Composting With Brewer's Yeast

Brewer's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is a strain of yeast frequently employed in home

beer brewing. Brewer's yeast, water, grains, hops and sugar ferment to form the alcohol
contained in home brews. Brewer's yeast, also known as lager's yeast, water and sugar added
to the compost pile produce much the same reaction, fueling decomposition of organic
materials. Home brewers can add all brewing waste such as spent grains, hops, yeast and stale
beer to the compost pile.

Powdered Brewer's Yeast

Thermophilic bacteria are the most crucial ingredient in a healthy compost heap. Brewer's
yeast can help accelerate the decomposition of organic waste and the growth of beneficial
bacteria. Carbon-rich organic materials such as wood chips, horse bedding, untreated
sawdust, grasses, dried leaves, wood ashes, pine needles, seaweed, garden trimmings, torn
newspaper, kitchen scraps and other organic landscape debris are suitable waste products to
add to the compost pile. Savvy gardeners frequently contact local micro-breweries to obtain
their waste grains and hops to add to the compost pile. When adding a layer of any organic
material to the compost pile, sprinkle the pile with one to three packets of powdered brewer's
yeast. Turn the pile to add oxygen to the mixture.

Batch Composting With Brewer's Yeast

There are dozens of "recipes" for preparing compost starters or accelerators. You can
purchase commercial products online or make your own inexpensive brewer's yeast
accelerator. When you are ready to start a new batch of compost, dissolve one cake or powder
packet of brewer's yeast with 1 cup of granulated sugar in 1 gallon of water. Place the
mixture in a 5-gallon bucket and seal with a tight-fitting lid. Allow the mixture to "brew" or
ferment for five to seven days. Pour the mixture over 50 to 100 pounds of organic waste and
turn the material. Turn the compost pile each month while the temperature remains above
freezing. Water regularly to keep the pile uniformly moist but not soggy.

Compost Tea With Brewers Yeast

You can also create a powerful compost "tea" by placing a few pounds of kitchen scraps in an
old nylon stocking or burlap sack. Tie the stocking or sack closed to form a "tea bag" and
place it in a 5-gallon bucket. Fill the bucket three-fourths full with water. Add one cake of
brewer's yeast and 1 cup black-strap molasses. Fit the bucket with a tight lid and place in a
sunny outdoor location for six to eight weeks. Dilute the compost "tea" with 10 to 12 parts
water. Pour the mixture around the base of garden plants or apply the "tea" as a foliage spray.

Advantages of Brewer's Yeast Composting

Organic compost can increase moisture and nutrient retention in garden soil. Adding brewer's
yeast to the compost pile speeds up decomposition and increases heat. For gardeners who
practice vermiculture or raise worms in the compost pile for their castings, the addition of
brewer's yeast increases the growth of worms and the quantity and quality of worm castings
produced. Snails love beer, and the yeast in the compost will attract them to the pile. Snail
activity helps accelerate compost decomposition.

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How to Make a Homemade Compost

Accelerator
Compost is a nitrogen- and carbon-rich soil amendment made from decomposing leaves,
plant debris, coffee grounds, eggshells and soil. A new compost pile can benefit from an
accelerator or tonic that helps to speed decomposition. By combining a few basic ingredients,
your compost pile will be cooking up nutrient rich soil in no time at all.

Place a 5-gallon bucket on a sturdy work surface or on the ground. Select a bucket that has
not been used to hold chemicals or other potentially harmful contents. Rinse any debris or dirt
from the bucket before using.

Pour 6 ounces of beer into the bucket; beer contains yeast that will help to accelerate the
decomposition process.

Add one-half cup of ammonia to the beer to provide an extra shot of nitrogen to the compost
and help speed up the breakdown of leaves, food and other ingredients in the compost bin.

Pour 2 gallons of warm water into the bucket. Add 12 ounces of soda -- regular not diet -- to
the mixture to introduce extra sugars for microbes to feed on during the decomposition
process.

Pour the mixed tonic over the compost pile. Stir the leaves, scraps and other ingredients with
a shovel, to mix in the tonic thoroughly.

Things You Will Need

 6 ounces beer
 1/2 cup ammonia
 2 gallons warm water
 5-gallon bucket
 12 ounces soda
 Shovel
How to Make a Homemade Compost Tea
Maker
If you're already making compost, you're well on your way toward providing beneficial
microbes to your plants and soil. When it's ready to be used, you could just scoop it onto your
soil and work it in, but one way to deliver the nutrients even faster is to make compost tea
and water your garden with it. The most basic compost tea is made by placing a scoop of
compost into a 5-gallon bucket of water and stirring it every few hours, but you can kick the
quality up a few notches by spending a bit more time making an official compost tea bubbler.

Place a shovelful of compost into a paint strainer bag or, in a pinch, use a burlap sack that's
been aged in the sun. Wrap a rubber band around the top of the bag to keep compost from
coming out of the top.

Drill two 3/4 inch holes into the side of a 5-gallon bucket about 2 inches from the top and 2
inches apart. Place an aeration stone in the bottom of the bucket.

Insert tubing for an aquarium pump through the holes, and attach the ends inside the bucket
to the open holes of the aeration stone.

Place the paint strainer or burlap bag into the bucket and fill the rest of the bucket with water
to just below the holes you drilled.

Cover the bucket with a lid and turn on the air pump. Allow the pump to bubble and aerate
the contents of the bucket for about 24 hours.

