Make Fertilizer

Fertilizer helps plants grow to be stronger, healthier and bigger. There are many ways to make your own fertilizer, from all-purpose recipes to simple household products that can naturally boost nutrient levels in your soil.

Ingredients

All-Purpose Organic Fertilizer

• 4 parts seed meal
• 1 part lime, made up any combination of:
  • Agricultural Lime
  • Gypsum
  • Dolomite (Dolomitic Lime)
• 1 part bone meal (optional)
• 1 part kelp meal or basalt dust (optional)

All-Purpose Liquid Fertilizer

• 1 teaspoon Epsom Salts
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon saltpeter
• 1/2 teaspoon ammonia.
• 1 gallon water

Steps

Making Seed Meal and Lime Fertilizer

1. Make a lime & seed meal fertilizer to handle any gardening project. The following ingredients can be mixed in any quantities, as long as the ratios are roughly the same. So, if you use 4 cups seed meal, you'd add 1/4 cup agricultural lime. If you used 4 buckets full of seed meal, you'd need a quarter of a bucket of agriculture lime, and so on.
   • When planning amounts, know that you'll need about 1-quart fertilizer for every 20 square feet of earth.
   • You don't have to be insanely particular about your measurements-- anything within 10% or so is fine.
2. Measure out 4 cups of seed meal, searching for the highest protein content for a reasonable price. Seed meal is the byproduct of vegetable oils and is often used as animal feed. For the best results, get a certified organic bag to protect you and your plants. While fertilizer is normally measured in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus levels, seed meal is measured in protein since it is usually livestock food.
   • Seed meal is cheapest in large quantities, and can be stored in an airtight container for years.
3. Add at one part lime. When buying lime you have three options -- agricultural lime, gypsum, and dolomite (or dolomitic lime). All three of them will boost plant health and productivity the best, but if you're on a budget you can cut the recipe to just one of the three options.
   • If you do only buy one form of lime, use dolomite whenever possible, as it contains essential magnesium.
4. Add in 1 part bone meal, phosphate rock, or bat guano to boost phosphorus levels. While the two ingredients above, seed meal and lime, are the most essential, a good fertilizer usually supplies phosphorus. If budget is an issue, you can skip this step, but bone meal is easy to find at garden stores and will make a big difference for your plants.
   • Like the rest of the ingredients, bone meal can be bought cheaply in bulk and stored in an airtight container for several years.
5. Mix in 1 part kelp meal, or dried seaweed, to provide essential trace minerals. Again, this step isn't necessary if you're on a budget, by kelp meal helps plants resist stress from heat, cold, drought, and a multitude of other issues. Your best option for cheap kelp meal is usually online.
   • A similar but less expensive alternative is basalt dust.
6. Spread roughly 1 quart of fertilizer over the earth before planting anything, mixing gently into the soil. For nutrient heavy vegetables like cabbage, spinach, brussels sprouts, asparagus, or leeks, you can also sprinkle some fertilizer around the roots every 3-4 weeks. If you feel like your soil isn't very rich (for example, there is a lot of clay), you can add another half quart per 20 square feet.
   • If your plants are already in the ground but want some fertilizer, use your hands or a trowel to lightly mix the fertilizer into the top layer of soil. Lightly water the plants both before and after applying.

Using Epsom Salts for Fertilizer

1. Mix together Epsom Salts, baking powder, salt peter, and ammonia with a gallon of water for an all-around fertilizer. This mixture is good for any plant type, and should be sprayed once every 4-6 weeks. To make it, simply combine the ingredients with a gallon of water and shake or mix until completely dissolved:
   • 1 teaspoon Epsom Salts
   • 1 teaspoon baking powder
   • 1 teaspoon saltpeter
   • 1/2 teaspoon ammonia.
2. Mix 1 tablespoon Epsom salts with 1 gallon water for an even easier liquid fertilizer. Epsom salts contain both magnesium and sulfur acids, which help plants stay healthy and gives added flavor to a variety of vegetables. Once a month, mix up 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts with 1 gallon water and use this to water your plants.
   • Roses, in particular, love Epsom salt baths. You can use a tablespoon of salt for each foot the rose bush is tall, mixing in a gallon of water and using twice a year-- once the leaves appear and right after the first series of blooms.
3. Sprinkle Epsom salt over the soil of new plants, using a rough tablespoon for each plant. You can sprinkle a tablespoon of Epsom salts on top of the soil for your new seedlings, as they help promote strong, early growth. This is best done right when you transfer the plants from pots or planters into the soil. As you water the plants, they will slowly dissolve the Epsom salts into the soil.

