Compost tea is all the rage but does it really work? Research studies so far have produced mixed results. The science to support the use of aerated tea on crop plants, lawns, shrubs, or trees is very weak, at best.
There seems to be a lot of work done in this area but much of it is not published in peer reviewed journals and most of it has been done in labs and greenhouses, not in the field. Until the work is repeated in the field we can’t conclude it works in gardens.
The other problem is that controls have been poorly selected. For example, in one study (ref 3) they compared ACT compost tea to water, using lettuce that had been under-fertilized. Guess what, compost tea improved growth. This only proves that adding nutrients, when they are deficient, will improve growth. The study never compared compost tea to adding nutrients in other ways.
In this post I will review one study that compared the use of compost to compost tea, in field conditions.
What is Compost Tea?
I have discussed this in detail on another post; Compost Tea. In this post I will only look at ACT, also called AACT – Actively Aerated Compost Tea. This tea is made by adding compost to water, and bubbling air through it for several days.
Overview of the Research Project
The research paper is called “Wood Chips and Compost Improve Soil Quality and Increase Growth of Acer rubrum and Betula nigra in Compacted Urban Soil”, by Bryant C. Scharenbroch and Gary W. Watson.
Testing took place in an urban-like setting, designed to mimic a new development. Top soil was removed, the soil was compacted with construction-type equipment and 3 cm of top soil was replaced. Trees and grass, were planted to mimic a normal backyard. The trees were treated in a variety of ways; only water, compost tea, commercial bacterial concoction, wood chips, compost or fertilizer.
The purpose of the study was to look at the effect of each treatment on soil and on tree growth.
Each tree received the same amount of water, either as part of the treatment, eg compost tea, or as a separate watering. Analysis of soil samples were done by independent labs. Half of the 60 trees were removed after 4 years, and the remaining ones after 6 years. Average results are reported for 5 years.
During the test period, the liquid additives were applied on a regular basis, and compost and wood chip thicknesses were renewed yearly.
ACT compost tea was made using equipment designed for the purpose; Geotea-250 made by Greater Earth Organics. The compost used was obtained from Purple Cow Organics and the standard procedures of NOP (National Organic Program) were used to make the tea.
Soil Foodweb Inc, associated with Dr. Ingham, was used to test ACT as well as the compost and wood chips used in this study. Dr. Ingham is a strong proponent of compost tea, and by using her testing procedures we can be sure that it was done without bias against compost tea.
The Importance of Microbes
Proponents of compost tea will tell you that it is the microbes in the tea that make all the difference. Dr. Ingham has made these claims; ACT will increase nutrient availability and retention via microbial mineralization and immobilization, build soil structure and decrease the effects of compaction, detoxify soil and water, and suppress disease by inducing competition among disease (anaerobic) and beneficial (aerobic) organisms.
In this post we will look at ACTs ability to increase microbial populations, decrease compaction and influence plant growth.
Measuring Microbes
The main philosophy behind ACT is that by taking compost and brewing it in the presence of air, you can increase the microbe population. The resulting high levels of microbes will benefit the soil and the plants. How many microbes are in ACT?
This study used Soil Foodweb Inc to measure the number of microbes. The table below shows normalized results.
The brewing process reduced the bacterial population, on a weight basis, by 68% and the fungi population by 99%. This does not mean that brewing reduced the number of microbes. 8 L of compost was added to 840 L of water to make tea. Assuming a bulk density of 650 Kg/cubic meter, bacteria increased by a multiple of 52 and fungi doubled.
Microbes in ACT, Compost and Wood Chips
How does the microbe population compare between the main treatments used in this study? The following table shows the data. Note that the compost used to make ACT was not the same compost that was used as mulch.
CBP is an unnamed, commercial biological product that provides microbes for soil enhancement. It also contained maltodextrin (48%), yeast extract (5%), soluble seaweed (13%), humic acids derived from leonardite (17%), precipitated silica (8%), leonardite extract (6%), and polyethylene glycol (3%).
This table shows the microbe populations in the material used to treat the trees. It does not take into account the actual amount added to each tree.
A big surprise for me was the microbe count on wood chips. They are not as high as ACT or compost, but they are significant. What is not clear is how easily these microbes get into the soil. Do they stay attached to the wood, or does rain wash them onto the soil?
