Compost Teas: 24 hour, EM, IM, BD & fermented plant extracts

[John Boegman <john_boegman AT yahoo.com>]

I make my own compost, turning it daily and monitoring the temperature,
so I know I have compost that has stayed above 140 degrees for 10 days
and has been aerated daily. I also keep several worm boxes for
vermicomposting, so I plan on using a combination of compost and
castings for the tea.  I've just made a small compost brewer using an
aquarium pump and a 5-gallon bucket -- since I am only using this in my
home garden, I don't need an industrial sized brewer. My question is
how does one tell when the compost tea is finished brewing?

Also, Dr. Ingham's article said to blow off any possible chlorine in
the water before brewing the tea by letting the pump aerate the water
for an hour.  That made good sense to me until I realized that I use
the water straight from the tap when watering my garden.  If there is
any chlorine in the water, won't the weekly sprinklers and drip
emitters be killing all the microbes my tea is introducing?

Thanks in advance!

John Boegman



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