DIY Trash-can Compost Tea Brewer - How to Brew Compost Tea

We go into depth on our compost tea brewer we made from a trashcan and some spare 3/4" PVC pipe. Plans to make this brewer at home located below! Additionally, we explain the benefits of compost tea and how we think it should be used in everyone's garden!
Plans for DIY Compost Tea Brewer - www.scribd.com/document/35269...
Air pump - amzn.to/3hw8lLs
Ful Power - amzn.to/2Qo5Zmt
Alfalfa Meal - amzn.to/3uSoZsd
Trash Can - amzn.to/3tMYnI1
Strainer Bags - amzn.to/3tMeVji
Compost Sprayer - amzn.to/3uUBi7l
.
.
.
.
.
Music: www.bensound.com/royalty-free...

[@scmb921]

Like the toilet float and the vid

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Thanks!! Works like a charm!

[@KeraDoa999]

Thanks man, this video is inspiring and valuable information 👍

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Glad it was helpful!

[@hearcamir7810]

Adding unsulphured molasses to the tea makes the-microbes multiply 10 fold!!

[@twiggshomestead6497]

It sure does! They go wild in there :D Soil and plants love it.

[@dhammikagunawardena9412]

Excellent vedio and well explained. Thanks

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Thank you!

[@prahe86]

Great video

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Thanks!

[@callyscraftycorner2463]

Nice! I want to build one soon.

[@twiggshomestead6497]

It was super easy and no glue required. Only expensive part was the air pump.

[@mcchupka9718]

Great topic and video. I plan to start making my own natural compost with a wide range of organic matter. I have read that it takes a year to make a quality compost and it's moisture content has to be monitored and maintained fairly consistent for best results. I have never heard of spraying compost tea on the actual plant. Not to say it cannot be done but just question the efficacy of it. Isn't applying the compost tea to the soil way more effective than spaying the plant? Seems to me the ingredients of the tea could be harmful to the process of photosynthesis and could even cause damage to the tree, depending on the ingredients, such as molasses, alfalfa meal, and dirt particles; and environmental conditions, such as bright sunlight amplifying the effects of moisture. Much better to help the tree through the roots via the soil so those natural processes can take place. My thought is, that spraying the compost tea on the leaves would be similar to humans dumping food on their skin and hoping it finds its way to their mouth. The benefits of putting it on ones skin (human or tree and plant leaves) is way less beneficial and probably, by far, less effective than applying it to the soil so it gets used by the roots or your mouth to strengthen the body, limbs, and skins, so to speak. Thoughts?

[@yusufalbalooshi2723]

Thank you dear brother 👌👌👌

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Most welcome my friend!

[@1eliogsilva]

Great video, how do you clean it? I've Elaine saying that a build up of fil is a huge challenge

[@twiggshomestead6497]

I tip it on its side and rinse it out immediately after use. I don’t let the moisture and slime dry. I’ll use my hand and scrub the sides during the rinse.

[@geraldsteeves283]

I made this to the direction and the bubbles on the bottom would only come up one side and I spent alot of time trying to adjust it bust ended up going back the the air stones and aeromixer. But just got a Tra Lab bubble.snake witch is pretty much the same idea of this. It is a great design I just couldn't get it to work correctly. And I just didn't have the time to figure it out.

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Sorry to hear it didn’t work out! Mine is still kicking and working great. It could have been the size of the holes you cut. They need to be very tiny.

[@qmoonwalker3847]

Maybe I missed it. How many bags of compost do you aerate to make a full garbage can full of tea? Just one bag? Do you recommend adding some worm castings into the compost? I’m new at this. Thanks! Great video!

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Hi! Yes, just one bag or half a bag. The idea is to use a small amount of compost to inoculate the water and GROW the good (aerobic) bacteria and fungi. They will multiply in the water so just introducing them into an ideal environment is what you're aiming for. Not much compost is required to achieve this. Worm castings are AMAZING! If you look behind me in this video, you'll notice a black tote with a yellow lid. That is my worm farm and I always throw and a handful of castings into the brew. I forgot to add them on camera but thank you for the excellent question!

[@qmoonwalker3847]

@@twiggshomestead6497 thanks so much!

[@antonybirkov2081]

Can you do a step by step video showing how you set this up? Many videos do this similar build either sped up or shitty explained

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Yes for sure! I will put it on my video planning board to build a new one in a smaller container. I find that I do not always need 55 gallons of tea. I will make a new one in a 30 gallon can and do a step by step.

