DIY organic plant food

Fertilizing is a crucial part of gardening. Especially if you want a good vegetable harvest! While some vegetables (potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini) produce well without much gardening intervention, more demanding plants (peppers, cabbage, eggplant, tomatoes) benefit significantly from fertilizing. The most popular organic vegetable fertilizer is made from mullein, manure, and… common weeds. Today, we'll discuss how to make your own fertilizer and how to use it.

What is organic fertilizer?

This is the feeding of vegetable plants with natural, chemical-free fertilizers. It usually goes like this: in the fall (or, alternatively, at the end of summer), farmers drive around the dacha town selling animal byproducts, packaged in bags. They sell chicken manure, horse manure, or cow dung. Dacha owners stock up on this "good stuff" for the next season, because by spring it's too late to buy fertilizer: vegetables don't tolerate fresh organic matter.

Some fertilizer is added to the soil in the fall, when the beds are turned. But the lion's share is saved for later: in the spring and summer, bird droppings or ungulate "pancakes" are diluted in water and the resulting mixture is poured over the vegetable plants. This liquid is most often used as a root dressing (not sprayed on the leaves, but simply watered into the plant holes), but foliar feeding (spraying the leaves) is also possible, as it can repel insect pests with its pungent odor.

What types of organic fertilizers are there?

In our dacha village, three types of fertilizers are popular:

— Chicken manure. It contains potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and nitrogen, making it a great soil enricher for growing vegetables. A big advantage of this fertilizer is that it's free: some gardeners keep chickens on their plots. However, this fertilizer also has a major drawback: it's crucial not to overdo it. If there's too much manure in the soil, vegetables will contain high levels of nitrates. Therefore, chicken manure should be used strictly according to the recommendations of experienced gardeners and agronomists.

Find out, How to dilute chicken manure as fertilizer.

— Horse manure and cow dung. Fresh cow manure or dung is added to the soil only in the fall, before tilling. In its rotted form, this organic matter is suitable for making fertilizer. However, adding it to seedling holes like regular compost is absolutely not recommended: it will simply "burn" the roots of vegetable plants upon direct contact.
— Infusion of weeds. Nettles, milkweed, and celandine often grow unintentionally in garden plots, so they're pulled out of the ground and thrown into the compost heap. Don't rush to get rid of these plants if you're growing vegetables. Fermented weed liquid, while foul-smelling, is a favorite "drink" for nightshades and cabbage!

DIY organic fertilizers for plants

Some gardeners prefer manure fertilizer, while others prefer using nettle "water" or fermented mullein infusion. But my most successful neighbor at the dacha—the one who manages to grow excellent crops in poor, sandy soil—claims that the best fertilizer is a mixture of several "ingredients." Following her advice, we also began fermenting mullein and weeds in barrels and have already found that the plants respond excellently to this fertilizer. So how do you make an effective vegetable fertilizer?

1. For the fertilizer, select a large container that you don't mind getting dirty. We use 30-liter containers from building materials, but you can also use a kettle or barrel. Move the container to a sunny spot immediately, as it will be difficult to remove once it fills with water. Place 1 kg of nettles (both leaves and petioles) in the container.

2. Pour 2.5 kg of mullein there.

3. Add 3 tablespoons of wood ash. This "ingredient" is especially good for acidic soils, as it alkalizes the soil and makes it softer for growing vegetables.

4. Fill the container with water, preferably using a hose (to mix everything thoroughly). Then cover and let it ferment. Some people apply the fertilizer for two weeks, others for a week, but the important thing here is not the time, but the result of the fermentation. If the weather is hot and the container is located in a sunny spot, the water may begin to ferment in as little as 24 hours.

5. When bubbles appear on the surface of the liquid, it means the fertilizer has already fermented and can be used for watering.

When to feed vegetables?

Fertilizing tomatoes shouldn't begin until three weeks after planting the seedlings. After 21 days, you can water the bushes with an organic infusion, using 0.5 liters per bush. Repeat the fertilizing twice more throughout the season, at intervals of three to four weeks.

How to fertilize peppers and eggplants? These plants in the nightshade family have very similar needs, so their fertilizing regimen is the same. Fertilizing is only necessary twice a season: during flowering and fruiting. Additional fertilizing can be done if, despite ample watering, the leaves of these plants turn yellow and fall off. Also, pour 0.5 liters of fertilizer under each plant. Incidentally, it's specifically designed for these plants. Eggshells are an excellent fertilizer.

The feeding rules are identical for cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and broccoli. The first feeding should be done 2-3 weeks after planting the seedlings in the ground. A second feeding should follow, two weeks after the first. If you planted the seedlings early (in April-May), they won't need a third feeding. However, cabbage planted later will need a third feeding two weeks after the second. Cabbage plants will also need 0.5 liters of liquid.

Pumpkins and squash don't require fertilizer as much as nightshade plants: they generally thrive and produce fruit in any soil. However, if their plants are weak and yellowish, they definitely need to be fertilized. Since both pumpkins and squash thrive on moisture, apply 1 liter of liquid under each plant. However, this shouldn't be done during flowering, as the strong odor of the fertilizer can scare away insects, preventing fruit set.

Overall, organic vegetable fertilizer is a simple and useful find. To see its effectiveness, you can try an experiment: leave one plant in your garden without this specific watering. We've seen in our own garden: with organic fertilizers, the harvest is more plentiful, the fruit ripens evenly, and the motivation to grow vegetables at home only grows!