Nutrients such as kelp, fish hydrol

Nutrients such as kelp, fish hydrolysate, molasses, and humic acid are added as catalysts or microbial starter (Naidu 2010, Scheuerell 2002) during brewing process to promote selective enrichment of microorganisms. Several manufacturer of compost tea also provide ready use pre‐packaged nutrients with similar compositions. For both ACT and NCT, fermentation nutrients have the ability to inhibit or increase growth rates for different types of organisms (Scheuerell 2004). However, nutrients should be added with extreme caution (Scheuerell 2004, Ingham 2005). Recent studies show that compost tea supplemented with molasses or other simple sugars, tends to promote growth of human pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli, when residual levels of these organisms are present in the compost source (Ingram 2007).