Compost Tea; It’s so stinkin’ easy!

Photo by Petr Kratochvil.

ELLIS COUNTY — What if you could make gallons and gallons of an all-natural fertilizer, an organic pesticide, and a chemical-free fungicide with about 10 minutes of work and very little money? Compost Tea does all of that and it’s so stinkin’ easy to make!

You will need:

Two five-gallon buckets
Old pantyhose
Brown organic material
Green organic material
Water

1) Fill the five gallon bucket halfway with brown (dry) organic material. This could include dry grass clippings, brown leaves, woody material, dry manure, etc.

2) Fill the bucket the rest of the way with green (wet/fresh) organic material. This could be fresh grass clippings, freshly pulled weeds, fresh produce cuttings, green leaves, fresh manure, etc.

3) Fill the bucket with water and place in a sunny place for 14 days, stirring the mixture each day. You can also use a fish tank pump to keep the mixture oxygenated, but it’s not a necessity.

4) After 14 days, stretch the pantyhose across the mouth of the other five gallon bucket and slowly pour the mixture into the pantyhose. Remove the pantyhose with all of the solid material and you are left with a liquid concentrate that can make at least 30 gallons of Compost Tea.

5) Dilute the concentrate by mixing one gallon with 4 gallons of water.

Now, your Compost Tea is ready to be sprayed on your plants and trees or stored away in bottles. It is a foliar fertilizer, which means it fertilizes the plant through the leaves. It has been known to kill and repel many kinds of leaf eating insects. It also kills and prevents leaf fungi, but all this good stuff comes at a small price — Compost Tea stinks!

The best Tea smells the worst so while your neighbors may not like it, your plants will love it!

T.J. Fabby is a lifelong resident of Ellis County and owner of Liberty Tree Service, which serves all of Ellis County and surrounding areas. You can contact T.J. at 972-937-TREE (972-937-8733) or on Facebook.