Bpgreen said: "You got the correct answer the first time. My friend is correct; you did get the correct answer the first time. However, another of the reasons one doesnÂt want to use leachate is due to the fact that during the beginning of the composting process many toxic chemicals are generated. Only after an extended period of time (depending on what is being composted, size of materials, etc.) do the beneficial microbes digest these toxins. Having too much liquid in a compost pile/tumbler is avoided for this reason (among others). Speed of decomposition, lessening of harmful toxins, and odor control all play a part in the reasons why suggestions are given to avoid too much moisture. And too, having a optimal C:N ratio (or close to it) and large enough of an organic pile can play their part as well. If one feels these are not good enough reasons to avoid using leachate on plants, one can still use the liquid on their plants. However, IMO waiting until the compost is at least "finished" has/will given the best and safest results when using/making compost tea (not leachate)Â Blutranes

"It IS evidence, but it's not proof." Pablo: Suspicion is not evidence. That is an absolute statement. rangier: I have seen evidence in my garden, and in others' that compost teas give disease resistance. I won't call it proof, but it makes me strongly suspect that it does. Note I didn't say only ACT, I said "compost teas." "I've not seen studies that say either way." Pablo: I have. rangier: OK. Then act accordingly. "You seem to be saying that nothing is true until it is proven to your high standard" Pablo: Nothing is proven until it is proven. There is a way to do that. rangier: That's not what I said, is it Pablo? Re-read it. Notice the word "true?" I am saying that something that is proven to be true, was true before it was proven, i.e. if spraying compost tea (any kind) on foliage helps with disease or pests, then it does so now, whether proven or not. Since I'm spraying it anyway, it *may* be a *possible* additional benefit. "It is reasonable to suspect that some of the tens of thousands of strains in a good ACT or maybe in non-ACT will do the same." Pablo:Common sense does not prove it either. People used to believe that stress CAUSED ulcers. They were wrong. Common sense. Theory guides and experiment decides- the experiments have shown no benefit over other methods. rangier: You continue to argue with things I didn't say. Did I say it proved it? I suspect it from my experience and others'. Pablo: There are common sense reasons that those bacteria will not survive being sprayed/dried etc. and having a rapid change of environment. I won't say that's evidence they don't work. rangier: I agree that it is not evidence either way. Dead or alive, they may trigger an immune response. Moisture is present on foliage from transpiration. Notice I didn't use the words "prove," or "proof." Pablo:Fact is- there's just no evidence that it does any more. That's not some extremely high standard to ask that there be some evidence that it does more before it's taken as the truth. It's not even a theory yet- it is only hypothesis. I'm probably being generous saying even that because of the studies that show no benefit over non ACT. rangier: I didn't say that it(ACT) does more(than non), did I Pablo. Pablo:Don't let your dogma get in front of your karma on this. rangier: Huh? You too. Pablo:I really don't know why people get so defensive when I say this. It's not proven to be more effective. That's a fact. Even when people agree with me they seem to get defensive about it here. rangier: I'm not being defensive, Pablo. I am puzzled at why you keep presenting arguments countering things I didn't say. rangier

I started making and using compost tea about two months ago after a wonderful Texas lady named Janet told me about it. She has a lot more space than I do and brews without aeration and has a bucke for each row of her garden. I have only two buckets worth of space so I did more research. Searching on Compost Tea will give you many links and everyone of them are different. I stuck with the ones not trying to sell me anything. My compost tea made my plants grow faster, transplant better, and now I hope also to produce better! I do not have a compost pile ready to use so I buy a bag of compost instead. I put a small coffee can of compost into cheese cloth and tie or rubberband it together to make a tea bag. I fill a five gallon bucket with water (not all the way to the top or it will spill over) then I drop a fish pond pump with a one inch hose connected to it in the bottom and let it bubble for 24 hours. This is supposed to help remove chlorine and other chemicals from the tap water-same principal you use to refill an aquarium! At the end of the 24 hours I dump my compost tea bag into the water, add about 1/4 cup of molasses ( all I can find here is liquid at grocery store, make sure it is unsulphered) If you have dry molasses ad a handful or so. Let it bubble for another 24 hours. Find something to drain the tea bag with, I use a flat from Lowes that plants came in sitting across the top of the bucket and I let it drip as much as it will. When done, I turn off the pump and use one of those battery operated sprayers made to replace the caps on things like bug spray, and I spray away until it is gone. Note I did have to tie cloth around the sprayer end that sits in the water because it gets clogged even when using the teabag. You can add other things as your plants need before spraying such as fish emulsion, kelp, seaweed, corn meal (whatever your plant needs)or add them at the beginning of the brew, you can even add miricle grow. I spray both the foliage and water the soil with it. The addition of molasses seems to have chased off a nasty colony of huge black ants I had building a city in my back yard and making my weeping willow into a nursery! Oh and after you untie your compost tea bag, use whats in there to mulch with or throw it in your compost pile. There is also a company that makes reuseable mesh bags for this that I think were about $5 each. I may buy some later but for now with drought and no work, I will stick with an old tshirt or cheesecloth! If you would like to see how my garden grows here in Villa Rica GA, it is out of control, and I have never had this kind of growth in any kind of garden, check out my myspace page...look for pics, albumns, garden albumn and then the tomato plants, you can also see my friends garden and we started seed at the same time and put plants into the garden at same time. His are disturbingly samll and need some attention while mine are overgrown and lush and beautiful! I definitely recomend compost tea! http://www.myspace.com/kelleyville Here is a link that might be useful: Kelleyvilles's myspace page for garden pics!

totoro, my roses have really responded well to the tea. It's the best they've looked all year, so I'm bummed it's getting cold. I so hope all my buds eventually open. I also "accidentally" made some compost tea so I sprayed that with a little bit of AT directly on the leaves to combat BS. It's hard to know if worked, but even the worst offenders haven't caught BS yet, so who knows. Usually those grow back with BS, though. I'll try it from the first of the season next year now that I see how easy it is with my new Chapin mosquito sprayer. Samuel, you are so far ahead of us. We haven't lost any leaves and everything is still green. That will probably change with the cold this week. I've been putting the remainder of this years compost in bags leaving just enough to help with the microbes. I really need a source of nitrogen. Nobody bags grass around here so maybe it's time to try the coffee grounds. The thought has crossed my mind that applying it directly may help with midge due to the ph, but I haven't read any research on that. I have a separate place for my food waste. I'd still like to try turkey manure, but I lost access to a truck so It's bagged for me, I guess. What other easy sources of N could I find? I brought in all my houseplants and cuttings/rootings. I think I can leave my 5gal. potted roses out a bit longer. I don't think my coal cellar is that cold yet. I wonder what the temp needs to be to induce dormancy?