How long before you have to use compost tea!

[o MR BUD o]

hey people im kinda new to the whole compost tea thing and i was wondering how long compost tea can stay sitting in a bucket after you've finished making it before you have to use it all, can it stay sitting in the bucket for a week or two or once you've finished making it do you have to use it up straight away!! thanks for your help

 

[Icemud]

You want to use it when it has a nice foam on the top of the water and smells sweet and earthy...Usually this lasts about 1-4 days from the time you start bubbling the tea depending on what you added...When the smell changes from a sweet healthy earthy smell to a garbage/trash or foul smelling mix, then it has become anaerobic and you do NOT want to use it at that point...

So to answer your question, usually about 4 days after mixing is the limits of how good it is, but use your nose for judgement

 

[JJ Bones]

I personally never let compost tea go longer then 24 hours. The longer you wait the more microbes that die off.

 

[Icemud]

I personally never let compost tea go longer then 24 hours. The longer you wait the more microbes that die off.

Thanks for catching my mistake JJ Bones After re-reading the original post I noticed that it was mentioned "after your done making it" and I when I wrote my post I was thinking from the time you start the tea until the time you use it... oopss.

I did do some digging around to find more specifics and found that the tea once stopped from aeration (bubbling with airstones) should be used as soon as possible and shouldn't be left more than 4 hours... but even minutes after you cut off the air, the "quality" of the tea will greatly reduce. The article I read went to say that aerobic bacteria need oxygen to live, and anerobic bacteria do not, so when the oxygen level drops below 6ppm the anerobic bacteria takes over and this is where human pathogens can develop, as well as can harm your plants...

was a pretty good read and if you want the link just PM me. Thanks again JJ for catching my slip up cheers yo!

 

[JJ Bones]

Thanks Icemud, I didn't intend to seem like I was correcting you. I never try to tell people I'm right and they're wrong, I do my best not to. We all have our own experiences so I just share mine

 

[o MR BUD o]

thanks icemud and jj bones for your help and replies i appreciate you taking the time out answer my question and i have added to your reps for doing so!!

i do however have one more question that im unsure of and that is i will be making a tea consisting of just compost that i brought from the shop and some molasses and i will not be adding any additives or nutes at the moment to my bucket of tea as my soil still has the original nutes in it that it came with, my question is just how much molasses should i add the my bucket of tea that consists of 8 litres of water!! thanks peeps!!

 

[Indra p]

@o MR BUD o I think for 8 litres, you looking about 3 tablespoons? I am using 2 tablespoon on a 5 litre bucket.