How & Why To Make Actively Aerated Compost Tea To Feed Your Garden - Homestead and Chill

6/11/2021 How & Why to Make Actively Aerated Compost Tea to Feed Your Garden ~ Homestead and Chill
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How & WhyGARDEN

to Make

FOOD & FERMENT 
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Actively Aerated Compost

Tea to Feed Your Garden
May 7, 2019
/
31 Comments
W
hen people ask what we feed our
plants, more often than not, my
answer is an exuberant: “Compost
tea!” Actively aerated compost tea, or AACT, is a
biologically-active, nutrient-rich, mild-but-strong CREATOR & PLANT LADY
natural fertilizer. It can be made with worm Hey! My name is Deanna, also
castings or other high-quality compost. We try to known as DeannaCat. I’m all about
feed our plants with aerated compost tea at least simple living, real food, and
once every month or two. I guess the the proof is everything plants. My hope is to
in the pudding… because our plants are happy inspire the love for a similar lifestyle
and healthy!
or hobbies in others ~ by sharing
real-life tips and tools to make
 Do you want to learn how to make aerated “modern homesteading” activities 
compost tea? Read along and I will teach easy, understandable, and
you how! We’ll go over the benefits of using enjoyable ~ so you can learn and
compost tea, the brewing supplies needed, dive in with me! Read more…
the step-by-step process of how to make
aerated compost tea, and the various ways
you can use it in your garden.
CATEGORIES
There is a tutorial video that shows the entire Select Category

process at the end of this post! It’s really quite
simple, but there is certainly some insight I hope
to provide you. Including, what proper compost
tea is, and what is not.
WHAT IS COMPOST TEA?


Compost tea is a natural liquid fertilizer that is
made by steeping compost in water, with or

without the addition of GARDEN
FOOD
air. The purpose of & FERMENT 
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brewing compost tea is to extract beneficial
microbes and soluble nutrients, and then provide
them to plants in a form that they can readily
uptake and utilize.
What are beneficial microbes? They include

bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes – who all
have an important role in soil health! Using
aerated compost tea in your garden is a great
way to enhance the soil food web. We talked a
lot about the soil food web in our “Building the
Perfect Organic Soil” article, if you’d like to learn
more.
 
Image via Pinterest
“Chemical-based pesticides,
fumigants, herbicides and some
synthetic fertilizers kill a range of
the beneficial micro-organisms
that encourage plant growth. On
the other hand, compost teas
improve the life in the soil and on

plant surfaces. High quality
compost tea will treat the leaf
surface and soil with beneficial

GARDEN 
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micro-organisms instead of
destroying them.”
Soil Food Web Institute
Historically, gardeners and farmers have made a

passive or non-aerated compost tea by soaking a
sack of compost in water for an extended period
of time, often up to two weeks. This passive
brewing of non-aerated compost tea (NCT) has
been occurring for centuries! In more recent
years, modern agriculturalists have began to
brew super-charged compost tea in a much
shorter duration of time, by introducing oxygen,
food, and additional nutrients (ACT). This is what
we do!
 Why Aerate Compost Tea? 
If you want to make the most of your compost

and create the best tea possible, brewing
actively aerated compost tea is the way to go!
Why not take a stellar product, like homemade
compost or worm castings, and make it even OUR FAVORITE DEHYDRATOR
better? By introducing air and a food source for
the beneficial microbes, their populations within
the tea increases by the thousands.
The process of making actively aerated compost

tea significantly enhances the strength and
effectiveness of your starting compost.
However, the process will only amplify the
inhabitants and nutrients that are already in the
raw compost used to brew the tea. Therefore, it is
important to start with high-quality, well-aged,

properly composted material. Quality in equals
quality out! We’ll talk more about the types of
compost that can be used in the supplies section

to follow.
GARDEN 
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“Aerobic organisms are the most

