Healthy Soil For a Healthy Environment

Compost Tea Info

What is compost tea?

Compost tea, or more specifically, actively aerated compost tea (AACT), is a solution of beneficial microorganisms made from passing air through high-quality compost suspended in water. The air serves to separate the microbes from the organic matter in the compost, as well keeping the water oxygenated. The beneficial microbes in AACT need oxygen as well as food to survive and grow.

Who should use AACT?

Anyone who would like to improve the quality of their soil without synthetic fertilizers or toxic garden chemicals. AACT contains a large number and a wide variety of biological organisms. These organisms work in the soil to retain and cycle nutrients, improve soil structure and aid plant growth.

What are the uses of AACT?

AACT can be applied directly to soil as a drench before planting, or to lawns and the leaves of plants and trees. It can also be sprayed on compost piles to aid in the decomposition process and to increase the diversity of organisms in your pile. At the end of the growing season, an application of AACT will help decompose plant residues (left over stalks, leaves and roots), turning them into nutrients that will be available in the next season.

What are the benefits of AACT?

There are many benefits to using aerated compost tea. The beneficial organisms found in aerated compost tea can help prevent plant diseases. They accomplish this by out-competing the pathogenic organisms for space and food resources. Testing shows if 70% of a plant's leaf surface is covered with beneficial organisms, most pathogens are not able to infect the plant. Sufficient numbers of microbes are needed for the nutrient cycling system found in healthy soil. Microbes retain nutrients in the soil, preventing runoff and keeping groundwater clean. The microbes give up their nutrients when the plants require them, allowing them to grow at a healthy pace. Plants that grow at a natural pace, without excessive amounts of nutrient delivered with synthetic fertilizers, tend to have improved cell structure and are better able to resist disease and insect pests.

Healthy soil biology creates better structure in the soil. Compaction is reduced with the improved soil structure. Pockets form, allowing oxygen to penetrate deeper, which in turn helps promote deeper, denser root growth. The improved soil structure helps moisture retention. Increased moisture retention combined with deeper root growth helps plants through dry conditions, while also helping to lower water needs and preventing runoff. When applied to lawn or pasture grasses, the microbes break down thatch build-up providing better water and oxygen penetration. The biology will also consume any dead roots below the surface leaving no food to attract grubs. When the soil biology levels are adequate, a number of broadleaf weed species will not sprout. Clippings are also broken down and returned to the soil as nutrients. Unlike compost, compost tea can be applied easily to foliage of plants and trees for disease suppression on the leaf surfaces.

Is AACT safe?

Yes. AACT that is properly made contains only what you would find in good compost. It is all natural, and contains no toxins. It's safe for children and pets. There's no problem working in a garden that has been just been sprayed, or walking or playing on a sprayed lawn immediately after application. There are no toxic substances to potentially track into the house. It is possible for detrimental microbes to develop in compost tea that is brewed in anaerobic conditions. We only brew our tea in a highly aerobic environment, monitor the oxygen levels throughout the entire brewing process and test regularly to ensure everything is going well.

Is AACT a miracle?

No. The microbes found in compost tea are nature's way of maintaining soil health. When left alone, nature can turn the worst soil into the best. But this takes time; potentially tremendous amounts of time. External pressures can easily set this process back. Severe weather events, fires, floods and human activities inhibit soil biology continually. Replenishing soil biology with compost tea speeds up the recovery process and eases the pressures on land that is used heavily or that is under significant environmental pressure.

Can AACT be used alone?

It's important to remember what makes AACT so effective; living organisms. These organisms need food, water and oxygen. If they are applied to sterile or contaminated soil, they will starve and die. They are part of the entire soil ecosystem. Healthy soil needs to have enough organic material in it for the organisms to eat. Sometimes the food level needs to be replenished. This can be done by leaving lawn clippings after mowing, applying compost or leaving some crop residue after a harvest. Different land uses will require different amounts of organic matter to be added on different schedules. If the area that will receive the application of AACT already has a good amount of organic material available for the microbes to eat, or the tea will be applied as a foliar spray, it can be used on its own. If the soil is depleted and the application is part of a restoration program, it will not be very effective on its own.

How often does AACT need to be applied?

It depends on the soil, the plants being grown and how quickly you want to restore the nutrient cycling process. Sterile soil will need repeated applications of compost and AACT until the system is restored. This most likely needs to occur over a number of seasons. After that, maintenance will depend on how the land is used and what is being grown. Perennial plants can do well to have an annual application when the leaves first appear to help keep them disease free. Grazing pastures, due to pressure from the animals, may require more frequent applications of compost tea, as would public parks with heavy foot traffic. Different plants have different needs. For a typical lawn, 3-5 applications the first year with some compost in the spring and fall will get the system moving in the right direction. It may take a few seasons until there are enough microbes in the soil to keep the nutrient cycling process going on it's own.

How long will the microorganisms last once they are established?

Current research shows soil microbes do not die of old age. They need to be killed. This happens when they are eaten by other microbes as part of the nutrient cycle. They can also be killed by herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and repeated soil tillage. Chemical fertilizers deliver so much soluble nutrient as one time, the environment in the soil can become toxic enough to kill the little soil critters. Repeated soil tilling can be particularly damaging to fungi which grows in long strands and ends up getting cut into pieces. Standard lawn weed and feed fertilizers have a significant impact on the biology in the soil.

Does AACT really work?

The most important thing is results. Click the following link to see some photos of a lawn that we treated. Lawn Photos Or, look at our projects to see the different types of landscapes we've managed to improve.