I have been researching compost tea a fair amount recently and in order to get my own setup at a minimal cost I ended at youTUBE to see what kinds of ideas were out there. I then came to this design with a total cost of under $30 worth of materials.
My first few attempts at brewing were not exactly successes. I say that because the tea after brewing for a number of hours still lacked the foam that I had seen in many of the videos I had seen. I also did a fair amount of searching to find a recipe that was “organic” and also to costly.
Here is my current recipe:
4 handfuls worm castings
2 tsp humic acid
1 tsp amino acid
1 tsp fulvic acid
1/4 ml sulfured molasses
1/2 ml liquid sea kelp
4 3/4 gallon RO water * dechlorinated is a must
Brew with air-pump for 24-48 hours
Add 1/2 scoop mycorrhizal fungi inoculant before you apply be gentle
Cost of items $65
With a bit more research I came to the conclusion it was due to the added solvents from the local sanitation department, mainly chloramine and fluoride. Which lead me to using the Reverse Osmosis RO water I have resisted thus far as a grower. I can say after a few short days, I can see a noticeable difference. It cost a bit of money, but there is a good reason for it.
I then added it as a supplement to any and all of my plants, including seedlings, cuttings, mature plants. I would say that the results were noticeable after the first two waterings with plain water in the middle, you can notice the leaf matter is greener and almost every plant shows growth.