This table shows the amount of bacteria and fungi that were actually applied to the trees. The numbers are Kg/100 square meters/year. Other microbes such as ciliates are not expected to have an effect on soil or plants, so their number is not included.
It might surprise you to see that the amount of microbes used for ACT and CBP is so much lower than compost and wood chips. The amounts added follow standard application procedures for each product. It is common to see ACT recommendations that use very dilute solutions and the application rates used in this study are within the range recommended by Dr. Ingham.
Improvements in Soil Quality
The following soil parameters were measured; density, moisture, organic matter, respiration, pH, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Density is a measure of the degree of compaction. A lower density indicates soil that is less compacted and of better quality.
Respiration is a measure of the amount of CO2 produced. A higher level indicates that the microbe population is higher and more active in decomposing organic matter – the soil is healthier.
ACT and CBP did improve the soil density but not nearly as much as compost or wood chips. As far as the other soil parameters go, ACT and CBP had limited effect.
It is not surprising that ACT does not add a lot of nutrients – it is mostly water. For more on this see my post, Compost Tea NPK Values.
The amount of bacteria added sounds like a lot, but it isn’t when compared to the organic matter in soil, which explains why ACT did not increase organic matter.
What should be surprising to the proponents of compost tea is that respiration did not go up. This is a major claim for compost tea. ACT adds missing microbes to the soil and increases the level of both bacteria and fungi. The results of this study show that neither ACT nor CBP resulted in an increase in microbe activity.
Compost added twice as many bacteria as wood chips, but had the same respiration rates. Adding bacteria to soil does not seem to make a big difference.
Both compost and wood chips had significant effects on all of these parameters. I have discussed this in my previous post; Mulch – How Does It Affect Soil?
The numeric values can be seen in figure 2, reference 2.
Improvements in Plant Growth
Enough of this science data – did ACT and CBP improve plant growth? That is really the important question.
To measure tree growth, the total mass of the tree, including roots, was weighed.
After five years the total tree mass under wood chips was 170% greater than the control trees which received just water. The mass of trees receiving compost were 82% higher. Neither ACT nor CBP had any effect on tree growth.
Adding Microbes to Soil
One of the main claimed benefits of compost tea, and ACT in particular, is that the soil needs more microbes. Adding microbes makes the soil come alive, making it healthier.
In this study the addition of microbes does not correlate with changes in soil or plant growth. ACT and CBP added microbes but had limited effect on soil and none on plant growth. Compost added the highest level of bacteria, but produced less growth than wood chips.
The problem with compost tea is that it adds very little organic matter. Without the organic matter, you can add all the microbes you want, they won’t do much because they lack food.
Garden soil already has lots of microbes and I bet that if the compost was sterilized before being used, it would show the same results.
Value of Commercial Microbes
CBP is a commercial biological product that not only includes microbes, but several other ingredients that have been claimed to improve soils and make plants grow. In particular it included yeast extract (5%), soluble seaweed (13%), and humic acids. None of these improved plant growth.
The only benefit this product showed is a slight decrease in compaction. It is not worth buying.
Is there Value in Compost Tea?
This study shows no benefits for compost tea. Given the extra work to make it, there seems to be little reason for using it.
There is still the claim that compost tea can suppress diseases when used as a foliar spray. The science for this claim is weak, but it warrants more investigation.
This is just one study and it only looked at the growth of trees, but other studies on compost tea show similar results. Just use compost or wood chips to mulch your garden.
Tea is for drinking on a cold winter night with a little rum in it.
References:
- Compost tea: Examining the science behind the claims; https://puyallup.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/compost-tea-4.pdf
- Wood Chips and Compost Improve Soil Quality and Increase Growth of Acer rubrum and Betula nigra in Compacted Urban Soil; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288097189_Wood_Chips_and_Compost_Improve_Soil_Quality_and_Increase_Growth_of_Acer_rubrum_and_Betula_nigra_in_Compacted_Urban_Soil
A good author to read and reference in your writings would also be Jeff Lowenfels. He writes extensively on bacteria and fungi as well as other nutrients. With a science background he breaks down why, what, et. Fascinating.
A lot of what he says is good – but a lot is also not science based. I have done a thorough review of one of his books.
Teaming with Microbes
The surprising thing to me is the effectiveness of wood chips, even though their nutritional value is less than compost. Is there a theory to explain this?
