Compost Tea 1 cf Bag

To add to the confusion over compost tea, there’s also disagreement over what it is. Some composting books describe suspending compost in a pail of water to allow the nutrients to leach into the water. In this case, compost tea is simply a leachate. (Manure tea is made in a similar way, but uses manure instead of compost.)

Other sources are very specific in defining compost tea as something that is brewed – and is not a leachate. These refer to a mixture uses microbes grown aerobically (with air). This is often called Aerated Compost Tea or ACT.

Brewed compost tea
Compost tea brewers are more concerned with microbes than nutrients. As we’ve seen before, microbes are tremendously important for soil structure, maintaining balance in the soil and in releasing nutrients to plants.

You need to apply a lot of compost to get results.
The microbes in compost tea reach plant roots a lot faster than the microbes in compost.
Unlike compost, compost tea can be applied to plant leaves. Here they compete for space with pathogens, and in some cases protect the leaves from attack.
Using compost tea helps increase the diversity of microbes in your soil.