Bullgator asked me to divulge how I use compost tea.
First let me make clear I am NOT one of those people that likes to make everything into rocket science.
What I do is make my own compost out of veggie and fruit kitchen scraps, but also add egg shells too for calcium. Also, all yard trimmings and grass clippings go into the composters. All the kitchen scraps go into a little counter top flip top garbage bin (classic brushed stainless steel) I bought at Target with a removable inside bucket. This gets lifted out and dumped daily into a big tumbling composter outside that has a compost tea reservoir at the bottom. I turn the composters a few times each week by simply rolling them on the roller base. (which is also the compost tea reservoir) I started out with one tumbling composter, but now I have several, each with a different stage of compost. There is always at least one that is completely full of finished compost. Right now I have a surplus, but once I start repotting lilies, lotus, and anything else that needs repotting, I'll be down to almost nothing.
We save gallon milk and OJ containers (the kind with screw on tops), rinse them out, and fill them with compost tea constantly. My composters are outside, and we keep the lids open so rain and sprinkler water gets inside. Every week I can harvest 10-20 Gallons of compost tea from the reservoirs.
Nope, I do not 'aerate'. I don't think it's necessary due to all the jostling the composters get and carrying the containers in to the garage where I store them with the tops slightly unscrewed to let any gasses out. That is the height I go to with compost rocket science.
Every time I water anything, the watering can gets 1/4 to 1/2 compost tea. No, I don't measure it, just eyeball it. But you can also water with straight compost tea, since it is completely composted, it is not strong enough to burn anything. I sometimes top off my lotus bowls and barrels with straight compost tea towards the end of the summer when I do not want to add any more fertilizer, but want to extend my blooming season. I always hear about people who get about a month of blooms from their lotus, and not much more. I get blooms from late spring-early summer all the way to through Fall, following my recipe. (which is a sticky here at Koiphen's Water Gardening Forum https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62853) Then I use my home made compost tea if I notice yellowing leaves and less blooms.
Now if you smell your tea and it smells nasty in any way...it is NOT composted enough. Take that container, unscrew the top a bit so gasses can escape and store it some place like your garage at room temp until it smells right. My finished compost tea smells like high quality potting soil.
Here is my first composter...and my gorgeous puppy Gigi.
Any questions? Did I leave out anything? .....ask away.....