My guess is that wood chips feed beneficial fungi in the soil to make them more abundant in the soil. Trees do really well in fungally-dominant soils since beneficial fungi help them get food from the soil in the form they like best, helps provide a slightly more acidic pH which they prefer & lots more good stuff (as discussed in books like Teaming with Microbes and Teaming with Fungi).
Compost usually feeds fungi too but more so feeds bacteria. Trees benefit more from beneficial fungi than from beneficial bacteria. Hence the fungi-supporting wood chips should do better for trees than compost.
But for another plant, like a vegetable, compost would likely do better than wood chips since vegetables prefer beneficial bacteria that give them more alkaline growing conditions and nitrogen in nitrate form which they like best. Just my guess though 🙂
“Trees do really well in fungally-dominant soils since beneficial fungi ” – there is no evidence of this.
https://www.gardenmyths.com/fungal-to-bacterial-ratios/
I agree with you GardenGnome.
Awesome,! Thank you.
Thank you for this Robert, I really appreciate what a well constructed resource you’ve put together here.
Hi, Do you know anything about IMO (indigenous micro organisms)? it is a culture of microbes from the forest and used to innoculate soils.
Yes
what can you say about it? can you do a review?
IMO (indigenous micro organisms) – they are natural microbes found in nature. They grow where the habitat suits them. They are already in the soil if the soil supports them. There is no point in buying them to add to soil, because they are either already there or they don’t grow there.
Thank you for the link to an ACTUAL SCIENTIFIC STUDY!!!! As a research scientist and hobby gardner, I find the lack of science and abundance of unfounded claims in the gardening community and “literature” is maddening. I also appreciate your level responses to emotionally biased comments. Keep up the good work!
So, harking back to a much earlier point you raised, Robert, that has me concerned– it was about not knowing whether compost tea might contain pathogenic organisms like salmonella or E. coli, which then could endanger human health by consumption — made me wonder whether the application of manures to vegetable growing soils might pose the same risk.
Your opinion, as always, is much appreciated.
1) Does manure contain pathogenic bacteria – quite possibly
2) Does manure brew them and increase their numbers – quite possibly
3) Is this a bigger concern in manure or manure tea? No idea. I believe it is a minor concern in either case, because of the vast number of microbes in soil – they will outnumber, and outgrow any pathogen. Also, many pathogens like anaerobic conditions which a good soil does not provide.
A bigger concern is probably getting them into a cut while handling the material.
Wow. Talk about bias.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4564151/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270880826_Effects_of_Compost_and_Vermicompost_Teas_as_Organic_Fertilizers
The first study is a greenhouse study, and tells us nothing about what the teas would do in a field trial.
The control was treated with just water. So what this study shows is that compost tea has more nutrients than just water. We knew that before the study was done.
The second reference is not a research study.
The ncbi article actually says… “Plate counts of bacteria and fungi were significantly higher than the initial compost in ACT”. To me, this says that the compost didn’t have as much bacteria and fungi as the tea.
As for not being in a “field trial”…. you could argue that most people don’t use compost tea on their “fields”, but rather in their pot plants.
“you could argue that most people don’t use compost tea on their “fields”, but rather in their pot plants” – you could argue that – but you would be wrong. Most of the time it is used for ground soil.
LOL! How many broad acre farmers do you think are reading this blog and considering making compost tea for their fields? That’s pretty… broad headed of you Robert.
I think it’s more likely that the majority of your readers are gardeners and hobby farmers, not farms runs as a “traditional” business. Therefore, most of your readers are probably considering making compost tea for their pots etc.
Just bringing it back into perspective….
No idea what you are talking about. The post is not about farmers. My comment to you simply says gardeners use it on the ground more than in pots.
What nobody seems to have seen, is that the AACT they used was totally bacterial, and used to inoculate plants that prefer fungal dominance.
A set up bound to fail, necessarily!
It’s not that AACT “doesn’t work”, but just that the basic principle of succession and what that means for the make-up of the microbial herd was not understood, leading to nonsense results and nonsense conclusions.
The concept of adding the correct ratios of bacteria and fungi to soil, for specific plants is not generally accepted.
But lets say you are right – do you have a similar reference that looks that the value of compost tea in field conditions?
There was lab analysis of compounds in available in ACT vs other, particularly just using compost on its own. The lab tests show that compost by itself was significantly higher in all the things claimed are better about ACT, including bacteria. So doesn’t matter what the growing environment or plant is.