How To Make Chicken Soup Compost Tea™
Chicken Soup for the Soil® has everything you need to make the best compost tea on earth. No need to add molasses, minerals, seaweed, sea solids, humic or fulvic acids, ground rock powder or anything else. This is the ultimate nutrient booster for your soil and plants!
Step 1. Get a 5 gallon bucket and add 1 part Chicken Soup For The Soil to 9 parts water ( 1/2 gallon Chicken Soup & 4.5 gallons water).
Step 2. Add your choice of microbes (a handful of good quality soil, or pure earthworm castings).
Step 3. Stir what is in your bucket and place in a warm room or outside if it is summer. The main thing is to keep it warm.
Step 4. Stir often, at least daily....more frequently is better. Alternatively, just add 1 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide and you will be good to go.
Fermenting time will vary depending on temperature:
80f to 90f ready in three days. 70 to 80f four or five days. Under 70f about a week. Can’t hurt to use early but not as effective.
Can be used as a foliar but dilute at least 1 part tea to 10 parts water.
Can be used on the soil straight.
Why Compost Tea Is The Best Thing For Your Soil
Chicken Soup Compost Tea™ is the ultimate in soil and plant nutrition. This compost tea enhances all the nutrients and minerals that come in Chicken Soup for the Soil® by reacting the ingredients with live microbes. When you make compost tea you are essentially multiplying the good microbes before they are added to the soil or sprayed on as a foliar. Microbes play an important part in a balanced soil ecosystem and help produce higher quality plants.
The microbes will multiply in the bucket while ingesting Chicken Soup for the Soil®... it is their waste that is the ultimate super sauce for plants. This means that you are taking the best fertilizer and making it even better. When used as a foliar it creates biological exclusion on the leaf... higher quality plants with less problems!
FAQs
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Most compost tea recipes require you to source and add separate ingredients like molasses, seaweed, humic acid, fulvic acids, and rock powder. Chicken Soup For The Soil® already contains all of those nutrients in one formula. You just add water and microbes, and the brewing process does the rest. The result is a compost tea that delivers complete nutrition with minimal effort.
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All you need is a 5-gallon bucket, Chicken Soup For The Soil®, water, and a source of beneficial microbes. Mix half a gallon of Chicken Soup with 4.5 gallons of water, then add a handful of quality soil or pure worm castings as your microbial food source. Stir daily, keep it warm, and your compost tea brew will be ready in three to seven days depending on ambient temperature.
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Not with this method. Many aerated compost tea setups require an air pump to keep aerobic microbes alive during brewing. With Chicken Soup Compost Tea™, stirring frequently works well. If stirring isn't possible, adding 1 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide supplies oxygen for the beneficial microbes.
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Timing depends on temperature. At 80 to 90 degrees it's ready in about three days, at 70 to 80 degrees expect four to five days, and under 70 degrees it takes roughly a week. While safe to use early, allowing it to ferment fully results in a stronger finished compost tea with more active microbes. Avoid letting it sit too long under anaerobic conditions, which can produce a sour smell and reduce quality.
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Yes. When used as a foliar spray, compost tea creates biological exclusion on the leaf surface, which helps protect against disease and supports healthier plants with fewer problems. Dilute at least 1 part tea to 10 parts water before spraying. Applied directly to the soil, you can use it at full strength. Both methods deliver beneficial microbes and soluble nutrients that improve soil health and support stronger plant growth throughout the growing season.
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When you brew compost tea, you're multiplying beneficial microbes before adding them to your soil. Those microbes drive nutrient cycling, break down organic matter, and improve soil structure over time. A healthy soil food web is the foundation of healthy soil and stronger plants. Chicken Soup Compost Tea™ takes that a step further by combining live microbial activity with the full range of nutrients already in Chicken Soup For The Soil®. It's the best liquid fertilizer you can make at home.
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Worm tea and manure tea both have value as soil amendments, but they're limited by what's in the source material. Worm tea from a worm castings setup delivers beneficial microbes but lacks the trace minerals and complete nutrition found in Chicken Soup For The Soil®. Manure tea varies widely in quality depending on the source and can introduce unwanted pathogens if not composted properly. Chicken Soup Compost Tea™ gives you a consistent, nutrient-loaded compost tea every time without the guesswork.