Garrett Juice Organic Answers Column September 4, 2024

Garrett Juice – What it is and Why it Works

Garrett Juice is a concept as much as a product. It evolved over a period of years as I explained to readers and callers how to make an effective organic foliar feeding mix. The mix has always had compost tea, molasses and seaweed, but the other ingredients have varied. Through trial and error, we came to the basic mix we use today. The current formula is a well-balanced blend of plant nutrients and food for both beneficial fungi and bacteria. Since the original formula was developed “plus” and “pro” recipes were crafted for specialized purposes.

It all started back in the early 80s when I was learning about organic gardening and it was common to spray compost tea on foliage and some gardeners and farmers would add fish emulsion to get more fertilizer power. Then, primarily because of the research at Clemson University by Dr. T.L. Senn, liquid seaweed became popular as an organic spray. Next, research gardeners like Malcolm Beck found that adding molasses increased the compost tea efficacy.

Garrett Juice used a drench or for foliar feeding.

I learned from an arborist buddy working on oak wilt solutions that lowering the pH of sprays made the ingredients more available to plants. He used a commercial acid product – I thought of vinegar – so tried it and it worked. The addition of this final ingredient is what created the official basic “Garrett Juice.”

Vinegar in the mix is the most important ingredient. In my opinion it’s the synergist making all the other ingredients work better. Plus, many thousands of gardeners and farmers use the mix with great success. The most common and serious mistake is to omit the vinegar from any liquid organic mixes.

Despite developing the recipe, we don’t own or sell any products called Garrett Juice, but