DIY Compost Tea

You do not have to go to your gardening supplies store to purchase plant food for your herb garden or whatever type of garden you have at home. There are different types of plant food that can be made at home, but one of the most common plant foods is liquid plant food or also referred to as “tea”. Liquid plant food can be made using various materials including worms, worm castings, organic matters, fish, etc. In this article, what I will be talking about is the compost plant food or compost tea that is made from composted organic matter.

Make Your Own Compost Tea

DIY Compost Tea

Compost tea is a type of liquid plant food that is made from composted organic matter. Here are 5 easy steps on how to make your own compost tea at home.

1. Find a section or spot in your garden where you can place your compost pile. Once you already have a spot in mind, lay down a sheet of plastic down to the ground. Once plastic sheet is in place, you can now start piling organic materials such as herbivorous manure, garden clippings, egg shells, dried raked leaves, food scraps, etc.
2. After piling all organic materials, you will then have to cover the pile with a second sheet of plastic.
3. After 3 days, remove the plastic cover from the pile and water the pile sparingly. After watering, use a shovel or pitch fork to turn the compost. Turning the compost regularly will help aerate the compost pile, which will make the decomposition process faster. Turning and watering sparingly the compost pile should be done once every 3 days for 6 weeks to 8 weeks, depending when will the compost pile resemble the consistency and texture of a crumbly soil and when the compost pile smell earthy and not pungent.
4. Once the compost bin resembles a crumbly soil already, transfer it to a garbage bin. Just fill half of the garbage bin with compost material then fill the remaining half with water. Stir gently the compost material and water and then cover it. Place the garbage bin somewhere it can be exposed under direct sunlight.
5. Stir the contents of the garbage bin once a day using a stick for one week. After one week, you can now then use it to your garden. Get a spraying bottle and fill 1/5 of the bottle with the compost tea and then add water. Spray it onto your plants directly.