beneficial as they promote the
processes that a plant needs in
order to grow without stress and
with a greater resistance to disease.
To enhance this community of
beneficials, the compost tea must
remain aerobic. Anaerobic
conditions during brewing can
result in the growth of some quite
detrimental microbes and also
produce some very detrimental
metabolites. It is best to avoid
extremely low oxygen
concentrations during brewing.”
 Soil Food Web Institute 
The reference to “detrimental microbes” above

includes the potential development of human
disease-causing organisms. It is only in anaerobic
or low-oxygen conditions that harmful human
pathogens can outcompete beneficial microbes
and flourish.
In summary, aerating compost tea encourages

the best microbes possible, both the type and
quantity, while reducing the risk of pathogens.
GARDEN 
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 
Worm casting. Another awesome thing about making
aerated compost tea is that the worms can survive the
brewing process! If worms were otherwise submerged in
water for days, they would drown and die. While we try
to screen our castings well and not bring worms with us,
some small ones and their egg cocoons are usually
present. They breathe through their skin, so the air in the
tea keeps them alive.
What are the Benefits of Using

Compost Tea?
Compost tea enhances the soils ability to retain

nutrients. The nutrients in the soil will runoff

and be depleted less quickly. Therefore, there
is less need to use other fertilizers.
An enriched population of beneficial microbes,

GARDEN
introduced via compost tea, 
FOOD
can increase the & FERMENT 
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bioavailability of nutrients to plants. They
break down organic matter and free up
minerals. This means the plants can uptake
nutrients from the soil more readily.
A healthy soil food web can buffer soil and
plants against pollution. For example,
compost-rich soil is excellent at reducing the
impacts, uptake, and concentration of
pathogens, contaminants, chemicals, and
heavy metals that may be introduced or
present in soil.
Compost tea can help improve the soils
moisture retention properties. This prevents
stress to plants by maintaining a more evenly
moist soil, and reduces the need for more
frequent watering.
Plants fed compost tea are reported to not
 only grow stronger, but also have a boosted 
immune system and improved ability to
resist disease.
Likewise, it increases a plants ability to
tolerate and rebound from stress such as
drought or pests.
Compost Tea versus Worm Bin

Leachate
Before we get into the instructions on how to

make aerated compost tea, I want to point out a
common point of confusion for some people.
Many
aerated
gardeners,
compost
ourselves
tea using
included,
finished
make
worm

castings from a worm compost bin. The process
(and the instructions I am providing you today)
results in an aerobic compost tea solution. This is

the liquid or
runoff
NOT the same thing as GARDEN FOOD & FERMENT 
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that can be collected from the bottom of a

worm bin. That is leachate, and it is anaerobic.
In our “Vermicomposting 101: How to Create &

Maintain a Simple Worm Compost Bin” article,
you’ll see that we don’t add drainage holes to the
bottom of our tote-style worm bins. The moisture
is kept at an ideal level, the consistency of a damp
but wrung-out sponge, through care and upkeep
of the bin! This includes not giving it too much
wet food, and adding new bedding or brown
material when it is fed. When the worm bin is too
dry, we give it a small shower of water.
When worm bins are maintained too wet, they

leak. The runoff is often collected in a catchment
system below, depending on the type of worm
bin. Some gardeners do use this runoff to water
 their plants, calling it “worm tea” or “worm wee” 
even. Unfortunately, that isn’t the good stuff. But
wouldn’t that be nice and easy?! This leachate
liquid may be okay to use, but it is also more
likely to contain negative bacteria and pathogens
due to its anaerobic state.
So let’s learn how to make the good stuff, shall

we?
GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
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 

7 SUPPLIES NEEDED TO
MAKE AERATED COMPOST
TEA
1) Compost
As we already discussed, the quality of your

starting compost directly dictates the quality of
your aerated tea! Whatever is in that compost is 
going to be amplified. A variety of compost types
can be used for making aerated compost tea,
though they may provide a slightly different end

product.
GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
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“Research suggests that carbon-

rich feedstocks (e.g. dry leaves,
sawdust, wood chips, shredded
newspaper), produce a compost
with a higher fungal content.
Nitrogen-rich feedstock (hay
weeds, coffee grounds, herbaceous
material and manures) produce
compost with higher bacterial
content. Vermicompost is used as
an ingredient in many compost tea
recipes. This compost is typically
the highest in available nutrients.”
San Francisco Department of
Environment
 
