble nutrients to the foliage
or to the soil to feed the organisms and the plants present. The use of compost
tea is suggested any time the organisms in the soil or on the plants are not at
optimum levels. Chemical-based pesticides, fumigants, herbicides and some
synthetic fertilizers kill a range of the beneficial microorganisms that
encourage plant growth, while compost teas improve the life in the soil and on
plant surfaces. High quality compost tea will inoculate the leaf surface and
soil with beneficial microorganisms, instead of destroying them.
What is in Compost Tea?
Tea contains all the soluble nutrients extracted from
quality compost, and also
contains all the species of bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes in the
compost. Not all the individuals in the compost, but representatives of all the
species in the compost are found in the compost tea. Aerated compost tea systems
are designed to consistently provide optimum conditions for extraction and
proliferation of beneficial aerobic microorganisms present in the starting
compost, as well as extraction of the components from the compost that are
either soluble or able to be held in suspension.
Source:
National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
Growing
Solutions Inc.
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