I've searched through the forums and haven't seen an explanation for the difference between "concentrated compost tea" that the Dirt Doctor mentions in his fire ant recipe and just plain out compost tea that I make at home. Can I use a cup of my own compost tea or do I need to order some special concentrate?

Also, how exactly would the "dead" concentrate (I don't understand how it could have active organisms in it, if it is bottled) would be a necessary part of the recipe to fight off fire ants? I did read the posts about how there was some new breakthrough with bottling compost tea, but wouldn't we be losing a critical aspect of the "alive" tea? Or is it just the orange oil in the mixture that does the work for you? Or maybe the vinegar that as used as a preservative for the shelf product?

I've seen the set up for making the fire ant killer. Believe me, the "tea" is far from concentrated. In fact I would not call it tea. At best it is a highly filtered compost leachate.

With that in mind I can't believe there is anything too critical about the ingredients other than the molasses and orange oil.