Why not treat your compost bin to a little compost tea?
posted in Recycling Tips |If you are a keen gardener and you own your own compost bin, you may be aware of the term “compost tea”. Used mainly to put the nutrients back into the soil, compost tea can be excellent for your garden. It is not overly difficult to make either!
What is Compost Tea and how does it benefit Your Garden?
Compost tea is something that you can use in your compost bin and there are a number of different types that you can create. Some of the different types of compost tea include:
· Fresh
· Modern
· Fermented
· Actively Aerated
Each of the above is relatively simple to create and so you should not have a problem brewing your own compost tea no matter which one you choose to use.
Fresh compost tea is made simply by steeping the compost in water for just a small amount of time and then you apply the liquid to the soil. It really is as simple as that.
Modern compost tea is created by using dechlorinated water, aerobic mixtures and compost. This type of tea is ideal for giving the soil extra nutrients as the added mixtures help to feed the bacteria. You will need to aerate the mixture for around two days before you can use it however, so it is slightly more complicated to make than fresh compost tea.
Fermented compost tea involves leaving the water and compost mixed together for quite a few days. It is also commonly known as “Anaerobic Compost Tea” and the way that it is made encourages anaerobic bacteria to grow and that is what makes this mix slightly different to the others.
Finally actively Aerated compost teas are used straight away and they are extremely easy to apply. The best thing about this type of compost tea is that it is extremely inexpensive to make and it is also quite quick to make too.
So you can use any of the above compost teas in your compost bin and you may notice a difference in your soil once you have used the mixture on it. However, there have been no actual studies to prove that compost teas work. Gardeners are the ones who notice the difference and you may or may not notice one but you will obviously not know that until you give it a try.
Really all you need to make compost tea in your compost bin is a cloth diaper, a bucket and a plastic bottle. Simply place two cupfuls of compost into the bucket, along with one gallon of water. Next put the diaper cloth over the bucket and seal it in place with something like a bungee cord. Now start to pour the mixture through and once you have finished you should place the lumpy bits back into the compost bin. You can use the tea by placing it into milk gallon containers if you can get hold of any, or failing that you could just use any container that you have.
Overall it really is easy to create compost tea and so if you do have a compost bin it may well be worth trying it out sometime.
Editors’ notes:
NowRecycle.co.uk is a trading style of Plastic Omnium Systems Ltd - a European market leader in waste containment solutions that provides a wide range of waste containers and services including wheeled bins, litter bins, banks, composters and sacks. It is part of the International Plastic Omnium Group, a world leader in contract waste container solutions with worldwide sales of more than £1.8 billion. It employs over 9,000 people in 25 countries, across four continents, in manufacturing and service solutions for the automotive, environment and performance plastic products.
Press Contact: Simon Dutta, N European Marketing Director, Plastic Omnium Urban Systems Ltd
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