Hi Eric! Looking forward to reading your book! What do you call compost or vermicompost (in dry finished form) mixed with water and immediately fed to plants? I've been told that this is not "Compost Tea" as it is not aerated.
Hi Melanie, thanks for your interest and hope you enjoy the read.
I understand that some authorities define compost teas in different ways and some 'official' organisations have got in a terrible tangle over their definitions and guidance. This is further confused by different definitions in different countries.
My definition of 'compost teas' is anything within the Kingdoms of life that has undergone some degree of decomposition (hence the name) and is mixed into a solution or suspension. So in
answer to your question, I would call it compost tea, but I wound not do it like that. There are a number of different approaches some emphasise soil life, some emphasise nutrient value. Approaches are either aerobic or anaerobic or a combination of the two. I would contend that quality compost has a living aspect that is intrinsic and a million miles away from the sterilised lifeless organic matter you get wrapped in polythene from the supermarket.
You mention 'dry finished form' I would be rather concerned about this because compost is not meant to be dry. With approaches that emphasis soil life
we try to encourage in the mixes, many microorganisms are aquatic living around the thin layers of water around soil particles. I think the issue is that it is not really an off the shelf product because we are dealing with living organisms such as with the AACT approach. Science has not really got a handle on the complexity of the soil organisms we are dealing with in the 'live' aspect and have only identified around 1% let alone thought up way of putting them into dormancy. I think the way forward would be to analyse some soil on a piece of
land that has severe droughts but springs into life very quickly when the rains hit; I'm not saying it's impossible.
