My opinion is, why spend money buying something expensive when you can make it for almost nothing?

You can make a real good cheap tea brewer from a 5 gallon bucket or 15-20 gallon plastic tub, and a cheap $10 aquarium air pump. You can use a rock to hold your air tube(s) down in your container.

I'm currently using a 60 gallon aquarium air pump from the pet shop with two air 6' hoses to aerate two 20 gallon plastic tubs. Very low cost.

I'm using two 50 gallon rain barrels to hold my rain water for me. I'll use this for my tea brews or my compost stockpiles. I'll use a little handful of dirt and a little urea in the rain barrels to neutralize the chlorine from my faucet water, puis it adds a little nitrogen and extra microbes to it.

Thank you very much for the quick answer. You are on the same page as my husband, and I guess with your hands-on experience it totally convinces me you are both right.

Looks like I can now print this and get on with my Mother's Day request.

Well my first try at brewing compost tea is in the works. I have to say though, I'm nervous about using it. Is there anything that could go wrong? I ordered and read Dr. Ingham's books (okay--truth be known, some of it put me to sleep) and she seems to make me anxious.

Have you ever had anything go wrong, killed any plants, etc? Plan on trying out my first batch of tea this Saturday. Again, thanks for any advice. - Susan

Just wanted to report back results. Tried two batches of tea and was very surprised to see such rapid response to both areas. I will admit, was a little nervous but after seeing things green up and more vibrant and healthier looking it was all and all pretty exciting. Thank you again Captain for all your help. - Susan

Congratulations!

You can't go wrong using any form of aerobic tea recipes. The more aerobic microbes you grow on your plants or in your soil, the better off you will become as an organic or sustainable gardener.

Happy Gardening!

Captain Compost, I was one of the fortunate people at the Howenwald Tennessee plant swap. I have to say the whole aereated tea thing is just too exciting. It makes sense. It was a real pleasure to meet you and your wife. I came home and started on my tea. I can't wait to see the results of supercharging my tea. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. This information is the best thing I have learned all year. ladybug37091

Thank you so much! You're very sweet. It was great meeting you and your family and gardening friends too in Tennessee! Always glad to help.

Happy Gardening!

This is Exactly the approach I used, from the seat of my pants, always made compost tea, heard of the air pump, winged it... and looks like I nailed her Captain! The only thing I have done differently was I do not use a "bag", I strain the brew before use.

I never use a bag or filter either any more. I just scoup off the top juice in my 20 gallon plastic tub brewers into another 5 gallon bucket for transporting to the garden or lawn. I then use a cup to pour it on my plants and soil as a foliar/soil drench.

Using any form of bag or filter gets all the good aerobic bacteria through the filter and into your tea juice for application. However larger organisms like fungi, protozoa, etc. can't go through most filters. Therefore you loser most of your good microbes from the tea to your crops.

The best made composts as well as the best made teas, take advantage of getting the most variety of beneficial microbial species in the final tea brew or final compost product.

Happy Gardening!

So once the brewing cycle is complete, you must use the compost tea right away? Otherwise, you will lose all the benefits of the compost tea? Is that correct?

I'm getting ready to attempt my first ever compost tea brew and wanted to make sure.

Thanks.

Yes. Unlike classic non-aerated teas, aerated compost teas are very fragile, and can only hold their maximum aerobic microbial effectiveness for up to maybe 12 hours. After that, the tea starts to kill off many of its beneficial aerobic microbes, and the anaerobic microbes start taking over again.

Any tea not aerated or stirred, goes 100% anaerobic and stinky over 10 days old.

Some aerobic microbes don't like watery conditions. Some like drier conditions. Some like warmer conditions better than cooler conditions, etc. So in any aerobically brewed tea you can only keep alive for about 1-3 days, the best mix of microbial species that you got from your compost and bacterial/fungal foods in the tea, and get them on your plants and soil as soon as possible before they die or get weaken. Once they get to their natural environment on the plants and soil, they can keep breeding and working in the garden environment.

Any leftover tea juice or remains, should be poured in your compost pile or used as a soil drench only on your lawn or garden soil. Never use a strong, questionable organic tea as a foliar application on your best plants!

Any anaerobic or pathogenic microbes from bad teas or from raw organic matter, will get digested or controlled easily by the billions of beneficial aerobic microbes in a compost pile.

Thanks, Cap'n!

Your knowledge is much appreciated.