IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MANURE TEA, A COMPOST LEACHATE, A COMPOST EXTRACT AND BREWED COMPOST TEA?
Many people confuse the first three of these liquids as compost tea; as often they are erroneously called or referred to as being compost tea. The most common mistake is confusing compost tea with a leachate – a steeped solution that basically is compost soaked in a bucket of water and allowed to ferment for a matter of days or weeks. This is not compost tea and may contain pathogenic anaerobic bacteria! To help clarify the differences we have listed the following definitions and differences: Manure Tea: is basically a water extract of manure with soluble nutrients. This is typically high in nitrates, salts, phosphorus and potassium. Without using antibiotics in the animal feed it can contain high amounts of harmful bacteria. Fungal biomass will be extremely low; it often contains root-feeding nematodes, and almost always contains human and/or animal pathogens. Compost Leach ate: is the product you get from draining water through compost. It contains soluble nutrients but very few orga