No matter what you choose to use, ensure that it

is well-aged, balanced, and properly decomposed.
For example, do not use fresh animal manures,
or compost that is anaerobic and stinks like a
landfill.
We use vermicompost from our worm bin to

make AACT. If you need help getting a super
simple worm bin started, see this post. Or, check
out “Composting 101: What, Why, & How to
Compost At Home” to learn about 6 different
ways to compost.
If you do not have your own homemade compost,

you can oftentimes buy finished worm castings at
your local garden center, or buy some online! We
have used this bagged “WormGro” by Kellogg 
Organics to make compost tea on several
occasions. However, homemade will always be
more fresh and therefore biologically active!
GARDEN 
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Freshly harvested worm castings, tea bags, and an air

pump – some of the supplies used in brewing compost
tea.
2) Brewing Vessel
 
This one is super simple. For an average home

garden, a basic 5-gallon bucket or two is
adequate for making aerated compost tea. Larger
gardens, grow operations, or farms may choose
to utilize bigger tanks instead. If it is important to
you, there are BPA-free, food-grade 5-gallon
plastic buckets available too.
We started brewing aerated compost tea using

one 5-gallon bucket. Over the years, we have
added more and more 5-gallon buckets to our
brew day routine. Now, with the help of a multi-
port air pump (described in #4 below), we can
brew up to six 5-gallon buckets at a time! Most
times, we make three buckets.
GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
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3) “Tea Bag”
It is called “compost tea” for a reason! The

compost needs to be contained and steeped
within a little sack, just like tea would be. You
can get pretty creative here. The idea is to create
a sack that is breathable to allow the exchange of
microbes and nutrients between the compost
and water, but won’t let too many larger particles
through.
We have made sacks from burlap in the past, and

still use one of them. Recently, we have been
using nylon paint strainer sacks. They work
perfectly and are easily available. Cheesecloth
could work, if it is layered several times, but may
be more difficult to reuse. There are also some
really nice quality, uber-durable compost tea bags
 on the market too – ready to cinch close and 
hang!
Tea bags, ready to brew!

4) Air Source
As you’d expect by its name,GARDEN 

FOOD
aerated compost tea & FERMENT 
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needs some air! An air pump is used to introduce
oxygen into your compost tea brew. In the past,
we used a basic aquarium pump. It worked okay…
But to be honest? Not nearly as well as the little
commercial air pump we use now!
This air pump that we love and use not only

creates a ton of bubble action, but also has 6
ports so you can brew several buckets at once!
The ports are adjustable, so you can turn off the
ones you aren’t currently using, or dial the ones
you are using up and down for more or less air
flow.
 
On the top and left: Our current 6-port EcoPlus air pump.
composttea
set-up,
GARDEN
The bottom right shows our old FOOD & FERMENT 
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using a small aquarium pump and air stone.
5) Air Stone or Bubbler, & Tubing
The air pump is what generates oxygen flow, but

you’ll also need a tool to get the air from the
pump and down into your brewing vessel. Air
stones are often used to make batches of
aerated compost tea. When we first starting
brewing AACT, we used a basic air stone like this.
They do okay, but can get clogged easily and
therefore need to be scrubbed after each use.
Similar to our air pump, we have since upgraded
to something that we find works much, much
better!
 
