Overall benefits of compost vs compost tea

[andIhalped]

Hey Organic Gurus:

I very lightly top dress my garden with compost about once every two weeks during the grow season. I figure the plants get all the benes of the compost during watering, plus the compost improves the overall soil quality.

But I know lotsa folks use compost tea. I get that it’s readily available to plants, but it doesn’t seem like it’d provide the textural and overall fertility benefits of solid compost.

So, organic gurus, please give me the lowdown on the overall benefits of compost v. compost tea.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Amy Gardner]

Hi halped - I vote for both! They’re gonna do different work. The tea will be quicker, the compost a longer release I’m thinking.

That’s my vote - why choose

 

[kgg634]

Good question. I agree with Amy. I mulch religiously in some form or another. As long as it contains no seeds. Rules out horse manure. I used rough compost (no longer hot in center but still warm) on my grow about 4'' to 6'' thick. I water slowly using the shower setting getting the much wet enough to get thing ready to leach out . Then I water about 30 min later using shower setting but for a longer time. This feeds a 'tea' without the straining. I can see the color of the run off looks like compost tea. The mulch ends up in the soil increasing its ability to hold more moisture and nutrients.

 

[andIhalped]

I think I’m gonna conclude that with my approach I’m getting some of the short term benes of tea when I water & also long-term soil benefits from the compost additions. Makin tea's a bit of chore that I don't need--got enough of 'em that are essential.

I’m pretty happy with how much I’ve improved my garden soil over the past 15 years. It was really heavy clay. Although it’s still a bit heavier than ideal, it’s much better now. All without storebought amendments, other than an occasional bag of manure in some years.

I’ve improved it by consistent additions of compost, green mulch (lawn clippings, etc) during the growing season, raking all my leaves onto the plots to overwinter & letting the plots go fallow every few years. This year, the soil’s definitely the best it’s been.

Thanks, again, for the info!

 

[kgg634]

Sounds like we have the same ideas on soil improvement. I get a real sense of pride when I dig a hole in my dirt. To see black fluffy sweet smelling soil that started out as a heavy clay is an accomplishment that took time. Halped, you mentioned winter mulching. Have you tried a green cover crop in winter? In my corner I use winter rye, spreading it out thickly after harvest. It grows fast and thick. Looks like a perfect lawn on my beds. The moose love it too. Their hooves sink in about a foot deep but no real damage at this time of the year.
The rye sucks up nutrients and locks it up in their roots and leaves for the winter. The rye dies in my zone 5 garden, making a thick mulch that I can leave alone in spring just planting transplants in beds. Well this is what I learned from the old timers before I became one myself. In short I grow soil.
P.S. Make sure your green manure choice isn't winter hardy or you could end up with perennial weeds. Something with deep running roots is what I look for. Some use mixes containing a nitrogen fixer also.

 

[andIhalped]

Growing soil is a great way to put it.

I have thought about winter cover crops. The best gardeners I know do that, but it seems like I'm always too busy to get 'em in.

I do grow garlic over the winter some years, though. & always have peas & beans in the ground in the spring to fix our buddy, nitrogen.

One adage that applies to both gardening & the rest of life is: be in the now, but always act in harmony with attaining long term goals.

It's a marathon, not a sprint!

 

[Conradino23]

I've used a lot of compost in the past, but then I switched to HB soil, which needs very little of it. I usually add about 5-10% of garden compost when I cook the soil for the first run and then I use compost teas sparingly. They are way easier to dose and inject microlife deeper into the soil. When you top your soil, you have to wait longer until you see benefits. I do it now only with nitrogen/potassium hungry strains, that can't have it any other way.

 

[bobrown14]

Great question.

I have a very strong opinion on compost.

First off; "Get your compost right and there will be very little to worry about." CC


I'm a strong believer in using compost and paying attention to your inputs to your compost pile and your worms and how they look, feel, eat and reproduce. I'm a worm guy. ALL the heavy lifting is getting done by the worms.

Quality in quality out = excellent compost.

I'm a no-till farmer.

This means I use my soil over and over and over.

With good compost, I can use soil in 1 cubic foot containers (7.5gal), for 10s of runs over and over.

Soil mix is:
1/3 compost
1/3 CSPM (peat moss)
1/3 aeration (perl-lite)

Amendments and rock dust.

To get the soil going after I let it sit for a week or 2 I will put the soil in the containers and then plant flower girls (VEG plants up-potted and switch to 12/12). The soil needs to have roots of plants in it for the bactieria and fungi in the soil.

So this is when I use a compost tea.

Fresh new soil in my no-till containers. That gets the micro-herd going and the plants growing. I use compost teas more the younger the soil is. After say 5th round of flowers I rarely if ever do any teas. Been 3 or 4 rounds now I haven't brewed a tea.

Plants and soil keep getting better and better = less inputs and less work.

For no-till - we leave the plants roots in the container and let them decompose. It takes only a few days actually. It's amazing... so those roots just added a huge nutrient stock back to the soil. The same thing as adding compost.

Each run I will add about a cup of EWC/compost when I up-pot. Thats it other than IPM and water. I've done this method with 120 day monster Landrace Sativa. With same result as a 50 day fatty Indica hybrid.



Then it's round and around we go... there's no stopping us now.

Compost is key.... compost tea is key.

If you soil is right you will use less and less of the tea,
and still use compost.

 

[andIhalped]

Great question.

I have a very strong opinion on compost.

