Hi Guys
I'm a landscaper, and am new to compost tea (have learned a lot on this forum) ... I specialize in hardy tropical/exotic style here in the UK (palms/ferns/T-Rex, etc), aswell as the older cottage style perrenials/shrubs
I have recently bought an airpump, heater, bucket and have brewed a few brews of compost tea for general garden purposes, but am still learning, so any comments and advice will be greatly appreciated
herewith 2 recipes that I will be using ... (1st one is for general garden plants during spring and summer and will be added once a month via drenching aswell as applied on the leaves via waterbucket....
2nd recipe is for lawns and will be added via foliar spray once a month)....
I currently use pond water as we have 3 large ponds in my village that are teeming with life/fish .... the water is groundfed (there are no streams/rivers that feed the ponds) ... I have not tested the ph though, but will do so shortly
recipes are for 5 gallon batches (25 litres), and I set the heater temp at 20 degrees C, and have a 150mm circular airstone on the bottom of the bucket, and a 150mm long cylindrical airstone in the bucket .... I brew for 24 hrs, then add the nutrients at the end just before using the tea
recipe 1 for all plants/shrubs in the garden)
heat and aerate the pond water overnight, then add the following after 12 hrs:
2 heaped tablespoons of black strap unsulphered molasses (organic)
2 cups of worm humis
1 cup of homemade well rotted compost
1 cup of forest topsoil
1 cup of normal garden topsoil (from my own garden)
1/2 cup of volcanic rock dust (available from B&Q)
I brew this for 24 hrs at 20 degrees C, then add the following (doses are what is recommended on the labels on the bottles)
Biobizz Fish mix
plant magic oldtimer grow
maxicorp seaweed extract
root juice
bio silicon
biowetter (yucca extract)
I don't place the ingredients in a bag/stocking, as I use a watering bucket to distribute
--------------------------
for lawns, the same recipe as above, however, I will substitute the root juice with Canna Nitrogen 27% (To green it up quicker) .... I may also add 1/4 cup of bloodmeal (for extra nitrogen) .... this will be added with a sprayer (low pressure and with a straight nozzle with a #20 nozzle (400 micron), and will be added once per month from April till the end of October
for mid November, I will change the recipe and look at subsituting the Nitrogen with a higher P and K ingredient such as Bat Guano (the one with the low Nitrogen), ... that will be the last feed until spring the next year
for the lawn fertilizer/tea, ingredients will be placed in a paint strainer bag with a 400 micron mesh during brewing, together with the one airstone in the bag, and the circular airstone on the bottom of the bucket
---------------------------
the gardens where I am using compost tea have water butts, so I will water the plants with that water (instead of chlorine tap water through a hose, as everything in those gardens have been planted using rootgrow) (these are small new gardens in a new build area)
I will not use any other fertilizers in these gardens
as mentioned, this is all new to me and comments will be appreciated ....
I'm a landscaper, and am new to compost tea (have learned a lot on this forum) ... I specialize in hardy tropical/exotic style here in the UK (palms/ferns/T-Rex, etc), aswell as the older cottage style perrenials/shrubs
I have recently bought an airpump, heater, bucket and have brewed a few brews of compost tea for general garden purposes, but am still learning, so any comments and advice will be greatly appreciated
herewith 2 recipes that I will be using ... (1st one is for general garden plants during spring and summer and will be added once a month via drenching aswell as applied on the leaves via waterbucket....
2nd recipe is for lawns and will be added via foliar spray once a month)....
I currently use pond water as we have 3 large ponds in my village that are teeming with life/fish .... the water is groundfed (there are no streams/rivers that feed the ponds) ... I have not tested the ph though, but will do so shortly
recipes are for 5 gallon batches (25 litres), and I set the heater temp at 20 degrees C, and have a 150mm circular airstone on the bottom of the bucket, and a 150mm long cylindrical airstone in the bucket .... I brew for 24 hrs, then add the nutrients at the end just before using the tea
recipe 1 for all plants/shrubs in the garden)
heat and aerate the pond water overnight, then add the following after 12 hrs:
2 heaped tablespoons of black strap unsulphered molasses (organic)
2 cups of worm humis
1 cup of homemade well rotted compost
1 cup of forest topsoil
1 cup of normal garden topsoil (from my own garden)
1/2 cup of volcanic rock dust (available from B&Q)
I brew this for 24 hrs at 20 degrees C, then add the following (doses are what is recommended on the labels on the bottles)
Biobizz Fish mix
plant magic oldtimer grow
maxicorp seaweed extract
root juice
bio silicon
biowetter (yucca extract)
I don't place the ingredients in a bag/stocking, as I use a watering bucket to distribute
--------------------------
recipe 2 (for lawns)
for lawns, the same recipe as above, however, I will substitute the root juice with Canna Nitrogen 27% (To green it up quicker) .... I may also add 1/4 cup of bloodmeal (for extra nitrogen) .... this will be added with a sprayer (low pressure and with a straight nozzle with a #20 nozzle (400 micron), and will be added once per month from April till the end of October
for mid November, I will change the recipe and look at subsituting the Nitrogen with a higher P and K ingredient such as Bat Guano (the one with the low Nitrogen), ... that will be the last feed until spring the next year
for the lawn fertilizer/tea, ingredients will be placed in a paint strainer bag with a 400 micron mesh during brewing, together with the one airstone in the bag, and the circular airstone on the bottom of the bucket
---------------------------
the gardens where I am using compost tea have water butts, so I will water the plants with that water (instead of chlorine tap water through a hose, as everything in those gardens have been planted using rootgrow) (these are small new gardens in a new build area)
I will not use any other fertilizers in these gardens
as mentioned, this is all new to me and comments will be appreciated ....