To aerate our compost tea, we have been using
these bubbler snakes by TeaLab for the last few
years. We love these things! They produce some
serious bubble activity through the perforated
holes in the bottom of the “snake”. The bubblers
fit perfectly in a 5-gallon bucket, and have a little
loop where you tie and suspend your tea sack
from. It is uber convenient, effective, and also
keeps the snake weighed down in the bucket. Fun
fact: The bubble snakes are made in Humboldt
County, California!
When you watch the demonstration video at the

end of this post, you’ll see what a significant
difference there is between the snake bubblers
and the air stone bubble activity. And they are all
hooked to the same air pump! We’ve been
meaning to buy another bubble snake soon, to

eliminate the use of the air stone completely.
Last but not least, slender silicone airline tubing is

snake, or
bubbler
GARDEN
used to connect the air stone, FOOD & FERMENT 
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to the air pump. The TeaLab bubbler tubing is
1/4″ and the standard air pump tubing is 3/16″, so
we use these adapter pieces to connect the two
hoses together.
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6) Microbe Food Source
In addition to the compost itself, other nutrients

are often added to aerated compost tea brews.
The purpose is to feed the microorganisms in
the tea, and thus increase their activity and
quantity.
Common additions include kelp, fish

hydrolysate, molasses, and humic acid. Most
often, we use a little organic molasses, seaweed
extract, and/or kelp meal. We were out of kelp
meal at the time we made this example brew for
you all, so that is why you don’t see it!

7) Dechlorinated water
used for
brewing
GARDEN
As much as possible, the water FOOD & FERMENT 
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aerated compost tea should be free of
disinfecting agents such as chlorine or
chloramines. Those are meant to kill
microorganisms, so using chlorinated water sort
of defeats our purpose here! We use captured
rainwater from our rain tanks for brewing
compost tea.
If you are on municipal tap water that uses liquid

or gaseous chlorine as a disinfectant, you can
simply fill your buckets a day or two in advance,
let them sit out in the sun, and most of the
chlorine should dissipate. Unfortunately,
chloramines do not “burn off” the same way
chlorine does. Another solution to this is to use
filtered water. These carbon filters that attach to
your hose will help do the trick! We use them
extensively in our garden.
 

Now that we have our supplies covered, let’s

brew!
Directions: How to Make

Actively Aerated Compost Tea
Prepare your Brewing Vessels
Add dechlorinated water to your brewing vessels.

If needed, let your water sit out for a day or two 
to let any chlorine burn off. If you are making
compost tea in 5-gallon buckets like we do, fill
them up most of the way. We generally leave a

GARDEN
few inches of room on the
FOOD
 allow
top to for & FERMENT 
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bubbling and possible foaming.
Prepare Your Compost Tea Sacks
Using your compost of choice, fill your tea sacks

with several cups. There are varying
recommendations out there for exactly how
much compost to water should be used. We
generally use anywhere from 2 to 5 cups of
compost per sack, per 5-gallon bucket,
depending on how much available compost we
have at the time. If you need some tips for how to
harvest finished worm castings from a compost
worm bin, check out the link to see how we
harvest and screen ours!
If you would like to add kelp meal as your

 
microbe food source, add a quarter cup per tea
sack at this time.
Tie the sack closed on top with a string, hemp

tie, or similar. Leave a little length to the string so
you can suspend the teabag in the bucket.
GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
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 
Fill it up, tie it up!
Steep & Feed
Dunk your ready compost tea sack in the brewing

vessel. Just as you would with a tea bag, lift and
lower the bag in the water several times to
moisten, agitate, and encourage infusion. Tie
the extra length of string to the handle of the
bucket. Or, if you’re using a TeaLab snake bubbler
like ours, tie it to the designed steeping loop at
the top of the snake. 
At this time, add an additional food source for

the microbes – unless youGARDEN
FOOD
already added kelp & FERMENT 
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meal in the previous step. We typically add 1/3
cup organic molasses to each 5-gallon bucket
during every brew. Sometimes, we also add a slug
of seaweed extract in place of the kelp meal.
Dunk, steep, feed, aerate!
 
