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Fish Head Fertilizer

Ecopal
10 years ago

Hey Everybody,

I'm doing an experiment with fish heads and using them as fertilizer. I got two big fish heads from Publix and I am going to use them as a source of nutrients for my squash. I have been told that the native Americans did this with corn. My question is how long do I need to weight before I can plant the squash over the fish head. I assume a decomposing fish head would damage the plant.

Comments (15)

  • loufloralcityz9
    10 years ago

    You will have to wait until the armadillos finally stop digging the fish heads up. The fish under the corn stalk worked in the New England colonies because there wasn't any armadillos around. In Florida every critter known to exist will be trying to dig the fish heads up. You would fare better boiling the fish heads in a pot of water (stinking up the house) and then using the water from that as a liquid fertilizer, but then again the armadillos could still dig up your squash hill looking for the cooked fish that they can surely smell coming from your hill of squash plants. I don't recommend using fish heads in the garden but they would be good in your compost heap, the armadillos would turn the compost over saving you the trouble of that chore.

    Lou

  • keiki
    10 years ago

    Being married to a fisherman I bury fish remains frequently. What I have found to work is dig deep enough so the fish sits 12" down. Water the fish in well, cover with your soil and place a stepping stone over it for one week. One time I burried a fish under a fig tree I was planting, no one tried to dig it up. I don't see many armadillos here but we have plenty of racoons, squirrels. possums and who knows what else. I say give it a shot, you say its an experiment.

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    10 years ago

    We go fishing a lot too. Although fish heads might work I don't use them I just usually throw all those leftovers to the chickens. Something would def. dig them up in this yard lol.

    I use the fish fertilizer that you can get at Lowes or Home Depot.. You can use it as a foliar spray or on the roots. It is a little smelly so best to use it in the evening so it the smell has some time to clear out overnight lol. The plants really seem to like it.

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    10 years ago

    I think I would try the Super Bass-O-Matic '76 method.

    Isn't that fairly similar to Fish Emulsion? I pay something like $14.99 for a jug of that.

    Carol in Jacksonville

    Here is a link that might be useful: SNL Classic

  • diane_v_44
    10 years ago

    Super Bass-o-matic '76 I have tried before and similar results

    But it does work even here in Florida for me or in Canada which is my half year home

    Is kind of to much trouble those fish pieces unless like one person said you could put them into a compost of some sort but would for sure need to be careful of creatures
    I still do put out my peelings, coffee grinds etc and sometimes even that does draw unwanted attention Latley I have been, when buying a new large pot, and I do mean large I put some new soil bagged into the bottom Maybe 1/4 way up Then maybe take a week or so of dumping in vegetable and fruit peels, grinds, egg shells fish I make a point of getting some local fish and then just get it maybe half full. Then add more bagged soil and leave it for a bit couple weeks or something Then give it a stir up and add the new plant or planting to the particular pot now that does seem to work very well

    I now have maybe twenty pots and for me in this one particular area of part shade and being out of the country half a year this really has resulted in some lovely healthy plants. People can not believe how well these pots have done.

  • lazy_gardens
    10 years ago

    If you are going to do it ... bury the fish about a foot deep, and then pile more dirt on it for a hill for the squash seeds.

    You don't need to wait - one fish head isn't going to damage the plants.

  • Ecopal
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hey I just Had a thought. I have a box of squid that I use for bait. I'm going to through it out but maybe it can be used as fertilizer. As long as its from the sea it should work right?

  • diane_v_44
    10 years ago

    How did you do that picture Good stuff

    For
    sure the box of squid would be a great idea for the garden Lucky you

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    10 years ago

    Here is where you attach a photo. You can browse to its location or you can drag-and-drop.

    If you are using a cell phone or tablet to take photos, remember to take them in landscape mode with the bottom of your phone to your right. That will keep the photos from being sideways when you post them.

    Carol in Jacksonville

  • ritaweeda
    10 years ago

    Years ago my FIL raised hybrid roses, he would go to the fish market and get buckets of heads and guts and bury them into the beds. (His roses were magnificent.) But he lived in a metropolitan area and there were no critters to dig them up. Here they wouldn't last one night.

  • oldfixer
    10 years ago

    Used to always bring the catch to clean at home, and bury the remains by the tomato plants. Amazing growth.

  • diane_v_44
    10 years ago

    Old Fixer

    that is a good name to use

    Sometimes I watch for cans of sardines on sale or dented cans etc. Bring them home and put contents of one can in the blender, with some maybe coffee, grounds, egg shells, whatever and add lots of water.
    Of course put the top on good . Then pour those contents into one of the outside plant pots or whatever Or maybe into two pots

    Water it in good and that seems a nice treat for the soil.

  • saldut
    10 years ago

    What I do with the compost, etc. is dig a hole, drop it in, then cover it w/dirt, then place a piece of wood or a shingle on it, maybe put a heavy item on that like a pot of dirt, that way the critters can't dig it up.... only takes a few days and the compost has rotted down and the wood or shingle can be moved to another location....sally

  • Sandy Grieves
    7 years ago

    For tomato plants I put whatever fish parts or entire fish in the hole, cover that with lime. Spread soil over that, make hole for plant. Lime will block the fish smell. I just don't know if it's good for squash.

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