Is Compost Tea the new Miracle Feed ?

[vegmandan]

I've seen lots of info regarding the miraculous properties of "Compost Tea" i.e a Brew made out of your own Compost or Soil mixed with water and some sugar,apparently Molasses is the best.
This is then bubbled up with an aquarium air pump to promote aerobic bacteria,and then the beneficial soil bacteria in your own compost and soil multiply unbelievably after a couple of days.
Then you apparently water your crops with this brew and you get amazing growth thereafter.
Anyway,I decided to give it a go and make my own.
I added a bit of Seaweed Meal and Juice for good measure.

So here's the video of me making it,I don't know if it works but to be honest I don't think it can do any harm.

Cheers.

[mrpaulbradley]

Very interesting idea. Would be keen to hear results. I've had pretty good success with worm tea from my wormeries but that is just leachate - no extra anaerobic fermentation, just what the time in the sump gives it.
I shall watch with interest, always keen to try sumat new

[rana]

Compost tea seems to be the current fad with claims of much improved growth and productivity. If you are prepared to put in the effort (and expense) to produce the foul brew that's up to you but as a born sceptic I'm sticking to traditional composts and fertilizers.

[womble]

This is what Monty made on GW I presume. So the "secret ingredient" is sugar then? This was the huge cost they quoted was it? Someone's making a bit of money there.
Keep us informed how it goes.

[Florence Fennel]

This looks to be a very interesting trial. I've only just discovered comfrey tea!

[Bren In Pots]

Think I might read up a bit more on this and give it a go seeing as I've got a fish tank air pump and the other ingredients are laying about.

[chris]

I've "heard" that it can be used as a preventative for blight.. No idea if it's true or not though.

[pipscariad]

I had to smile, watching this (excellent) video clip - it's just like a cross between cooking and a grown-ups version of making mud pies !

I won't be trying it as I don't have the time (or the aerator), but it will be interesting to see what the results are like. I've got my seaweed and nettle teas brewing nicely, that'll have to do for me for now.

[deltz]

I've been using compost tea for a few weeks now, I THINK it has made a difference because plants look nice and healthy I use vermicompost in the bag, molasses to feed the bacteria and add seaweed and fish fertilizer.

I dont think compost tea acts like a fertilizer though, instead it increases the microbes in the soil therefore increasing ability to take up and use the fertilizer.

[solway cropper]

I'll stick with the nettle, seaweed and sheep muck brews that I have going at the moment. If I start bubbling air through it as well I really will have the neighbours complaining.

[Bren In Pots]

I've read up on it a bit and decided to stick with comfrey tea for now.

[vegmandan]

Well,my results are in.
And It honestly didn't make the slightest bit of difference after using it for almost 2 weeks,but I had to give it a try anyway just incase it was some kind of miracle feed.
Posted a video of the results.

I'll just stick yo adding plenty of compost and muck to my soil and let it look after itself.

[Two_Sheds]

I don't think 2 weeks is a long enough experiment... can you keep it going for 2 months?