Aerate
If you haven’t already, insert your air delivery

device (air stone, snake bubbler, etc) into the
brewing vessel. Ideally, it should rest on the
bottom of the bucket, with the tea bag suspended
above it. This prevents the bag from sitting
directly on the bubbler and blocking the air flow.
Kick on the air pump! Allow the compost tea to

bubble for 12-48 hours. This is the ideal
timeframe for optimal microbial activity and
nutrient extraction.
Aerated compost tea should ideally be protected


from extreme temperatures while it is brewing.
Excessive heat and sunlight or freezing cold
temperatures can impact the microbial activity.

We don’t stress about thisGARDEN
FOOD & FERMENT 
 However,
too much.
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during the winter, we brew our tea in the garage
to keep it a tad warmer. In the summer, we keep
the brewing vessels out of the hot sun.
The two buckets on the left are being virgorously

bubbled with the TeaLab compost BubbleSnakes, which
are clearly more effective at aerating the compost tea
than the classic air stone in the bucket on the right.
 
Use Your Compost Tea Right Away!
At the end of the designated brewing period, be

prepared to use your finished tea in the garden
immediately. Actively aerated compost tea
becomes anaerobic very quickly, and its benefits
and strength quickly degrade. Therefore, we
recommend that you make use of your AACT
within an hour or two after removing the air
source. The quicker, the better! We’ll talk about
the many ways to use compost tea in the garden
below.

But, what do I do with the “spent”
compost in the tea bags?
GARDEN
There are a few different options
FOOD
for utilizing the & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
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compost within the tea bags! Which option you
choose depends on how you want to use the
compost tea.
If you are going to pour the tea into garden

beds, containers, or around other plants straight
from the bucket, the worm castings or compost
can be incorporated into the tea itself. For
example, we most often scoop out helpings of
finished tea with a large liquid measuring cup.
Once the tea has finished brewing, we simply
open up the tea bags and empty the contents
back into the bucket. Then, as we give the
plants compost tea, we stir the bucket frequently
to prevent settling of the castings and ensure
even distribution.
On the other hand, if you’d like to apply the

 compost tea with a watering can or sprayer, 
you want to keep the spent compost separate.
It will clog the holes in a can or sprayer! Some
folks even further strain their compost tea if
they’re going to put it in a sprayer. In that case,
pull up the tea bag, give it a good squeeze to ring
out as much liquid into the bucket as possible,
and then make use of the spent compost
elsewhere in your garden instead! We often
empty and spread the contents of the tea bags
directly into a garden bed, or around the base of
fruit trees.
GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
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Ha! Sorry, we forgot to take close-up photos during this

stage, so candid image captures from the YouTube video
will have to do. Me, squeezing the heck out of the tea
bag to extract the most liquid as possible. Aaron helps
 pour it into a watering can, with the aid of a funnel. 
How to Use Aerated Compost

Tea in Your Garden
Using Compost Tea As A Soil

Drench
Our preferred method for using compost tea in

the garden is applying it as soil drench. A “soil
drench” is essentially just another way of saying
“watering with it”. It is quick, easy, and effective!

All we do is scoop out a helping to pour around
the base of each plant, which may vary from
one-half cup to several cups each, depending

GARDEN
on the size of the plant. Experts 
FOOD
recommend to & FERMENT 
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apply as much volume of compost tea as
necessary to saturate a plants root zone. That
means that smaller plants such as seedlings will
need less – because they have such small roots at
that point. Larger plants, like established tomato
plants or even fruit trees, will appreciate more
volume!
As an alternative to scooping out finished

compost tea with a measuring cup, we sometimes
add the tea to a watering can. This is
particularly helpful when we want to evenly
distribute compost tea across an entire bed of
small plants, such as with carrots or radishes.
Again, this is with the tea alone – not with the
spent compost too! Using a large funnel, we ease
the finished compost tea into a watering can after
removing the tea bag.
 
