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| Hello there,
Not sure where to post this so.... Situation is I planted 3 heathers and surrounded them with mulch and I fear that the mulch is robbing nutrients and though the heathers are alive they don't look so good. So, I would love to put some compost tea... but have no finished compost.... I got some worm tea from a neighbor and poured some on, but it was raining.... worried the nutrients could wash away...
So, I made some manure tea in a 5 gallon home depot plastic pail.
So, I read someone killed off some of there plants by using manure tea so.... how long to wait? Am I going to do more harm than good? Your guidance is needed cuz I am lost... thank you. Mike |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 1, 11 at 12:53
| First, mulches don't 'rob' nutrients, so that's not really a concern. With our winter in the PNW, it is more likely the heaths and heathers are suffering from wet feet and that might be encouraged by too thick a layer of mulch, depending on type. It wouldn't hurt to pull the mulch away from the plants and if you must, apply a light sprinkling of an acid lovers fertilizer rather than some homebrewed concoction (the worm tea is excellent....but what's the point of the coke??). Heaths and heathers really do not require much in the way of fertilization - just good drainage, sun and appropriate pH. |
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| Thanks for your reply... I thought that as mulch breaks down it takes nitrogen from around it and hence nitrogen poor? So need to add nitrogen? Sugar from coke would help the brew? wet feet, pull away the mulch... I will work on that. Thanks, Mike |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 1, 11 at 22:06
| The nitrogen tie-up from mulch or topdressing is minimal. And is primarily associated with wood-based mulches. Much more of a concern if these materials are incorporated into the soil. Sugar (usually in the form of molasses) is often added to an aerobically brewed compost tea because it stimulates the populations of microrganisms. In an anaerobic (no air introduced) compost or manure tea, the addition serves no purpose. Heaths and heathers are really tough plants -- just look at how they grow in their native environment. Other than the items I listed previously and proper watering their first year, they require minimal attention and no particular need for fertilization. Prune 'em back hard after their bloom season to keep them compact and to avoid an excessively woody interior. |
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| Is your soil acidic? Heather will be miserable if it's not. |
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- Posted by Darlene Hawaii(Kapohofarm@yahoo.com) onTue, Sep 27, 11 at 13:58
| My recipe for manure tea is to fill a 30 gallon garbage can 1/4 full of horse manure the rest with water. I stir it once a week. After two weeks in the garbage can i transferred some of the manure into a nylon stocking and placed the stocking in a different garbage can and filled the can with water. The water turned brown and i continued to "steep" the tea. But two weeks has gone by and now i have weird maggot type worms multiplying in the "steeped" tea! Is this common to have these kind of worms? I will remove the nylon stocking of manure to see if that helps. Are the maggots safe for plants? Should i dump the tea and start over? |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Tue, Sep 27, 11 at 15:24
| Tea has to be used right away unless you aerate it by bubbling air through it. The high levels of bacteria will chew on the high levels of organic matter and use up all the oxygen. Then the tea goes anaerobic, smells bad and attracts insects. And if your manure was not already composted, it can have pathogens like e coli which thrive in anaerobic conditions. Not knowing what type of bugs you have there, it is hard to tell, but if they are floating just under the surface, they might be mosquito larvae. They (and most others) will not hurt your plants, but you certainly don't want to be breeding mosquitos. So probably best to use this stuff (dilute and pour it around plants) and start over. Either use it right away or invest in the equipment to aerate it. There are threads here and elsewhere on aerated compost tea to guide you. PS It is generally best to post a new question in a brand new thread, you may get better (more) responses. |
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