In article
,
Tad wrote:

On Nov 18, 7:43 pm, wrote:
I tried my hand at brewing some compost tea, but I think my pump was
too weak. The tea smells terrible. It's been "brewing" for about two
weeks now. I just added a new pump, but I'm wondering whether I
should just start from scratch or whether there's hope for this
batch? Might the beneficial microbes have already died by now?

What you're smelling is the production of anaerobic organisms. They
create smells similar to vomit, urine, or alcohol. DO NOT USE IT ON
YOUR PLANTS. You could potentially do some major damage to your
plants. Good actively aerated compost tea should smell slightly
earthy or have no smell at all. The same goes for the compost you use
initially.

Here's a good starting place for information:
http://www.soilfoodweb.com/03_about_us/approach.html

Also a great book is for beginners is "Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff
Lowenfels.

What were your inputs into your container? What size pump were you
using? There are many more variables to making good compost tea that
most people realize. Hope we can help!

~Tad
Basically I'm in agreement with Tad but I'm wondering about the wisdom
of putting the compost in cheese cloth. I would remove the cheese cloth,
add a little more molasses, and pour the brew into another container and
continue aeration. Repeat pouring into another container for three to
four days. If the smell does not improve, return it to the compost pile
and start from scratch again without the cheese cloth. This is a good
time to practice as, at least in the northern hemisphere, where the
ground is cooling down and you can't expect too much growth from your
plants anyway.
--

Billy

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars