Hello all, I want to make some compost tea but don't have no home made compost ready yet so I was going to use some "bagged soil" like coast of Maine growing mix to make my compost tea. I do have my own worm castings to add to the mix also. How many people use bagged soil mix to make compost tea? Thanks all.
Hello all, How many people have used bagged growing mix to make compost tea?
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JCGreen81
Well-Known Member
Going to your local nursery and asking them for their compost would be more ideal
What you’re suggesting will not NOT work. Little double negative for ya
Dabbie McDoob
Well-Known Member
Microbes, protozoa and other beneficial bacteria are fairly indiscriminate when selecting food.
I would suggest that if you had to use bagged soil try and find something lower in peat moss as I have found it dramatically lowers water ph in my teas.
With that said 1 tbsp of molasses per gallon of water will provide alot of food right there.
Sea kelp is also another nice additive that people pay big bucks to have extracted by companies you can do yourself.
as @JCGreen81 said its not like it won't not Not work. Little quad negative for ya
Wattzzup
Well-Known Member
Couldn’t you just top dress with it and water? Seems like it would be easier.
Whole point of tea is multiplying what's available and making it available quicker.
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
Why not just use the worm castings for a tea? EWC, Kelp, and molasses makes for a heady tea; just bubble it for 24-36 hours. Use the soil mix as soil mix; use compost to make compost tea. You can also just put plenty of ewc in the mix itself and don’t even bother with brewing teas. Teas do go to work faster and increase microbial populations instantly but adding compost directly will do the same thing just at a much slower pace. Having access to a worm bin make this super easy.
yeah I always just throw the worm castings on the soil, usually before putting the mulch over it to keep it moist. Plus the eggs and worms left in there will live another day, and also its got a bit of carbon left for bacteria to chew on. Compost is more of an innoculant than a food though just like teas, and just thermophilic bacteria if the compost actually heated. It's already been eaten.
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
How nutritious a given compost is has a lot to do with what’s in it. Bagged commercial EWC comes from worms fed mostly shredded paper. Worms that are fed scraps of veggies, fruits, and canna leaves, etc. make higher brix compost. Worm leacheate is like liquid gold; must be diluted at least 1:1.
Why will it not work?Going to your local nursery and asking them for their compost would be more ideal
What you’re suggesting will not NOT work. Little double negative for ya
thanks all, I make my own worm castings and I only feed my worms rabbit manure with some kelp mixed in and a little malted barley and just a touch of alfalfa meal. I mixed some tea using ewc, a little bagged coast of main soil, liquid fish, molasses, hydrated kelp and a little hydrated alfalfa meal.