Make your own fertilizer for a rich harvestbeautiful flowers in the garden: The best fertilizer is the one you make yourself using simple home remedies found in your pantry, trash can, or garden. In this article you will learn how you can make a wonderful fertilizer for your plants from kitchen and pantry waste.
Make fertilizer yourself: It is crucial to know what NPK is
Even if you're a novice gardener, you've probably heard of the acronym NPK, which is considered a sacred relic by experienced greenkeepers.
NPK stands for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Although your garden needs a variety of micronutrients to thrive, these three are the most important macronutrients that ensure a healthy and lush garden.
The NPK ratio (which is listed as 16-5-5 on a bag of synthetic or organic fertilizer) essentially refers to the ratio between nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. In example 16-5-5 this means that there are 16 kg of nitrogen, 5 kg of phosphorus and 5 kg of potassium.
- Nitrogenis particularly useful for increasing yield and accelerating plant growth.
- Phosphoris useful for the growth of plants, e.g. B. for the growth of fruits and flowers, as well as for the formation of thick leaves and strong roots.
- Potassiumis a versatile soil conditioner that helps plants retain water, resist pests and diseases, and produce the proteins necessary for growth.
Which home remedies are rich in NPK?
Compost – the optimal fertilizer
Phosphorus, potassium and magnesium make up a large part of the compost. The benefits of home composting are numerous. First of all, there is no better method in home gardens and even in smaller businesses than natural fertilization. Nothing restores soil fertility like compost. It is particularly suitable if your garden is depleted due to the use of chemicals.
Compost has another important purpose: it can be used as a natural cover for overwintering plants in the garden.
Last but not least, compost contributes to the ecological balance in urban environments, as households store their own biodegradable waste instead of disposing of it with residual waste.
In general, compost is a collection of most of the natural waste in a household:
- Stroh
- Papier
- Leaves and branches
- Eggshells
- Fruit and vegetable waste
- Freshly mown grass – it should be remembered that it adds a lot of moisture to the compost
The principle of composting is not complicated at all. To do this, you need to set up a space in your garden with the minimum dimensions of 1 x 1 x 1 m and pile up organic waste there. The smaller the pieces of trash thrown away, the faster the decomposition process begins.
You can make a wonderful fertilizer yourself from coffee grounds
Ground coffee is an excellent source of cheap and easy nitrogen. It is also pest-repellent and is suitable as mulching material.
Coffee grounds have many uses, but one of the best is to use it as fertilizer. Many plants, such as blueberries, rhododendrons, roses and tomatoes, grow best in acidic soil. Recycle coffee grounds to acidify your soil. There are several ways to do this: you can feed the soil with used sewage sludge by sprinkling it on the surface of the soil, or you can make “coffee” to pour over your gardens. Soak up to six cups of used coffee grounds for up to a week to make garden coffee, then use them to water your acid-loving plants.
Organic fertilizer made from bone meal contains a lot of phosphorus
Bone meal fertilizer, also known as organic bone meal, is a type of organic fertilizer made from animal bones. Bone meal is a byproduct of the slaughterhouse where cattle bones are ground into a fine powder or made into pellets. Bone meal fertilizer contains elements that can improve the health of flowering plants such as roses and tulips.
Bone meal is a useful garden fertilizer with several benefits:
- Bone meal fertilizer increases phosphorus levels in the soil. It is an excellent source of phosphorus, which is needed for photosynthesis in your plants.
- Bone meal is a long-term fertilizer. It is released over a period of several months. Bone meal can increase the number of soil microbes during the growing season, which benefits the soil structure for your plants' root systems.
- Bone meal provides calcium for your plants. Calcium improves root growth, promotes strong roots and helps prevent blossom end rot.
- Bone meal can balance other soil additives. Consider mixing bone meal with other nitrogen-containing additives, such as: B. with manure.
- Bone meal is an organic fertilizer. Unlike chemical fertilizers, bone meal improves your organic gardening by using natural elements.
Banana peels are rich in potassium
Both the fruit and the peel of bananas are rich in potassium. There are numerous ways to extract the nutrients from a banana peel. You can mix it and incorporate it into the soil or soak it for a few days to create a “tea” that you spray on your plants.
Or you can simply bury a tray in your garden near the roots of the plants you want to nourish. However, for the most complete application possible, we recommend drying and chopping to deliver the desired nutrients quickly and efficiently to the plant's root system.
Make your own fertilizer: supply plants with micronutrients from the household
While synthetic fertilizers and many organic fertilizers pay excessive attention to NPK ratios, the micronutrients your plants need can sometimes take a backseat.
Here are some of the easiest ways to provide your garden with all the elements it needs to be healthy and fruitful.
Eggshells are full of calcium
If you've ever used lime in your garden, you know that it has many benefits - mainly it helps reduce the acidity of the soil for plants that don't like acids and provides the plants with plenty of calcium, an important one Nutrient. Lime itself is a completely natural fertilizer that you can purchase at a garden center.
