Compost Tea in Drip Irrigation
A year ago we installed drip irrigation into our garden rows. After years of watering by hand, or just plain not watering, we knew we needed something better.
Our goal is to eventually build up enough topsoil that we can wait out the dry months without the need for added irrigation. But, we are only in year two of a brand new garden spot so we definitely still need extra water, things just aren’t established yet.
By adding compost tea in drip irrigation we are making things easier and better all at once. A drip system makes watering much more effective and saves a lot on water (we use Drip Works).
Benefits of drip irrigation
Drip waters the soil at a rate that the soil can absorb, right where the plants drink it. We have also mulched over top of our drip so there is little evaporation. Another great benefit is that the weeds in pathways don’t get watered as much as when you use a sprinkler or hand water.
One of our new favorite reasons to use drip irrigation is that we can add inputs into the drip and it’s delivered to the plants. It’s automatically highly diluted as it mixes with the water so you don’t have to worry about overdoing it.
In the bucket above, #grim2 made me a compost tea of Comfrey and kelp that she let bubble with a fish tank aerator for 48 hours.
Comfrey is an amazing plant that is rich in all kinds of micro-nutrients. It enhances the decomposition of organic matter which releases more nutrition in the soil as well. This got me thinking that next, we’ll make a tea with stinging nettles. It is because they add a ton of goodness like Silica to the soil too.
In our orchard, we grow Stinging Nettles all around our fruit trees. Because of that, we have plenty when its time to make tea.
Make your soil happier and healthier
The key to healthy plants is healthy soil. To get healthy soil you need healthy bacterial and fungal activity. And to get the healthy fungal and bacterial activity you need to feed them. You need to avoid inputs that destroy them.
Thanks to the drip and the organic inputs our soil is even happier and doing better than it has yet!
Have you ever made your own compost tea?
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4 Comments
Hi, how did you filter your compost tea? Did you have any issues with debris clogging the drip line? How often do you have to clean your filter? Does filtering the compost tea take out the beneficial microbes? Thank you.
i just use a paint screen to filter it out. It wont filter out the goodness its way smaller than the paint screen.
I am considering to fertilize my 2 acre olive orchard with compost tea in the drip system. I have some questions.
Can the compost tea be added with every irrigation?
Is there a possibility of the tea clogging up the drip system?
I water the 2 acres with about 50,000 liters (~ 10,000 gallons) a week during the hot summer months. What would be the ratio of tea to water?
How much compost would I use for it to be a significant fertilization?
i think the best thing to do would be to create a large barrel of compost tea. add a bubbler to the barrel and just always have something going while you are watering it.
I would make a filter around the syphon to keep it from sucking up large particles. You could do this by putting a paint strainer bag around a can or jar. then put the end of the syphon into that.
you dont need a ton to see benefits. youre really just adding to the bacterial and fungal systems.
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