The most exciting new item in biological disease control is “Compost Tea”. Compost Tea is made by using high quality compost and microbe foods and then brewing it with oxygen (aeration) for about 24 hours. The “Tea” produced is a brown color and contains multitudes of diverse beneficial microorganisms that help establish a functioning soil food web to protect your favorite plants from disease and help them grow stronger and more beautiful.
1) At Nature’s Way Resources we have spent the last two years attending many professional conferences on compost tea and doing our own research and biological testing. We took our 50-50 compost blend that many nurseries, landscapers and compost tea applicators had been using to make compost tea for years and re-composted it with a series of additives designed to increase the type and amounts of beneficial microbes required by healthy plants. As a result, we have produced superior compost especially designed to make compost tea! This compost is now available in 40 lb bags.
2) Many of our customers have been brewing compost tea or have wanted an easy way to start brewing compost tea. At several of the conferences we attended, many brands and types of compost tea brewers were tested and evaluated (these ranged in price from a few hundred dollars to over $80,000). All the brewers used the same starting compost so the effects of the brewer could be measured.
3) Interested in building your own compost tea brewer? Online there are many resources, but be sure to visit www.aeromatico.com, a company in the Houston area. They sale a DIY kit with all the components.
For more information on Compost Tea:
“Understanding How Compost Tea Can Control Disease”, BioCycle, February 2003, p. 20-25
“Compost Tea: Principles and Prospects for Plant Disease Control”, Compost Science and Utilization Journal, Autumn 2002, p. 313-338
International Compost Tea Council
Compost Tea Industry Association
Soil Food Web information and Compost Tea Microscope Manual: