My seedlings just don’t seem to be growing as quickly as other people’s seem to be. I have been fertilizing them with all sorts of natural amendments and I mixed compost into the soil mixture when I transplanted. While they are growing, I feel like they are coming along slowly. They were planted around March 11th.
So I decided to break out the pump and start up some compost tea. It is bubbling away and should be ready in a couple of days.
How I Make Compost Tea
Fill a bucket 2/3 full of water and let it aerate for a day or two to make sure there is no more chlorine in the water. To do this: insert the hose from a fish tank pump to be used as a bubbler for aeration. You will want to weigh it down. I do this by rubber banding a rock near the end of the tube.
Add 1/3 cup black strap molasses to the water in the bucket along with couple of tablespoons of fish emulsion and kelp powder. You can add blood meal instead of fish emulsion if you are keeping it in the house.
Put 2 cups of compost and 2 tablespoons of kelp powder in an old hose and lower it into the bucket. You can see how I tie it to the handle in the picture. Leave the bubbler in place.
Then it is just a question of waiting. It usually takes about a week for it to get good and frothy which is a sign that you have beneficial microbial growth going on in the brew.
It is nutritional for the plants and the microbes will help to keep certain fungal diseases under control.
Domestic Medicine 