It is best to apply compost tea to soil soon after

a routine watering, when the soil is still damp.
Damp soil more readily accepts more moisture
than dry soil. Meaning, it will more easily absorb
and less will run off. Additionally, you probably
won’t need to water for a few days following,
which gives the tea some time to do its work
before getting diluted.
GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
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Most often, we soak the root zone by scooping directly

out of the bucket with a measuring cup. Make sure to stir
the bucket frequently to keep it mixed and evenly
distributed as you go! Occasionally, we add compost tea
 to watering cans. Here, I am watering a bed of young 
radishes sprouts and wanted a nice even distribution.
We like to spoil our plants with an application of

AACT once every month or two, but especially for
newly transplanted seedlings! Another treat for
transplants or stressed plants is an aloe vera soil
drench.
Aerated compost tea does not need to be

diluted before application. It is mild and cannot
“burn” your plants like many other fertilizers can!
Use as much as you’d like, but also keep in mind,
a little goes a long way! If needed, you totally can
dilute a smaller batch of tea to create more
volume and feed more plants.

Benefits of a Compost Tea Soil
Drench GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
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Using compost tea as a soil drench is the most

bang-for-your-buck, especially since we usually
add the spent compost into the tea solution as
well. Additional filtering, such as what may be
required for use in a sprayer, creates an extra
step. It also removes suspended particles that
may contain nutrients & microbes. A soil drench
is full-strength aerated compost tea, which
delivers all those stellar benefits we previously
discussed – straight to your plants root systems.
Another benefit of using compost tea as a soil

drench is that there is minimal concern for
potential pathogens. The soil and root system of
the plant act as a buffer to filter out harmful
pathogens that could be present in the brew.
Because we use captured rainwater, we aren’t
 extremely comfortable with the idea of spraying 
something like leafy greens with our tea. I’m sure
the good microbes are kicking butt and warding
off pathogens in our brew as they should, but
why risk it?
Using Compost Tea As A Foliar

Spray
Rather than watering the soil and root system,

you can apply compost tea directly to plant
leaves! Plant foliage and their vascular system
are extremely effective at readily absorbing and
using nutrients from their surface. Many
gardeners use this practice and swear by it.
To create a compost tea foliar spray, you may find


the need to filter it further. This largely depends
on the tea bags you use, and how fine or porous

GARDEN
they are. Either way, do not 
tea
empty your FOOD
bag & FERMENT 
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into your bucket if you plan to do a foliar

application.
Add finished compost tea to a pump sprayer

immediately after brewing, and apply to plants
leaves until the point of runoff. Drench them!
Like all foliage applications, it is best to wet
leaves either early in the morning or in the
evening hours. Direct sunlight on wet leaves can
cause sunburn effects, and will also kill beneficial
microbes present in the compost tea.
To be honest, this isn’t something we do very

regularly. Mostly for the reasons above: it is an
extra step, there are concerns of the sprayer
clogging, and the slight risk of pathogens. I will
say though, when we do make a foliar spray, I feel
100% comfortable using it on anything we aren’t
 going to consume directly! For example, on the 
foliage of tomato, squash, pepper, other veggies,
cannabis, or non-edible plants where we aren’t
consuming the raw greens. It’s just the fresh leafy
greens that make me most nervous.
So, what do you say?! Are you ready to get

brewing with us?
Check out this tutorial video that walks you

through the whole process!
How to Make Actively Aerated Com…

Com…
GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
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Check out our YouTube channel for more videos

by clicking here!
In summary, you can’t go wrong with actively

aerated compost tea! It is easy, and your plants
and soil will love it! Sure, you may need a few
supplies upfront… But that is a small, one-time
investment that can in turn provide you with an
otherwise endless supply of free, killer,
organic, homemade fertilizer for your garden
~ for years to come! To me, it’s a no-brainer.
I hope you found this helpful. Please feel free to

ask questions, and spread the love by sharing this
article with friends!
 
