That part was hysterical! Random nextdoor neighbor dude putting bird seed out with a long a** pole from porch. ALSO Great content with the the teas!

Maybe that was his employee!?

@@fyrekittah2491 no need to censor

Chandelle Mays thank you for censoring. No need to swear here. ;)

I collected and grew plants from seeds from mine

Your one ginormous plant was probably a seed from a discarded tomato and lucked out by falling into your super rich soil next to the compost bin. Proof positive that a good compost is simply the best. I bet it was such fun watching that plant grow.

Nah my mother would grow seedlings in trays and then plant them in those wire cages. It was just the plant closest to the bin, which was one of those plastic ones with the door at the bottom so you could get compost out.

Right

Rv camping filters work great!

This is nice but perhaps you could source borage or comfrey? You see, stinging nettles are a vital food source for many butterfly caterpillars. They will only eat nettle. This includes the Red Admiral; Comma; Small Tortoiseshell and others. It worries me that people source their precious few resources when they desperately need them (and we need butterflies and other pollinators for our crop pollination).

Well done!

Clever!

Smart!

I find leaf mulch to be the easiest and best way to get this result.

I think he filled the bucket about 1/4 way. But as you could see, he re-used the worm castings. You can add as much as you want. Then add more water to the leftover castings just like he did. As long as it's really fully composted materials and worm castings. Unfinished compost will burn the leaves.

I bought a bag of worm castings and the directions said 1 pound for a 5-gallon bucket of water...left to 'brew' about 24 hrs.

We personally use fresh rabbit droppings mixed with rabbit urine. We mix about half a shovel full in a 20-25 gallon bucket.

Janet Petko I’m never scrambling for content around here. Lol. It’s more a question of what do you want to see vs what there is to do.

Well said and good point. It’s an ongoing debate amongst so many gardeners but I agree with you. And you bring up very good points and definition. I try to keep things simple and cheap, which is why I usually do teas and so called “organic” but in reality if I need a quick boost that my super soil mix is not currently satisfying I will add an organ I long term amendment in addition to an inorganic feeding to give an immediate boost. My sister was a bio major at UC Berkeley and said there is absolutely nothing wrong with “non-organic” ferts assuming you know the difference, when and how to use them. Essentially like you said, broken down into useable nutrients are both technically non’organic at that point. The main concern and consideration is how clean and environmentally friendly are the processes of making bottled synthetic nutrients. If that doesn’t bother said person, then the nutrients themselves will have the soluble/useable nutrients readily available to you in a much stronger and more concentrated dose. You have to be careful and have a little experience with using them (start light and increase if needed from there) because can harm plants mainly by burning roots. Compost teas are great when you just want useable nutrients from something you maybe already have on hand (soil, compost, worm casting) all of which can be used for teas. And these will not harm your plants due to the lower NPK/PPM’s in the nutrient water mix (tea). Organic (long release) soil mixes are great, and will provide nutrients, and micronutrients to your plants through the long term and will have nutrient readily available as time goes on, which will lessen the amount of deficiencies, pests and molds/fungus to affect your plants. And also are great if you miss a feeding, they still will have the base of what they need. Boosting with teas once a week and a stronger synthetic fertilizer a few times through the summer (mid veg and mid bloom) can be a great boost to growth and blooming/fruiting. Also sorry for rambling. But you brought up a good point/discussion. Thanks for your thoughts!

But Miracle-Gro is owned by monsanto so bad bad

@@Juanrivers2022 oh really? i didnt know that! YUCK!

Oh please! Enough with the synthetic fertilizers... The soil is cooked from all that nasty stuff.

​@@capicuaaa Done your own research, have you? Nice. Whatever works for you.

Ewell Acres ditch the miracle-gro. It’s just chemical fertilizers and not nutrients! Just add a good layer of compost!

To add to the info. Steeping is only lift strainer bag once a day lifting the bag in the water pulling one side of the bag and then the other to break the organic material around the bag. Then I generally put a piece of plywood over the pail as the pail sits in the back yard. Once you dump the solids and slowly pour the tea around the plants drip line. Generally I put it in the soil a week or two before planting. Then feel free to repeat every two weeks.

