Tea Manure (TM) is the resulting tea after soaking partially dried sheep, cow or horse manure in water for one week. These contain all major nutrients in small quantities but are rich in trace elements and very useful for treating trace element deficiencies.
Choosing the Materials for Tea Manure
* Choose partially dried sheep, cow, carabao or horse manure.
* Use rainwater or underground water if possible. Make sure that the water is free from chemical contaminants.
* Use plastic drum because it is more sturdy and won’t get rusty
Materials Needed for Making Tea Manure
1. One sack partially dried cow, carabao or horse manure – these manure from large ruminants contain beneficial microorganisms
2. Rainwater, underground water or unheated water
3. Plastic drum, 200 liter capacity
Steps in Making Tea Manure
1. Collect partially dried cow, carabao or horse manure
2. Put the manure in a plastic sack or jute sack to make a tea bag.
3. Place the manure tea bag inside the 200 liter plastic drum and put weight. Stone makes a good weight to keep the manure tea bag in the bottom of the drum.
4. Pour water over the tea bag leaving a 20% air gap and cover with cloth or net.
5. Soak the manure tea bag for one week.
6. After 1 week, the color of the tea is rich dark brown and is ready for use.
Uses and Rates of Application of Tea Manure
* Use tea manure as foliar fertilizer – dilute tea manure with equal amount of water and spray weekly throughout the different growth stages of the plant.
* Use full strength or undiluted tea manure as soil drench before planting
* Dilute tea manure with equal amount of water, and then apply directly to the soil to provide micronutrient to the plant and energy for increased microbial activities.
Advantages of Producing Tea Manure
* The supply of manure is always available.
* They can be free or can be purchased at low cost.
* You can make TM at one time because it can be stored. The longer the TM is stored the more potent it becomes because of the increased population of beneficial microorganisms.
Advantages of using Tea Manure
* Tea Manure provides the plant with small quantities of all major nutrients and full range trace elements. It is best to apply Tea Manure as foliar fertilizer because plants can absorb nutrients about 20 times faster through the leaves.
* Tea Manure helps to overcome temporary shortage of nutrient. It provides quick relief for nutrient deficient plants and promotes growth.
* There is no overdose in using Tea Manure and can be applied liberally.
* When applied to the soil, the nutrients in TM are slowly released so it provides a continuous supply of nutrients even in small quantities.
* You can apply undiluted Tea Manure over a compost heap to provide moisture and distribute beneficial microorganisms and nutrients to all parts of the compost heap.
If you decide to produce and use this kind of Liquid Organic Fertilizer (LOF), you must have the following:
* Dependable source of partially dried animal manure
* Labor for collecting, processing and application of Tea Manure
* Capital for purchasing the needed materials for making Tea Manure
Source: e-extension.gov.ph
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