AVCT & VCT aka worm tea
From WormWiki
I followed a few guides on the web, here is my avct.Aerated Vermicompost tea or compost tea are make a great foliar treatment to encourage microbial activity in your plants/garden/soil.
- If using chlorinated water you can let it sit for a day, or put the aerating stones in and let it bubble for a few hours, rain water would avoid the need.
- Use about 1 cup of castings per gallon
- You can also add sifted finished compost for even more microbial growth. I used about 1/3 of the bucket full.
- After a few hours add a dollop TBSP of unsulfered molasses to feed the microbes.
- Continue to stir and add molasses every few hours to feed microbes, depending on amount of aeration it will take about 18-24 hours, ymmv, you can let it continue to brew as long as you add more food. If it smells bad I'd dump it on the compost pile.
- Clean everything w/ a hose and hydrogen peroxide when done.
- Hose sprayers would be best to use an inline hose filter to remove chlorine, it will kill off some of the microbes you want to introduce to your garden/foliage/soil.
- It will need to be strained if you're going to use a hose end sprayer, I used a watering can for my small garden, I just had to shake it when the nozzle got clogged.
- I paid $20 usd for the pump 30-60 gallon air pump. The air stones were about $6 for 2 of them, $3 for all purpose air hose, and the garbage can was around $10. It could be done cheaper, but I figure for a lifetime of gardening, it's not too much.
- Some people like to hang the vc and compost in paint bags to make less work for straining, one guide actually used two small airstones in the paint bag and two more in the bottom of the bucket.
- AVCT is best applied on overcast days, or early morning before the sun is out on a day that won't be above about 86f 30c.
- These are not firm hard facts, but what I compiled from many threads and other online tutorials.
I started w/ a sterilite 6 gallon garbage can. I cut the middle of the lid so the pump could sit flush on top.
Here it is all put together, I used some clear silicone on the feet but also drilled two holes and used nylon cable ties to hold the pump to the lid. I drilled holes in the lid for the air hoses.
I had a paint stirrer, but it wasn't long enough. I used a garden stake to make it longer.
A little bit frothy. I used some bailing wire and another hole in the lid to hang it when I'm stirring.
