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| I want to give my plants a little more nutrients but can really afford to go get plant food from the store. Does anyone know of some plant food that can be home made?
Thanks,
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Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Farm Wife
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Compost |
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- Posted by KMKacan (kkacan@yahoo.com) on Thu, Jun 16, 11 at 4:30
| I just started a compost about a week ago. About how long until I can't start to see the benefits Of the compost? |
Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Farm Wife
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- Posted by nordfyr315 5 (My Page) on Thu, Jun 16, 11 at 10:35
| Free? One part urine diluted with at least 6 parts water. Probably safer for your plants with ten parts water but this depends on how well the donor is hydrated. A lot of people say "ewww" without really thinking too hard about it because it sounds gross but it is really quite safe unless you have some terrible infection or are on some medications that could be absorbed by the root system. Even if you DID have an infection, pathogens are not normally absorbed into the root system. One word of advice for tomatoes is that urine is very high in nitrogen and lower in phosphorus so it is best applied early in the season before the plants have set fruit. It encourages leafy, robust plants that will support a lot of fruit but once you see buds, it is probably best to cut out the high nitrogen ferts. Tomatoes are not especially "hungry" plants anyway. I only have fair soil in some of my plots and in some years the tomatoes did just fine without any additional ferts. Below is picture of what not to do. Like a lot of gardeners, I probably pay too much attention to some of my plants and here is a plant I excessively fertilized. Note that the leaves are a Smurf-like blue. Pretty color and strong plants but from what I have read, this is a sign of too much nitrogen.
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| 2 glasses of pee. please |
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| Best thing I've read all day. Just confirms what I was already thinking. |
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| I use my worm compost (worm poop) My plants are really healthy. I started my worm bin over a year ago. It is pumping out the vermicompost right now. I just keep side dressing the plants and working into the soil around them. It was my best gardening idea/decision. Karen |
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| I crap on my tomatoes. |
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| you must be pretty accurate to get it through the cage. |
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| Ahahahahahahahaha. You guys are to funny. Thanks for the great advice. HAppy Gardening All, |
Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Farm Wife
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| I've seen too much damage caused by homemade plant food and homemade disease treatments to be able to recommend anything. Compost is great but you should let it biodegrade a bit before using it. Hot compost can damage plants, but you don't have to wait until it's completely finished to use it. With experience, you'll get the hang of knowing when compost is ready to be used. It is probably the single best thing you can do for the soil, but it is a gradual and ongoing process. If your soil previously contained a thriving community of weeds, you probably have all the important nutrients required. Most plants don't need much in the way of nutrients when you first plant them; they will spend the first couple of weeks or so getting situated in their new home. If they don't start growing right away, don't think it is due to the soil or a lack of nutrients. They need to get established. Some plants will get acclimated faster than others, but it's not necessarily a sign that you need to add fertilizer. The best thing to do - when you can afford to do so -- is to get a comprehensive soil test. Most folks live near Cooperative Extension offices or universities that do that sort of thing. It isn't free (here they are around $25 or $30, depending on the number of things you want tested) and it can take a few weeks to get the results, but it will remove the guesswork as to what's needed, if anything. Worst-case scenario: get an inexpensive, all purpose, water soluble fertilizer, such as MiracleGro, Peter's, or any other brand you like and keep it handy just in case you need it. A small package can be had for $12 or less, will keep for a long times as long as the contents don't get wet, and these fertilizers contain all the macro and micro nutrients that plants need. This would be almost impossible to duplicate on your own. You're off to a good start. You may not necessarily need fertilizer, at least not at first. Scratch in some compost as it becomes available. When you have the funds get a good soil test from professionals (lots of the kits you can buy at the garden center are notoriously inaccurate). If you can borrow one of those little Mantis tillers, electric or gas, they are great at busting up soil and loosening the rocks.
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