The post is proudly supported by Kellogg
Organics, where #organicbuildslife
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GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
NATURA
compost compost tea fertilizer worm bin
worm castings
 
By DeannaCat

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
31 COMMENTS
LINDA BRACKELL-BISSON REPLY

MAY 27, 2021 AT 9:18GARDEN
AM 
FOOD & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
NATURA
This post is amazing…well all of your

posts are amazing! Thanks for that.
We built a raised bed this year. I am

so excited about everything that we
have growing. BUT something is
happening to the beets.
I wish I knew how to send a photo (a

techie, I am not). But the leaves are
turning grey, weakening, and
withering. Any ideas?
Linda
Ontario, Canada
 
AARON (MR. DEANNACAT)REPLY
MAY 28, 2021 AT 9:22 AM
Hi Linda, thank you so much

for the kind words are we are
glad you enjoy the articles.
Congratulations on getting a
garden going, it is an extremely
rewarding hobby and lifestyle.
It is hard to diagnose plant
problems as they can appear
as one thing but are actually
caused by something else. I
would look into the pest leaf
miners and see if that may be a
cause as it afflicts our chard
and beet greens here. Another
issue could be some sort of

fungal disease, what other
types of plants are in the raised
bed and are they not affected

GARDEN
in the same 
that
way? Hope FOOD
is & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
NATURA
enough to get you started on

figuring out what is going on
with your beets. Let us know if
anything else comes up.
KENNY REPLY
MAY 22, 2021 AT 9:55 AM
Can you water multiple times a

month with this? Like every watering?
5 to 10 times depending on outdoor
conditions of course
 

MAY 24, 2021 AT 2:40 PM
Hello Kenny, you can water

with compost tea as much as
you like. It is fairly mild in
nature even though it can
provide immense benefits to
your garden but we typically
only water with AACT once or
twice a month. Let us know
what you end up doing and the
results of your effort, hope that
helps and good luck!

JOHN JURGENS
MAY 15, 2021 AT 6:54 PM REPLY

GARDEN 
FOOD & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
NATURA
Deanna,
I tried (am currently trying) my hand
at aerated tea. For my starter I used a
bag of biochar that has been in a
barrel with glodfish. The bag has
been in there for 6-7 months. I put 10
gallons of standing rainwater in a
trashcan and added the bag of
biochar. I started bubbling the water
and then added 4 tablespoons of
molasses. I have looked at the water
and it is brown from the molasses
but there are a lot of brown specs in
it. I would like to think there is
something from the fish living in the
biochar and I am hoping I can boost
those critters in my tea. Do you have
any idea what I might see using my
 
starter?
Tomorrow morning I will stop the

experiment and dump out the bag of
biochar into the tea. I will water the
garden well and then dump the tea
biochar mix on the plants. I will do
some plants and not others so I can
have a comparason. What do I have
to lose?
Any thoughts on my plan?
John

MAY 16, 2021 AT 9:27 AM 
Hello John, I believe biochar is
best used in combination with
organic matter such as

GARDEN
vermicompost 
high
or other FOOD & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
NATURA
quality compost and mixed into

the soil itself at a ratio of 1-10%
of total soil volume (a little goes
along way). I would imagine
that your tea should still have
beneficial microbes that your
plants will enjoy, next time try
brewing a tea with fresh
vermicompost or high quality
compost. Good luck and let us
know how your comparison
report goes!
YASMEEN REPLY
 MARCH 31, 2021 AT 11:18 AM 
Is there anyway to store the worm

compost tea for a month or more?
And what happen if I let it more than

48 hours with airpump working?