Using Household Objects to Fertilize

1. Use water from a fresh-water aquarium to provide a healthy boost of nitrogen. Fish naturally release nitrogen into the water, making their "waste" water an important source of nutrients for plants. Instead of dumping it down the toilet, use it to water your plants once a week. Fish waste, as well, contains trace elements important for plant growth.
2. Mix coffee grounds with leafy yard waste for "quick compost," especially for acid-loving plants. Mix your coffee grounds with an equal amount dead leaves, pine straw, and other brown yard clippings and sprinkle over the soil once a month. Roses, azaleas, hydrangeas, and many other plants crave a low pH soil, and will respond particularly well.
   • This method isn't just for acid-loving plants -- any gardener can use it to add nitrogen, simply cutting back to once every two months in order to protect the soil from a pH swing.
3. Spread old eggshells over your garden, or in the bottom of planting holes, for a calcium boost. Plants like tomatoes and peppers particularly love calcium, but your whole garden will enjoy eggshells. Calcium, which is over 90% of an eggshell's makeup, helps a plant develop strong cell walls. To use eggshells, light crush up the shells and spread over the garden. You can till them into the soil or leave them right on top -- they decompose very quickly.
4. Make a "nutrient tea" with grass clippings from your yard. Use the bag on your lawnmower to keep the clippings the next time you cut the grass. Use them to fill up a 5-gallon bucket roughly 2/3s of the way to the top, then fill it near the top with water. Stir it quickly, then let it sit for three days, stirring once each morning. When done, strain out the grass clippings and use your "tea" to water your plants, providing essential nitrogen, by mixing it with an equal amount of water and spraying over the plants.
5. Use urine for a free, nitrogen free boost to your soil. While most people are understandably squeamish about storing their own urine, it is high in essential nitrogen. To make the process more palatable, fill a bucket with sawdust and pee into this, dumping a large cup of water over it after you're done. You can then use this nutrient rich mulch when planting your next batch of plants.
   • If you don't mind going "to the source," you can dilute your urine with 10-20 times the amount of water and use it to water your plants directly. Straight urine is too concentrated for plants to handle.
   • Note that you can water this down significantly -- up to 20 parts water for 1 part urine, so it doesn't smell foul.
6. Save and spread your fireplace ashes. Wood ash is high in calcium and potassium, making it an excellent supplement to your soil. Simply spread it right over the garden, using your hands to lightly turn it into the top layer of the soil.
   • Vegetables, in particular, tend to love ash, as it promotes healthy root growth.
   • Warning: Do not use fireplace ashes on plants that love acidic soil like blueberries, roses, or azaleas.
7. Cut up banana peels and add to the hole when planting. Banana peels don't do much once the plant is already in the ground, but it can work wonders as you're planting. The peels contain a lot potassium, which promotes a plant's root development. Cut up half a banana peel and toss it in the bottom of your hole before adding the plant.
8. Get a sample of your soil tested to fine-tune your fertilizer options. The only way you can tailor your fertilizer effectively is if you know what the soil already contains. The steps above list many different household fertilizers, as well as their essential nutrients, allowing you to make a garden-specific program. You can get home testing kits, or you can bring your sample into a local garden store for analysis. When pulling up a soil sample, follow the directions on the kit. If nothing is provided:
   • Use clean, plastic shovels and a well-cleaned bucket. Dirty or metal implements can introduce other minerals and nutrients.
   • Dig a hole 4-6" deep, placing the dirt in the bucket. Do not include mulch or trimmings.
   • Repeat with 4-5 holes, mixing together in bucket.
   • Dry the soil on newspaper for 12-24 hours.
   • Bag the sample in a clean plastic bag or container and take in for analysis.

Tips

• Internet or farm supply outlets may provide cheaper alternatives to garden store prices. Garden stores usually provide ingredients in smaller quantities. Internet-based suppliers often provide ingredients in bulk quantities, greatly lowering the price.

Things You'll Need

• Container with lid
• Seed meal
• Lime
• Gypsum
• Bone meal
• Kelp meal

Related Articles

• Fertilize Soil With Eggshells
• Read a Fertilizer Label
• Prepare Soil for the Application of Fertiliser
• Apply Anhydrous Ammonia to Your Field

Sources and Citations

See also

• Fertilize a Garden Cheaply
• Revive an Overfertilized Plant
• Make a Plant Enrichment from Used Teabags
• Use Commercial Fertilizer
• Read a Fertilizer Label
• Fertilize Soil With Eggshells
• Make Nitrogen Fertilizer
• Make Seaweed Tea Liquid Fertiliser
• Make Fertilizer from Banana Peels
• Use Ashes As Fertilizer

What links here

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