Compost tea is the perfect nutritional addition to the diet of your cannabis garden. Compost tea encourages the beneficial bacteria in the soil to continue working hard and is a way you can offer nutrition directly onto the foliar. Read here on how to make compost tea for a healthier and happier cannabis plant.
Compost tea is something that farmers have used forever to enrich their plants with the nutrients they need for stealthier growth. It is a great way to keep plants well fed with all of the food they need, and the cannabis grower knows how important this is to the cannabis plant. Even though the cannabis plant gets most of its food from nutrient-rich soil (some nutrients are added by the grower), compost tea is a great way to keep it nourished with a little bit of extra TLC.
Compost tea has become increasingly popular more recently in the cannabis community, and more and more products are becoming available on the market. You can buy solutions for compost tea that come already packaged and just need to be mixed with water. However, making your own is easier and cheaper, especially if you are growing organic cannabis and want to carefully monitor exactly what goes in. In the end, you have a tea that has been made by steeping compost in water that you can drench your plants in or spray on the foliar.
Why does compost tea work so well?
You might be wondering what the point of using compost tea is if the soil you are using is already rich in all the nutrients that your cannabis plant might need. However, using compost tea gives your soil an extra boost of qualities that will make your cannabis plant happier and healthier.
Compost tea is not a replacement for your soil nutrients, but it is a great complement to the system you already have. The basis for providing your plant with compost tea is providing your soil with better aeration and drainage, and improving the texture of your soil. Using compost tea also encourages all of those beneficial bacteria in the soil to continue doing their hard work.
You can use your compost tea directly on your soil or you can spray it onto the leaves of your plant. Because it is aerated, the leaves of your cannabis plant will happily absorb your compost tea through them and the nutrients will arrive directly into the plant.
How to make compost tea
Making compost tea is easy and doesn’t require much work. You can use your own compost (especially recommended if you are growing cannabis organically, but make sure it is ready to use before making your compost tea with it), or, alternatively, you can purchase compost elsewhere. Make sure if you purchase it that it is well-aerated and of very high quality.
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To make compost tea you’re going to need:
- A 20-litre bucket
- 10 litres of compost
- An aquarium pump with a few bubblers
- 250 ml unsulphured molasses (make sure you have a little extra handy if you are in colder climates, as it may need more)
- 10 litres of water
- A long stick for stirring
- Cheesecloth or something similar for straining the liquid
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Fill your 20-litre bucket with compost and top it up with 10 litres of water. Add the molasses and, if you are in a colder climate, add a little bit more than 250 ml. Stir the mixture thoroughly, making sure to mix in the solid bits at the bottom. Put the aquarium pump in and turn it on.
Leave it too steep for 2-3 days and then strain out the solids using the cheesecloth. Now it is ready to use! You really shouldn’t leave this any longer than a few days to steep and you should plan to use it right away. If you’re not able to use it right away, you can add molasses and provide aeration again, but this is generally not advised.
So now you can pour your compost tea directly onto the soil your plants are growing in. Alternatively, you can fill up a spray bottle with your tea and give your foliar a generous serving of compost tea. Watch your plant enjoy the extra nourishment!