MARCH 31, 2021 AT 2:29 PM
Hello Yasmeen, it is best to use

the tea right after letting it
brew or steep so the microbes
are most active and plentiful.
Just store the compost or
harvest vermicastings until you 
want to make tea instead of
storing the tea itself. Nothing
terrible will happen if the tea

steeps orGARDEN
FOOD
brews forlonger than & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
NATURA
48 hours but I believe there

have been studies showing that
once it reaches a certain point
there are diminishing returns.
As in, at 48 hours the microbial
activity is the most high and
beneficial, if it goes longer the
activity will slowly decline.
Hope that helps and good luck!
MICHELLE KOCH REPLY

JANUARY 20, 2021 AT 3:32 PM
How often is optimum for watering

with the aerated worm compost tea?
 Primarily veggies and flowers.My dad 
is interested in me getting him

started in his garage – he is 91 – is
the pump you recommended
something to be concerned about
getting very hot, and is it very noisy?
Thank so much!

JANUARY 20, 2021 AT 4:16 PM
Hello Michelle, the pump does

get slightly warm and creates a
little buzz sound, though the
bubbling of the AACT is usually

what creates the most noise. If
we had it our way, we would

apply theGARDEN 
tea
worm compost FOOD & FERMENT 
CHICKENS
NATURA
once a month to all of our

vegetables and flowers.
Although you could apply it
more or less often as needed.
Hope that helps and good luck,
let us know if you have any
other questions.
SAM RICHARDS REPLY

NOVEMBER 10, 2020 AT 6:23 AM
Excellent post thank you

DEANNACAT. How much water
should I add to my five gallons of
worm tea to spray one acre?
 

NOVEMBER 10, 2020 AT 2:17 PM
Hello Sam, I am not quite sure

but it all depends on if you are
using it to water the vegetation
via the soil or if you are going
to use it as a foliar spray for the
plant tissue itself. We easily go
through three 5 gallon buckets
of worm tea by watering all of
our raised garden beds and
various fruit trees and we are
only on .20 acres. It may just 
take a little experimenting to
see what works best for you
but either way you will have a

microbialGARDEN
FOOD & FERMENT 
 your
rich tea for
CHICKENS
NATURA
property. Good luck!
Older Comments
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How & WhyGARDEN

Actively Aerated Compost

There is a tutorial video that shows the entire Select Category

WHAT IS COMPOST TEA?

made by steeping compost in water, with or

What are beneficial microbes? They include

Image via Pinterest

surface and soil with beneficial

Soil Food Web Institute

Historically, gardeners and farmers have made a

 Why Aerate Compost Tea? 

If you want to make the most of your compost

The process of making actively aerated compost

compost that can be used in the supplies section

“Aerobic organisms are the most

 Soil Food Web Institute 

The reference to “detrimental microbes” above

In summary, aerating compost tea encourages

What are the Benefits of Using

Compost tea enhances the soils ability to retain

An enriched population of beneficial microbes,

Compost Tea versus Worm Bin

Before we get into the instructions on how to

results in an aerobic compost tea solution. This is

that can be collected from the bottom of a

In our “Vermicomposting 101: How to Create &

When worm bins are maintained too wet, they

So let’s learn how to make the good stuff, shall

As we already discussed, the quality of your

though they may provide a slightly different end

“Research suggests that carbon-

No matter what you choose to use, ensure that it

We use vermicompost from our worm bin to

If you do not have your own homemade compost,

more fresh and therefore biologically active!

Freshly harvested worm castings, tea bags, and an air

This one is super simple. For an average home

We started brewing aerated compost tea using

It is called “compost tea” for a reason! The

We have made sacks from burlap in the past, and

Tea bags, ready to brew!

As you’d expect by its name,GARDEN 

This air pump that we love and use not only

5) Air Stone or Bubbler, & Tubing

The air pump is what generates oxygen flow, but

When you watch the demonstration video at the

Last but not least, slender silicone airline tubing is

Compost Tea Aeration Supplies

Compost Tea EcoPlus 25 Feet Deep Metalwork

All Search Amazon Go

6) Microbe Food Source

In addition to the compost itself, other nutrients

Common additions include kelp, fish

If you are on municipal tap water that uses liquid

Now that we have our supplies covered, let’s

Directions: How to Make

Prepare your Brewing Vessels

Add dechlorinated water to your brewing vessels.

them up most of the way. We generally leave a