Flowering Kalanchoe succulent

Homemade Organic Fertilizers

In our gardens and orchards, the plants we cultivate primarily demand three essential nutrients. While other elements like calcium and magnesium play crucial roles in plant functioning, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus stand as vital contributors to the growth of all vegetables.

This article guides you through creating easy and cost-effective homemade organic fertilizers for organic gardens with different components and NPK:s, each addressing one of these essential nutrients.

Homemade Organic Nitrogen Fertilizer: Coffee Grounds

Coffee can act as a potential ally against certain pests and diseases, and its high nitrogen content makes it an excellent organic fertilizer, along with other nutrients and antioxidants. Follow these steps for crafting homemade nitrogen-rich organic fertilizers:

  • Collect coffee leftovers from your daily use or, if you have a considerable number of plants, gather them from nearby cafes. Mix these leftovers with water and let them sit for a few days, or apply them directly to the soil. Remember that coffee is acidic, so it’s advisable to use it as fertilizer for plants that thrive in acidic soil, such as hydrangeas, camellias, and gardenias.
Here you can read about the difference between organic- and mineral fertilizers

Nettle Water Fertilizer

It is very common for gardens to have an abundance of nettle growing in the garden. Unless you weed them out, they are likely to take over your whole garden. Besides, they burn our skin if we touch them by accident.

However, nettles also have plenty of benefits. It is a highly nutritious and tasty plant, after we dry it, that we can make a wide range of food from, such as: delicious teas or soups.

Or we can make a very effective fertilizers for plants:

  1. Collect a large bucket of nettles, wearing gloves!

  2. Fill the bucket with water all the way up with the nettle inside and put a lid on the bucket

  3. Leave the bucket alone for a few days until the nettles start to decay and start to smell badly. Now your nettle water is ready!

  4. Add about 5%-10% of nettle water in a bucket of water for the next watering, and you are ready to give your plants some high-quality nutrition.

Nettle water is full of nitrogen which is great for leafy green plants and vegetables, and perhaps not the most ideal method for how to fertilize succulents.

Homemade Organic Potassium Fertilizer: Banana Peels

As commonly known, bananas are rich in potassium, and this element is also present in abundance in the peel. Here, we’ll explore creating an organic fertilizer with a high potassium content using banana peels.

Ingredients:

  • About 4-5 banana peels

  • 1 liter of water

Instructions:

  1. Collect enough peels to extract a significant amount through infusion. 3 or 4 banana peels per liter of water should suffice.

  2. Chop the peels and boil them with water for approximately 15 minutes.

  3. Strain the mixture and let it cool.

  4. Your fertilizer is ready; mix it with 2 liters of water for application to your plants.

Potassium proves highly beneficial during flowering or fruiting periods, and applying it every 10 or 15 days will significantly enhance plant growth and flower/fruit production.

Homemade Organic Phosphorus Fertilizer: Wood Ash

Wood is abundantly available, and the ashes resulting from activities like fireplace use can serve as a highly effective organic fertilizer to supply phosphorus to our plants. Though to a lesser extent, the burnt residues also contain a small amount of potassium.

To obtain ash, a simple method involves collecting the aftermath of barbecues or fireplace use. To use wood ash as a fertilizer, mix it with water to dilute its content, and apply it to plants as irrigation. It’s crucial to do this only 2 or 3 times a year to avoid excess.

Human Urine

The urea content in human urine is notably high in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Urine remains a sterile byproduct as long as it originates from a healthy body. It can be dissolved in water at a 1:8 ratio and incorporated into our homemade fertilizer. Check out our related post on utilizing urine as an eco-friendly fertilizer for agriculture and gardening.

Freshly cut grass

Once the grass or weeds are trimmed, they can be added to our organic compost. These remnants are rich in nitrogen and retain some of the nutrients they absorbed from the soil on which they thrived.

Read more about Green Manure

Homemade Organic Calcium Fertilizer: Eggshells

Lastly, a quick, simple, and cost-effective way to provide your plants with extra calcium is through eggshells, consisting of 95% calcium and a smaller amount of nitrogen which is desirable when looking at options for how to fertilize succulents. Follow these guidelines:

Collect a substantial number of eggshells. Wash them if they still contain residues, then crush them. Alternatively, you can apply them directly to the soil, but absorption by plants will be slower.

While calcium isn’t an essential nutrient, contributions of secondary elements like calcium can address specific issues in plant cultivation, such as blossom-end rot in tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.

Vinegar

The acetic acid in vinegar is beneficial for plants that prefer acidic soil. You can dilute vinegar in water and use it to water these plants directly.

Earthworm Humus

Worm castings are top-notch organic fertilizers, great for boosting plant health and growth. While natural humus is found in forest soils, you can create a similar product at home with a vermicomposter.

Lentils

Lentil sprouts work wonders as fertilizers and rooting agents. If you want stronger roots for your new plants, make these sprouts, blend them in water, strain, and mix a part of the concentrate with ten parts of water for irrigation.