[@anncl3983]

I've seen a couple videos of people who have implemented this plan, but none so far of anyone actually building one :(

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Its really easy! Give it a try!

[@philwood9417]

Need to know air fitting from pump to pvc.

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Unsure of the name but I found a brass barbed end to fit my size tubing with a larget 3/4'' end and just rigged it to work lol. It's just air so if there is a tiny bit of a leak, don't sweat it. The electrical tape helps seal it up or even silicone.

[@blackkingz1461]

I was told those hand pump or pressurized pump destroy the microbial life as it goes thru it...not 100% sure

[@twiggshomestead6497]

You are right. Do not use a pump to pump the finished compost tea from the drum or can after it's done brewing. Since this video, I have raised the container up and I gravity feed the tea from the container. The pump that keeps the water moving is an air pump. It only pushed air through the PVC Pipe to the bottom of the container which then bubbles to the top creating an aerobic environment for good bacteria and fungi to grow as well as keeps the water in motion/ circulation.

[@EdiblePlants]

What size pump

[@twiggshomestead6497]

VIVOSUN Air Pump 1750 GPH 102W 110L/min 12 Outlet Commercial Air Pump for Aquarium and Hydroponic Systems (102 W)

[@l.escobar6854]

Hi, Thank you for sharing your set-up. I normally don’t comment on videos but I felt obligated to bring to your attention the risk of contaminating your water source and sharing that with the KZbin community. If the pvc pipe riser shown in your video that connects to both your tea container set-up and your water hose are “directly connected” to your well water tank then you are cross contaminating your water source. Folks on public water supply systems are required to have a back flow preventer valving set-ups. Those can be quite costly so to avoid that you can simply allow an air break (basically a set-up where you physically connect and disconnect to your water supply with say a hose). You want to avoid any possibility where a small amount of non-clean water can flow or touch your clean water. Definitely avoid connecting a source of bacteria (even if it’s beneficial bacteria for the garden) to your clean well water supply. Please revise your video to either state to include an air break is required or a warning to “do not connect directly to your water source”. Thank you!

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Hi thanks for the comment. I am very familiar with the subject. I have replaced this with a ball float valve which does allow an air break. No contaminated water can enter the source. I appreciate the comment and concern!

[@pingpong9656]

Have you done a side by side comparison of applying compost tea and not - I keep hearing conflicting viewpoints... some say it's the bees knees, others say it does nothing more then compost does. What is your real world experience?

[@twiggshomestead6497]

No side by side but if you just think about the science, and how the biology works, this is pretty easy to understand. Bacteria trade nutrients for sugars & starches in the rizosphere at the plant roots. Bacteria multiply in the right conditions. By doing a compost tea you’re just multiplying the available bacteria do perform this task. Sometimes the best way to learn something is to just do it yourself. I will try to do a side by side in the future with a potted plant so keep an eye out for that this spring.

[@pingpong9656]

@@twiggshomestead6497 The theory makes sense for sure - which is why I'm so interested. Definitely makes for an interesting experiment! I would do following combos - garden soil, garden soil + compost, garden soil + compost tea, garden soil + compost + compost tea, garden soil + compost + regular fertilizer. It would get a lot of views!

[@orchidman36]

A LOT OF INFO MISSING EG, HOW AND WHAT METHODS TO USE.

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Let me know what kinds of you info you are looking for, I’d be happy to elaborate or clarify. You can water it right into your containers or beds. You can put this on any plant with roots and it will benefit one way or another. What this is doing is feeding the soil around the plants roots in turn increasing the biological activity at the root zone (rhizosphere) and allowing the plant to trade a wider variety of nutrients at a higher quantity. I hope this helps.

[@vinniekoltes4201]

Learning organic farming at growing your greens - go to that channel - you copied the design they created , should give them a little shot out , plus the ball valve should have a 1” Bulk head with 3/4 I.D. Lots of us organic growers don’t like using glues or silicones …

[@twiggshomestead6497]

It's an open-source design originating from the University of Oregon. Many KZbinrs have videos on it. This is just my take! Email or message me direct and I will share the schematic with you so you can publish a video on your take!

[@tommillar8382]

Tom

[@twiggshomestead6497]

Thanks Tom