How to make homemade organic fertilizer for plants

There are many advantages of using fertilizers and organic fertilizers and more so if they are made at home, because what is natural is always healthier and, in addition, we will be reusing waste. It should also be borne in mind that there are various disadvantages of synthetic fertilizersand these are some of them:

• They contribute to climate change.
• They can cause contamination in water, soil and rivers, as a result of the washing effect of the rains.
• They affect plants and nutrients due to excess minerals: synthetic fertilizers are usually very concentrated and when used in excess can worsen the quality of the soil, instead of improving it.
• They contribute to soil acidification, favoring desertification.
• They can cause poisoning when handled without adequate protection.

Learn more about these products in this other EcologíaVerde article on Organic fertilizer: what it is, benefits and how to do it.

These are some of the most recommended homemade organic fertilizers for plants for its benefits for the land and crops and, also, for its ease of obtaining and application:

Manure

It is undoubtedly one of the best and most beneficial organic fertilizers for the soil. Although it can be purchased at garden stores, if you have chickens, goats or rabbits, you can use their droppings. Rabbit droppings are the ones with the highest nitrogen content and can be added directly to the soil, but those of other animals must go through a previous composting process.

banana skins

Bananas have a high content of potassium, which is very beneficial as a nutrient for our plants, for example, it is very beneficial for flowering. After eating the fruit, we can use its peel to make homemade compost.

Eggshells

Eggshells are very beneficial in the garden, as they provide nutrients such as calcium carbonate and serve as a pest repellent. The ideal is to crush the shells well to add them to our homemade fertilizer, although they can also be made into a powder and spread well at the base of our plants.

the coffee grounds

After having a cup of coffee, we can take advantage of the coffee grounds or remains to make fertilizer for our plants, since they provide a good amount of nitrogen, which is very beneficial as a nutrient. They can also be mixed directly into the soil or spread on its surface. Here we talk more about the ways to use coffee grounds in the garden.

human urine

Urea in urine has a very high content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Urine is a sterile product as long as the body that produces it is healthy. It can be dissolved in water at a 1:8 ratio and added to our homemade fertilizer. We recommend this other post about Urine as an ecological fertilizer for agriculture and gardening.

Grass

Once the grass or weeds have been cut, they can be added to our organic fertilizer, as they are remains that are very rich in nitrogen and retain some of the nutrients that they have absorbed from the same soil on which they have grown.

fireplace ash

The ashes of the fireplace provide large amounts of potassium and calcium carbonate, ideal for making our homemade fertilizer. It is important not to apply them directly around acid-loving plants or if the soil is alkaline.

Vinegar

The acetic acid in vinegar is very good for plants that require acidic soils. You can even dissolve the vinegar in water and directly water the plants of this type.

Earthworm humus

Worm humus is one of the best organic fertilizers, totally natural and effective to improve the health of plants, so that they grow healthy and flourish or bear fruit. The truth is that humus as such and with its most suitable composition is only obtained on forest floors, produced naturally by earthworms that inhabit the earth. However, you can get a very similar product at home, by making or buying a vermicomposter. Here we explain how to make earthworm humus for plants.

Lentils

Lentil sprouts are excellent as fertilizer and rooting. If you want your new plants to take out more roots and take hold better to grow without problems, do not hesitate to make these sprouts, crush them in water, strain to obtain the liquid and remove the remains of the lentils and, finally, mix a part of the concentrate with ten parts of water to use this product as irrigation water to fertilize and root. In this other post we talk about How to make lentil sprouts.

Although you can throw some organic waste directly to the ground, the ideal for these to decompose is to follow a series of steps to make a homemade manure or compost. These steps to make an organic fertilizer at home for your plants are:

1. Make some holes in the surface of a small container approximately one meter deep (or in a large or medium container, depending on our needs).
2. Place 4 or 5 fingers of soil inside (or more depending on the container).
3. Add organic waste (examples mentioned above). It is important that they are not waste from any animal product.
4. Cover with a little more soil.
5. From time to time (approximately two weeks), stir well with a shovel, bringing the remains that are below to the surface and vice versa. This step is important to aerate our homemade compost.

After a few weeks, worms, fruit flies and other insects begin to appear in our compost; signal that the decomposition process is taking place. When the soil acquires a black, lumpy appearance and the organic matter has completely decomposed, it will be ready to be applied in the garden or orchard. The smell of the compost should be similar to that of wet soil. The compost manufacturing process usually takes two months if we start in summer (heat favors decomposition) and five months if we start in winter. To apply it, distribute it by expanding it well around the roots of the plants, using a rake or other instrument.

To finish, we recommend you take a look at these other posts about Bokashi or bocashi compost: what it is and how to do it and about Orchid compost: how to do it. Likewise, we encourage you to watch the video that we leave you below about this process to make your own subscription.

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