Mushroom compost is an organic by-product of mushroom cultivation that contains various organic ingredients. As such, it serves as an ideal soil amendment that builds soil health while increasing water capacity and improving clay-like soil structures.

Gardeners commonly utilize mushroom compost tea – a beverage brewed from finished compost – as an inexpensive source of fertilization. While there are various mushroom compost tea methods and recipes, all involve similar fundamental principles.

Benefits

Mushroom compost is an agricultural byproduct resulting from mushroom cultivation, consisting of straw, manure and gypsum that has been prepared specifically to foster mushroom growth before being used as a soil amendment after crop cycle has ended. Packed with essential nutrients that promote soil structure improvement as well as water infiltration and permeability to enhance health benefits in gardens, mushroom compost makes an excellent addition.

Traditional compost is created through mixing and heating organic materials to break down cellulose and release nutrients, but mushroom compost differs by being made in an anaerobic fermentation. Fungi responsible for growing mushrooms produce their own sugars by digesting straw and other plant matter containing nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon dioxide from these sugars released as waste by digestion; producing an extremely nutritious yet well-balanced compost suitable for garden beds, vegetable gardens or creating an indoor nutrient tea for houseplants or other houseplants.

Commercial mushroom composts are usually sterilized prior to packaging, eliminating any chance of weed seeds or harmful pathogens contaminating their contents. By comparison, homemade mushroom compost requires an elaborate process which can be hazardous if done incorrectly.

Mushroom compost adds organic material and beneficial microorganisms that fight disease, pests and nematodes in garden soil, while at the same time loosening heavy soils while providing body for light soils. As such, mushroom compost makes for an excellent addition for flower beds and vegetable gardens; particularly those that contain clay-like soils as it improves drainage.

Mushroom compost can also be used as a top dressing on lawns, though its high concentration of soluble salts should be avoided for salt-sensitive plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons as it could interfere with germination and damage young plants. Incorporating mushroom compost into containerized plant mixes helps retain moisture levels while improving air circulation; and can even be steeped for 24 hours in water before steeping as liquid fertilizer or foliar spray; its tea form provides extra benefits directly onto leaves for enhanced nutrients for maximum benefits!

Ingredients

Mushroom compost tea is made by mixing the leachate from mushroom compost or vermicompost with nutrients specifically tailored to support microbial growth, providing plants and soils with beneficial microorganisms that provide essential benefits. For maximum effectiveness, quality materials must have an ideal balance of bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and other organisms needed for beneficial mushroom compost tea production.

Good mushroom composts provide the right bacteria and fungi for making compost tea, yet can be costly. When purchasing mushroom composts, ensure you request biological assessments so you know exactly which organisms comprise each compost pile – this way you will ensure you’re getting an array of bacteria and fungi suitable for creating an effective compost tea brew.

Brewing tea requires using either dechlorinated or rainwater, in order to infuse enough oxygen into the tea to ensure it remains aerobic throughout its brewing cycle. Many add vinegar or citrus acid such as citric acid in order to keep their tea from going anaerobic, while if using tap water you should allow 24 hours for all chlorine and chloramines present to evaporate away before drinking it.

Mushroom compost tea often includes other essential ingredients like humic acids and kelp for its nutritional benefits. Both ingredients provide essential sources of organic carbon that help aerate and enrich its content, with humic acid acting as food for both bacteria and fungi in the tea.

Kelp provides much more than humic acid; it offers many essential nutrients including trace minerals and biological stimulants like auxins, gibberellins and cytokinins – plant hormones which promote growth.

Alfalfa meal is an excellent source of protein, amino acids, natural sugars and starches as well as many soluble nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and calcium (Ca) plus magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S) and sulfate (MgSO4).

Preparation

Mushroom compost tea begins by starting with a high-quality source of organic matter such as your garden compost or spent mushroom substrate, which contains many of the same essential nutrients found in regular compost. Used alone or combined with other types of soil (potting or vegetable garden bed beds) spent mushroom soil can improve texture by breaking up clay-like soils while its microbes help retain water in soil while increasing microbial activity and improving its structure.

Compost tea ingredients are combined in a bucket and fermented for 12 to 36 hours, stirring periodically to introduce oxygen into the solution and achieve proper pH balance. Some brewers opt for aquarium pumps as an aeration method while others believe non-aerated compost tea works just as effectively.

Though making liquid compost may seem unusual, its microbes can prove extremely beneficial to plants. Not only are they capable of digesting organic compounds in soil and degrading harmful pathogens, but these microbes can also promote root growth, strengthen soil structure and increase nutrient availability.

To create the brew, compost must be aerated and contain additional ingredients to provide shelter for microorganisms. When it comes time for fermentation, placing your batch of compost in a dark bucket helps avoid light dissuading microbes from emerging. Also helpful is adding bulky materials, like rock dust or kelp for growing fungi to thrive in.

Some individuals mix commercial mushroom compost catalyst, available at most gardening stores. This catalyst works to wake up the microbes present in the compost and encourage their reproduction; after which the liquid can be sprayed on either leaves of plants or soil around it to treat diseases, increase nutrient density or lessen insect attacks.

Storage

Mushroom compost is an organic soil amendment suitable for vegetable garden beds, perennial beds, shrubs and trees. Rich in organic matter and nitrogen content, mushroom compost helps improve soil structure, water capacity and aeration over time – perfect for amending clay-like soils! Mushroom compost tea is made by boiling finished mushroom compost with other ingredients; then using this liquid solution as a foliar spray on plants for an infusion of soil microorganisms that might otherwise go amiss!

Mushroom farmers often sell the soil they use to cultivate mushrooms as spent mushroom substrate (SMS), a rich mix of organic material with an ideal pH range between 6-7. SMS can be applied as top dressing on garden beds or mixed in as part of an amendment system.

Compost tea can also be made using hardwood dust, coconut coir mixed with vermiculite and various manures such as horse and chicken manures; peat moss, rice or cottonseed hulls as well as canola or soybean meal are other ingredients which make up its foundation.

Compost tea should be prepared during spring or fall when temperatures are more temperate, taking about two weeks to brew completely. Agitation and aeration will likely be needed, with an air pump recommended as an essential way of keeping oxygen flowing into the mixture.

As part of your compost tea-making efforts, it is important to remember that finished mushroom compost may contain various bacteria and fungi species – some beneficial and increasing over time; while some could potentially harm your garden.

As part of your preparation to make mushroom compost tea, water quality should also be taken into account. Chlorine and chloride are detrimental to aerobic bacteria and fungi necessary for fermentation; chlorinated tap water should either be boiled for several hours prior to use or left sitting out for at least 24 hours, with older faucet water providing optimal brewing results.