Delighted to share my next feature collaboration with Tanya Anderson of Lovely Greens. I write about how to make inexpensive environmentally-friendly homemade organic fertiliser for your vegetable garden from foraged and waste materials, including DIY Organic Fertilisers you can make from seaweed, comfrey, and nettles.
There are various ways to create it and different uses for different fertilisers. What they have in common, is that they’re easy to make and useful for feeding your garden’s soil and plants for free. The benefit of using organic garden fertilisers goes beyond cost though. Each type helps the soil to retain its natural integrity, reduce pests and disease, and improve soil health. Healthy soils grow productive crops and your own homemade fertilisers are the best way you can keep your soil healthy.
Each type of fertiliser will have varying content of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (NPK), the main three plant nutrients. They’ll also contain essential trace elements such as magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, and sulfur. Shop-bought fertilisers will list the nutrient value as an NPK ratio. Nitrogen (N) is responsible for leaf growth, phosphorus (P) for roots, and potassium (K) is beneficial in the production of fruits and flowers. NPK = shoots, roots, fruits.
You don’t have to buy any of those packaged fertilisers though, because you can make your own. They include garden compost, comfrey fertiliser, nettle fertilizer, worm castings, and green manures. These and others can support different phases of a plant’s growth cycle by providing essential nutrients. Nitrogen-rich nettle feed will encourage early leaf growth whereas potassium-rich seaweed enhances fruit development. Fertiliser tea delivers nutrients straight to the plant in a liquid form which is easily absorbed by the roots.
Read the full feature on the Lovely Greens website: DIY Organic Fertilizers for the Vegetable Garden
Debi Holland Gardening © 2021