First off; "Get your compost right and there will be very little to worry about." CC


I'm a strong believer in using compost and paying attention to your inputs to your compost pile and your worms and how they look, feel, eat and reproduce. I'm a worm guy. ALL the heavy lifting is getting done by the worms.

Quality in quality out = excellent compost.

I'm a no-till farmer.

This means I use my soil over and over and over.

With good compost, I can use soil in 1 cubic foot containers (7.5gal), for 10s of runs over and over.

Soil mix is:
1/3 compost
1/3 CSPM (peat moss)
1/3 aeration (perl-lite)

Amendments and rock dust.

To get the soil going after I let it sit for a week or 2 I will put the soil in the containers and then plant flower girls (VEG plants up-potted and switch to 12/12). The soil needs to have roots of plants in it for the bactieria and fungi in the soil.

So this is when I use a compost tea.

Fresh new soil in my no-till containers. That gets the micro-herd going and the plants growing. I use compost teas more the younger the soil is. After say 5th round of flowers I rarely if ever do any teas. Been 3 or 4 rounds now I haven't brewed a tea.

Plants and soil keep getting better and better = less inputs and less work.

For no-till - we leave the plants roots in the container and let them decompose. It takes only a few days actually. It's amazing... so those roots just added a huge nutrient stock back to the soil. The same thing as adding compost.

Each run I will add about a cup of EWC/compost when I up-pot. Thats it other than IPM and water. I've done this method with 120 day monster Landrace Sativa. With same result as a 50 day fatty Indica hybrid.



Then it's round and around we go... there's no stopping us now.

Compost is key.... compost tea is key.

If you soil is right you will use less and less of the tea,
and still use compost.

Yep, have been a no-till gardener for many years & I always leave the roots in overwinter to decomp.
Seems to work, without a lot of work!

 

[bobrown14]

Yep, have been a no-till gardener for many years & I always leave the roots in overwinter to decomp.
Seems to work, without a lot of work!

I'm indoors in containers. Roots decompose in a matter of days. I'm always flowering so its just a merry go round. Some pots sitting on sidelines until I get my VEG shit together.

 

[andIhalped]

I'm outdoors, always have been, always will be.

& although many on this site would be aghast, I give my tomatoes, peppers, & basil have the same priority as weed for me.

sepsalsa2.jpg

• andIhalped
• Sep 2, 2018

Decent soil & healthy insect populations have a higher priority still.

abuddy.jpg

• andIhalped
• Sep 7, 2018

Grow on!

 

[bobrown14]

Lucky you @andIhalped, we got sooo much rain here on the east coast this summer you wouldn't have much crop... September it rained every day cept for 1 day. The opposite of whats it supposed to be.

We got some peppers and a few other veggies - flower gardens went to pot, heck the trees are calling it a season and leaves are falling way early. PM is everywhere. We have everbearing raspberries... they quite due to blossom rot. First time ever that happened.

 

[andIhalped]

I'm in the very rainy & wet PNW. Come Sept., if it's not raining, every day there's enough dew so that one's gotta use the windshield wipers before driving to work.

Virtually every indoor grower here told me I'd face vast losses to PM & bud rot if I tried outdoor growing.

3 yrs running and it hasn't happened. 2 yrs ago during a ridiculously drenching fall I did lose about 5% to bud rot despite vigilance. Which is no big deal, because I keep records & I'm averaging about $0.15/gram production costs, excluding labor (which is always the highest cost in gardening or farming, and is a "bump" between indoor and outdoor).

But all falls are very wet here--there's PM on damn near everything, always, every fall. But knock on wood, nothing so far on the weed patch.

But although I'm stupid enough to grow outdoors (and this seems to be consensus in my region) I'm not terrifically stupid about dealing with it.

I only grow: early bloomers with fairly short times to maturity; strains with decent resistance; strains with bud structures that are not prone to rot (e.g. super fatty buds--love Big Bud, but can't grow it). Plus I prune for airflow & train the plants heavily so that none of the tops have leaves that are touching in the home stretch.

Working so far, despite 3 years of locals I know are mega-knowledgeable telling me that it can't.

Very sorry to her about yr gardening losses!

Grow on!

 

[bobrown14]

I'm in Philly we have very similar weather here hotter in the summer tho. Cept this year its been epic rains. It's sunny now but there's yet another flash flood watch so rain is coming ... again.

GL with you harvest.

 

[andIhalped]

I'm in Philly we have very similar weather here hotter in the summer tho. Cept this year its been epic rains. It's sunny now but there's yet another flash flood watch so rain is coming ... again.

GL with you harvest.

Thanks @bobrown14 !

When I moved to the PNW from the desert lands, the only growers I knew were indoor ones (and great at it!). No one I met grew outside, which is all I'd ever done for 30 yrs.

About 1.5 yrs into outdoor growing, I met someone to help me. As he said, folks here fear of growing outdoors wasn't a matter of experience, but the opposite: fear of the unknown & outside their control. I continue to think he's right.

Knock on wood, I'm in the homestretch...1 week or so to go & only a daily drenching dew every morn, but no rain.

Pray for me & my plants! (or not!)

 

[bobrown14]

Check out this journal... Woody is living 8n Oregon Portland area. He grows outdoors. Very knowledgeable old school dude. The best of the best. Woody...this is a link to his journal. Hes not totally organic but good nuff. Outdoors in the Willamet Valley, hes the man.

Our Ongoing Grows