Make Your Own Compost Tea

Compost tea is a great way to introduce nutrients to your plants. In an urban gardening project, this is a great natural alternative to using plant food. Of course, the first and most important ingredient is compost. You can either purchase the compost or create your own using these simple steps for an indoor set-up. Making compost tea can be as involved or as simple as you'd like, depending on your gardening needs. The goal of making compost tea is to put the benefits of compost into liquid form.  Here, I will share the simplest technique I have used for making compost tea for use with various indoor plants.

The basic equipment is the cut off leg of nylon stocking, compost, water, and a container. Here, I used a 64 oz container.

Insert the nylon stocking into the empty container, wrapping it around the top to create a lip. Carefully fill the stocking with the compost.

Once halfway full, tie the stocking off and around the top of the container. Fill the container with water and let sit for 4-6 hours.

What you will end up with is water that looks pretty dirty, but is actually full of nutrients for your plants. Of course, the better the compost, the better the tea, so I recommend either using your own or researching where to purchase good compost to ensure a balanced nutrient content. After 4-6 hours, you can either water plants directly, or fill a spray bottle for light use.