I have been making aerated compost tea all summer with great success. I have been making it in 5 gallon buckets. I have 70+ acres of hay/pasture and would like to try applying ACT to it but it does not seem practical when making tea 5-10 gallons at a time. I would much rather build something than buy a tea maker: I have looked around but have not found any good info for making large quantities of tea( would like to make 50-100 gallons at a time). Does anyone have a good home made setup they would mind telling me about? I was considering following the 5 gallon "DueleyTea Maker" plans but use a 55 gallon barrel instead of a 5 gallon bucket and a larger aerator; does anyone see why this would not work?

We use a 625 gallon horse trough. You can get different sizes at Tractor Supply.

Put your compost in a container that will seep the tea into the water. Let it set. Aerate before spraying.

Pat

What sort of large container do you use to hold the compost?

Anything from old pantyhose to a screen-lined container.

Pat A

Bruce Deuley has a plan for a 55-gallon drum tea maker. He uses an industrial air pump and, unless his plan changed, he uses a couple feet of black plastic soaker hose curled on the bottom of the drum to deliver the air. As the soaker hose gets nasty, instead of cleaning it he had talked about replacing it. You can contact Bruce throughhis website.