I have a bucket under my urban worm bag so when it rains I have a bunch of worm tea

Just put an inch or two in the bottom. It's not an exact ratio. You just need enough to get a dark "tea".

Linda Johnson we added maybe 4 cups? I didn’t measure because it doesn’t really matter that much. As for the filter we just started using ours so I don’t feel comfortable sharing the link in case something goes wrong but just check around and you will find one for sure.

@@snowpaw360 the exact questions I was going to ask... being I'm on a weight restriction.... I guess 1 cup to a gallon of water would be about the same ratio.

MIgardener Thank you for replying. Only, one question remains unanswered. The last one about the moisture that accumulates from the bottom of the worm bins. Can that be used as a tea? Do I use that to make tea too? Can I use it without diluting it? If I have to dilute the liquid from the worm bins, what would the ratio be? One tablespoon per gallon? Two tablespoons per gallon? I look forward to reading your reply.

Sounds delicious

I left some bags in the rain for a little bit too long in a container then just dumped on my cannas and smelled really bad and worked like a charm.

For anyone reading this a year plus later, rabbit manure is considered cold, so it can go straight from the bunny to the plants. Of course it can still be made into tea as well.

Worm

Raccoon took the air bubbler...oh no....too funny....of all the things that could go wrong....sorry.....just watched the brewer method on Plant Abundance.....I think I'll stick with Luke's method as well....

That kinda looks like a strawberry sucker.

My question as well...lots of chicken manure....

Some people use 4-5 cups of compost per 5 gallon. Then wait until the solids sink so the tea can be used.

Michelle Leathers well there is both and nutrients are definitely important too.

I hope you’re able to get your question answered. This compost tea is usually made with worm castings from a Vermicompost.

I did that last year. I would fill up a couple 5 gallon buckets with weeds packed in, avoiding any I could tell had seeds, and add a couple tbsp molasses. I honestly don't know the names of the weeds, I just hunt around my forrest yard and grab what I can. Top with water, and stir every few days for 3 weeks. It gets really black by the end and smells like fresh horse manure. Because of that I didn't want it directly on my plants, I just root drench. Also because you are using green matter which is much higher on nitrogen and things like that, you want to dilute these at least 5:1 or more until it looks like weak brewed tea. When I pour it into my larger outdoor rubber trash so I can dilute can I use a paint bag on the top to filter it out so I get less seeds. It sure seemed to work, my soil was not amazing last year. I started adding this around bloom time, and then every couple weeks. I believe you do want to use it all within a week or so. But every time I used it seemed like the next day or two the plants got a big boost. Just definitely dilute it until weak tea, I think when blooming you don't want to overload the plants on nitrogen so they spend more energy fruiting. And it does stink and stain so don't wear fancy clothes.

Sam L I wouldn’t ever bubble it because it is simply way too much work for my liking.

@@MIgardener thanks!

MIGardener, Luke, I found this a little unclear as well. How much did you use initially? When you commented on the amt. of bacteria in a tablespoon, wasn't sure if that was the amount you were using or just relevant to that statement. Also, for the second application, was it only the residue left in the bucket from the first application to which you added the second round of water? Or, did you start over (you made reference to the contents still being dark) Sorry, I'm new to compost tea. I so appreciate all the particulars that you share, you provide so much great information! So timely, as I have some of your worm castings left over! I'd love to know which brand of filter you use on your hose, there are so many. ps thank you for the awesome sale on seeds! I got a little carried away, but wanted to be sure to do my part. ; )

@@debrabooe901 You use about three inches in a 5 gallon bucket. That's what he used. He was simply educating us on the fact that there are millions of bacteria in every tablespoon. The second batch he didn't add any more compost because he was going over the same area he just watered. I would suggest you use the above ratio for each new section. He did about a 4 by 4 section with one 5 gallon bucket. Hope this helps.

I heard chloramine wont degas due to the ammonia added to the chlorine. Can you verify this

Jill King no, I put a couple cups per gallon.

Michael White exactly. Compost “tea” is all the rage but the research I’ve seen shows it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Adding a layer of compost and then allowing nutrients to slowly trickle down into soil and the plant roots is much more effective. This time Luke fell for the cool-aid...er...tea!