Note: Compost tea (aerated compost with biological foods added) requires more skill and equipment then I can cover here at the moment.  Teas make glues so they will stick to plant surfaces.  Extract is used to drench/water the soil deeply.  Tea applied to the soil will mainly stick to the surface of the soil which maybe much less effective than an extract applied to the soil.

To make an Extract consider the following instructions:

Application Rate:  3 to 14 cups can treat 3000 sqft (range depends on situation – at 3cups/3000sqft apply every 10days to slowly build microb population.  The advantage of every 10days at low concentration (3 cups per 3000sqft) may use less compost to achieve your biological goals in the soil especially if combined with one or more biological foods such as molasses, fish hydrolysate, liquid seaweed and humic acid.   The higher concentrations (8-14cups per 3000sqft) can save application time – at these rates it could be applied every 1-3 months until biological goals are met.

Put one or two cups of compost or less in a 400 micron compost tea bag or fine mesh spaghetti strainer (30 mesh works good – that is about 600 micron).

Tea Bag Method:
1) put about 2-3 gallons of water (or whatever amount of water you require for your soil drench) in a clean 5 gallon bucket
2) let tea bag sit for 5 minutes in the water
3) dunk bag in and out of water and squeeze gently for about one minute (no aggressive rubbing – that kills the biology)
4) remove what is left in the tea bag – either sprinkle it on your garden or put it back in your compost to get re-inoculated
5) repeat to make more extract

Fine mesh spaghetti strainer:
Note: This method works for making small and large quantities of compost extract
1) install a valve at the end of a garden hose or adjust you faucet valve
2) put the strainer over a 5 gallon bucket
3) open the valve enough to rinse the biology from the compost – not too strong or too light. Just enough to get the amount of water you want to use for your soil drench and enough to wash all the biology from the compost.
4) remove what is left in the strainer – either sprinkle it on your garden or put it back in your compost to get re-inoculated
5) repeat to make more extract

How to apply the extract:
Dilute the extract as much as your application requires. Use a watering can to trench the soil with the extract. Or drill 1/8 inch holes (40-50 holes evenly distributed) in the bottom of a 2 gallon bucket and submerge it in the 5 gallon bucket of extract – lift it out by the handle and drench the soil – work fast depending on number of holes you drill. I recommend about .

Farm scale application methods require eliminating all spray rig filters and 90 degree fittings – these will kill the biology right quick. Some farmers use shaker screens for large scale compost extractions.

1) Use only clean water free of Chlorine and Chloramine and other water contaminates.

2) Chlorine and Chloramine will kill soil biology.  Use water extracted humic acid to neutralize (complex) these chemicals.  Just add enough to get a slight color change.   water extracted humic acid is expensive and difficult to source sometimes.   A healthy amount of humic acid comes with the biologically complete compost we sell so just line a small strainer with a chemical free coffee filter and add 1/2 cup of compost.   Pour water over compost and let it run through.   Use just enough of this treated water to get the slight color change in a white five gallon bucket of water.  Tractor Supply sells white five gallon buckets.