However, if you'd rather save some money, there's a cheaper way to get the same benefits. Next time you make an omelette, save theseEggshells for your gardenon. Drying the peels and grinding them into a fine powder will ensure your garden gets the calcium it needs!
Make your own fertilizer: Epsom salt is rich in magnesium
Epsom salt is the primary source of magnesium sulfate, an important mineral for the body and soil. Magnesium has a variety of roles, but the most important is supporting chlorophyll production during photosynthesis.
Danger: Too much magnesium can cause calcium or potassium deficiencies and acidify the soil beyond healthy acidity levels.
Aquarium water is an excellent all-purpose fertilizer
If you have fish, you've probably noticed that the water gets a little cloudy from time to time. Sure, that means you'll have to clean the tank soon, but it also means your fish are giving you phenomenal fertilizer, for free. Aquarium water is an excellent all-purpose fertilizer and can be sprayed directly onto plants or poured into the ground using a watering can.
Make your own fertilizer: Borax against boron deficiency
Although borax is bad news for ants, it is actually quite useful for soil, in limited quantities. Boron deficiency is difficult to detect because its contribution to the overall nutrient composition of the soil is so small. Chlorosis (yellowing of leaves) is a symptom of boron deficiency, as is a large number of spindly, brittle stems.
Dried seaweed for soil improvement
Dried seaweed is a brilliant soil conditioner. In addition, algae are plant substances that should not decompose in the soil, so you do not run the risk of attracting animals through the smell.
Molasses contains many nutrients for plants
Molasses is a product made from sugar beets that is rich in nutrients. Almost every house has molasses sitting in a dusty corner somewhere. It's just one of those basic household products that you eventually forget about. Why not use it!
Tea for fertile soil
You've probably already heard of thempositive effects of teaon human health. Well, it's not bad for your plants either.
Tea leaves are rich in antioxidants. They also contain tannic acid, which helps make the soil a more fertile environment for your plants. In addition, as organic material, they help build the soil structure so that your plants can more easily access the water and nutrients they need.
Make your own fertilizer with yeast for delicious vegetables
For a rich harvest, all you need is this natural fertilizer, which is a vitamin bomb for the whole garden. Use it for vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and strawberries, but also for plants such as petunias and nutmegs, for example.
If you want to use a natural fertilizer in the garden, yeast is the ideal choice for your plants. In addition to the beneficial microorganisms, it contains phytohormones and B vitamins. Your plants will reward you richly.
Ingredients:
- 100g sugar
- 100g fresh yeast
- 3 liters of hot water
- 10 liters of standing water for dilution
- 3 liter container with lid
- Sprayer with 3 liter capacity
Pour hot water into the container. Don't fill it to the brim, leave a little space. Add the sugar and crumbled yeast. Stir well so that everything dissolves.
Cover the container with a plastic lid. Allow the solution to ferment in a warm place for between 4 and 7 days. After this time, shake well and dilute 100 ml in 10 liters of standing water.
Water the plants with the diluted solution. You can water it directly into the roots or spray the leaves. Use this fertilizer early in the morning or in the evening when the sun is not shining brightly.
Make fertilizer yourself: Solve pH problems with home remedies
To put it simply, if your soil is balanced (or as close to neutral pH as possible), your garden will be much healthier overall than if your soil fluctuates one way or the other.
Soil pH is measured between 1 and 14, with 7 being completely neutral. For comparison, real compost measures at 7 on the pH scale – or at least very, very close to it.
If you don't want to risk the health of your garden by waiting a few weeks for the compost to mature, you can take some temporary measures to bring your soil back to a neutral pH.
Vinegar for acid-loving plants
So, technically acid is not a specific nutrient in soil, but balanced pH is extremely important for your garden. Acid-loving plants such as blueberries, tomatoes, rhododendrons, roses and other large and bright speciesbenefit particularly from a vinegar spray.
Wood ash balances the pH of the soil
In contrast to acidic fertilizers, you should adjust the soil to an alkaline pH value. This is advisable if you're trying to grow asparagus or artichokes (among a variety of other alkali-loving plants) with little success.
Wood ash is an easy substitute for lime, which is a common fertilizer in agriculture and helps balance soil pH and add magnesium and sulfur.
Conclusion: A healthy balance of fertilizer/compost
The thing is: You can add fertilizer to your soil all you want, but it won't provide the same benefit to your garden as simply starting a compost pile and using the nutrient-rich byproduct as a soil amendment.
Fertilizers are quick-release nutrient additives. Compost provides a longer lasting and more complete form of nutrient release. This is because the nutrients in compost are not yet fully broken down and will continue to break down in the soil once they are added to the garden, releasing nutrients over time.
Plus, compost has an almost perfectly balanced pH, which helps balance the soil and makes it easier to grow a lush garden.
However, if you don't want to wait for the compost to mature, you can always use the fertilizer recipes above to boost your plants when things get tight.
