Water Turns Brown Before Adding Ingredients To My Tea

by Eric
(Stockton, CA, United States)

Is it normal for the water in my brewer to turn brown before I add all of my compost tea ingredients? Even before I turn on the motor it starts leaking out of the compost. Should I be concerned about my compost source?

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Water Turns Brown Before Adding Ingredients To My Tea

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Dec 09, 2011
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You're Seeing Humic Acids
by: Compost Junkie Dave

Hi Eric,

I can't say whether it's "normal" for your brewer water to turn brown, but I can assure you it's a good thing. The chances are really high that what you're seeing is humic acids leaching out of your compost. When you turn the motor on and begin aerating the solution, does the brown color get darker? If so, more than likely, you're using a quality compost, and your brewer is producing sufficient agitation.

You actually stumbled upon a great way to test your brewer and determine whether or not it has sufficient mixing ability. This is one of the two most desire able qualities in a compost tea maker, the other relates to aeration.

The extraction of humic acids from compost also tends to indicate the presence of fungi, so be sure to cater your compost tea recipe to these little guys.

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