Lift the lid occasionally to ensure the tea bag is not stuck on top of the aeration stone and that
bubbles continue to rise to the surface, indicating the aeration stone is doing its job.

Remove the pump and "tea bag" and water plants with the compost tea mixture right away, or
as soon as possible and definitely within 24 hours. The longer you wait, the more chance your
compost will become anaerobic, which may increase the number of potentially-harmful
bacteria and pathogens in it. One way to know if the tea is "bad" is to smell it; if it smells foul
or rotten, it's probably not safe to use. Good compost and compost tea will smell sweet or
earthy, advises "Fine Gardening" magazine.

Things You Will Need

 Shovel
 Paint strainer bag or burlap sack
 Rubber band
 Drill with 3/4 inch bit
 Aerating stone
 2 pieces of aeration tubing, 3 to 4 feet long
 Air pump

Tip

 To really get the microbes fed and growing, add about 1/2 ounce of molasses for every
gallon of water in the compost tea. For this setup, that would equal about 2 ounces of
molasses.

Warning

 Spray the compost maker with water and wipe it down with a clean towel soaked in a
solution of water and bleach to cut down on the possibility of pathogens spreading from
batch to batch.

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Tea Recipe for a Drip Hydroponic System

Drip hydroponic systems produce bountiful crops of just about anything planted in them.
Growers often purchase nutrient concentrates to use in their systems, but you can create your
own nutrient solution for your drip hydroponic system by making compost tea. Whether you
want to use compost tea in because it’s organic, because it's less expensive than a commercial
product or just because you like to do it all yourself, the process of making compost tea is
generally simple.

Basics
Compost tea can be made from any good-quality, well-aged compost that’s ready to be put on
plants. The better your compost, the better the tea will be. Put the compost in an old
pillowcase or a bag made from an old T-shirt. Tie the pillowcase or bag shut, and place it in a
bucket of water. The compost needs to steep in the water for seven days, and the water needs
to be stirred periodically during that period. The tea-making process can be accelerated by
using an aquarium pump and an air stone to aerate the bucket's water, which becomes the
compost tea. If the tea begins to stink, dump it out and start the project again.

Options
An option is to use worm castings instead of, or with, compost to make the tea. Worm
castings are small and nutrient-rich. One or more organic products also can be added at the
start of the tea-making process to give the tea a boost of vital nutrients. Hydroponic suppliers
sell the organic products, which include bat guano, liquefied seaweed and blood meal. After
compost tea finishes steeping, the compost can be removed from the pillowcase or bag and
either dumped back on the compost pile or mixed into garden soil.

Straining Procedure
Straining the compost tea well before trying to use it is necessary. Bits of debris left in the tea
may clog drip holes in the hydroponic system and prevent the system from working. Several
layers of cheesecloth placed in a colander filter most bits of organic matter from compost tea
poured into the colander. An old T-shirt or old nylon stocking also can be used as a filter for
the tea. Allow the tea to stand for several hours after it is filtered. If you see solids in the tea,
then filter it again. Repeat the process until all solids are gone from the tea.

Considerations
Nutrients placed in a hydroponic system are the sole sources of nutrients for the system's
plants. When making compost tea, the results are inconsistent, and you’ll never be quite sure
just what the tea contains when you put it in your hydroponic system. Using compost tea
instead of a purchased nutrient solution in the system makes it harder to ensure the plants
receive the nutrients they need. Troubleshooting problems becomes more difficult as well.
Watch your plants closely, and act immediately if you see discolored leaves, stunted growth
or other signs of nutrient deficiencies.

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How to Make Liquid Fertilizer for a

Hydroponic System
Hydroponic systems feed plants with liquid fertilizers in growing media that do not contain
soil. Most commercial fertilizers only contain major plant nutrients --nitrogen, phosphorous
and potassium. Micronutrients and minerals, such as zinc and iron, are not added because
they are abundant in most soil types. Without soil, each of the essential elements for plant
growth must be added to the hydroponics liquid fertilizer. Specialized fertilizers can be
expensive, so home gardeners sometimes create liquid fertilizers at home. They are not
reliable for large-scale food production, but can perform well for small numbers of plants
when consistent growth is not necessary.
Compost Tea or Worm Tea
Place 1 gallon of compost or 1 pound of worm castings into a 5-gallon bucket.

Fill the bucket with water and stir well.

Aerate the mixture continuously with the aquarium air pump.

Let the bucket sit, out of the direct sunlight, for up to three days. Stir the mixture every day.

Pour the liquid through a disposable filter to strain out the solids. The resulting liquid is the
compost tea, or worm tea, to be used as fertilizer.

Animal and Plant Byproducts

Add 1 gallon of water to a bucket.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of fish emulsion.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of seaweed extract.

Add 1 tablespoon of blood meal.

Stir well and use as fertilizer. Use the same ratio of ingredients for larger volumes, if
required.

Things You Will Need

 Water
 1 gallon of compost
 1 pound of worm castings (alternative to compost)
 1/2 cup of molasses
 5-gallon bucket
 Aquarium air pump
 Disposable filter
 Measuring spoons
 Fish emulsion
 Seaweed extract
 Blood meal

Tip

The essential nutrients for healthy plant growth are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O),
phosphorus (P), potassium (K), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), magnesium
(Mg), boron (B), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), molybdenum (Mo) and chlorine
(Cl).
Formulating liquid fertilizers for hydroponics directly from nutrient and mineral salts is
complicated, and it may only be worth the effort for large hydroponic systems or when 25-
gallon containers are available for mixing the ingredients.