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fertilizer – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Tag: fertilizer

  • How to Correct Nitrogen Deficiency in Your Soil

    How to Correct Nitrogen Deficiency in Your Soil

    Did you know that your plants need nitrogen? Obviously, they need four other things as well: soil, air, sunlight, and water, but they also need plenty of nitrogen. This element is found in the air, as well as the soil. The nitrogen in the air doesn’t really help plants at all. In order for them to absorb it, the element must be in their soil. It occurs there naturally, but over time, especially if you use containers or grow bags for your plants, the nitrogen will begin to get used up. The end results are plants that don’t really thrive. They’ll begin to turn yellow and wilt. Thankfully, you can correct this deficiency.

    Know The Signs

    When your plants need more nitrogen, they’ll let you know. They’ll stop growing. Their leaves will begin to wilt and turn yellow. They just won’t look healthy anymore. Although all of those could be signs of other problems, such as not watering, overwatering, or keeping them in containers that are too small, if the plant is otherwise healthy and being taken care of properly, then the main problem is a lack of nitrogen. The sooner you add this element to the soil, the faster your plant will spring back to health.

    Test Your Soil

    Another thing that you can – and should – do is test your soil. There are soil testing kits that are commercially available. Some just involve scooping some soil into a tester and following the instructions. They’ll tell you the results right away. However, if you want something a bit a more accurate, you can purchase a kit, scoop up some soil from around your plants, and then send it out to be tested. There’s usually a self-addressed stamped envelope in those kits. It will take a few weeks, but you’ll get the results either emailed to mailed to you. These types of tests are best done early in the growing season. If you wait until your plants are in danger to do them, then it might be too late by the time the results come in.

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    Add More Nitrogen Naturally

    There are several ways to add nitrogen to your soil without having to resort to the use of chemical fertilizers. For example, you could add some old coffee grounds to the soil. They contain plenty of nitrogen. Although it will take some time for them to produce as much nitrogen as your plants need, it will work. You just have to be patient. In some cases, these slow-release methods are preferred to the quick ones.

    Adding compost to the soil is another option. Compost contains plenty of nitrogen. Like coffee grounds, its effects take time, but it does work, especially if it contains manure. (Yes, it’s a bit smelly, but your plants will really like it.) In addition to those two methods, you can also plant crops like peas and beans that will add nitrogen to the soil. They just naturally provide this element as they grow.

    Use Fertilizer

    Standard (read: chemical) fertilizers tend to have some sort of nitrogen in them. Look for initials NPK on the package, and pay close attention to that first number. It’s the one that tells you just how much nitrogen is present. Balanced fertilizers will help the health of your plants, but those with a large amount of nitrogen in them will provide the right kind of benefits much faster. With that said, the nitrogen will leach away quickly and you’ll end up having to use more sooner rather than later. No matter what, your plants will improve.

  • Why are my Vegetables not Growing?

    Why are my Vegetables not Growing?

    You’ve planted your vegetables, and have tended to them properly (you think, anyway), but they still aren’t growing. Instead, you have tomato plants without flowers, tiny zucchinis that wither on the plant, and cucumbers that just won’t grow. Something went wrong, and it’s time to find out what. There are a number of issues that can cause your vegetable plant plans to go awry. Here are some of the most common problems.

    Everything Is Planted too Close Together

    This happens to the best-intentioned gardeners. You start off with tiny seedlings that are transplanted into the ground or a series of grow bags (depending on the plant and how much space you’re working with.) It’s easy to place them close to one another because they’re so small. You didn’t even think to consider how large they’ll get as they grow. The problem here is that since they’re too close to one another, they don’t have any room to grow. They don’t develop properly and will choke one another out as they compete for the same sunlight, water, and root space.

    You Don’t Bother to Weed

    Your plant beds need to be taken care of, and this includes weeding them regularly. It’s easy to think that those weeds won’t cause any damage, but they will. Weeds take up space, hog the nutrients in the soil, and introduce pests to your plants. As a result, your vegetables simply won’t grow properly.

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    They Were Put Into the Ground Too Soon

    Cold weather can damage your plants. Some types of seeds, such as tomatoes, won’t even germinate in temperatures that are below 50 degrees. If you want your vegetables to grow, you need to pay attention to the weather. Starting your seeds too early or in the wrong conditions can leave you with sickly plants that don’t produce anything. On top of this, if you plant the seedlings before the last frost of the year, they could die or become damaged by the cold. The results will be plants that don’t really do anything because they just aren’t healthy enough.

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    You Didn’t Plan Your Garden Properly

    Gardens need to be planned. Certain crops pair well together, while others simply don’t like each other. For example, the three sisters – corn, beans, and squash – will thrive if they’re placed close together because they protect each other and provide the right growing conditions. In order for your garden to be the best that it possibly can, you’ll need to do some research on the vegetables that you want to plant, and then plan everything out accordingly.

    Fertilizer? What’s That?

    If you don’t fertilize your plants, they won’t have the nutrients that they need in order to grow. There are many different types of fertilizer, so you should have no issues finding the best organic or non-organic one for your needs. As we mentioned above, you need to do a bit of research in order to see which types of fertilizer work best for your vegetable plants, and then apply them using the instructions on the package.

    Related Article: 5 Common Fertilizer Mistakes

    There’s Not Enough Sunlight

    Anyone who’s ever tried to plant vegetables in the shade knows what will happen. Without plenty of sunlight, those crops just won’t grow properly. In order to determine the best place for your garden, spend some time looking around your yard at all hours of the day. The spaces that get the most sunlight will be the best place for your plants. Very few vegetable plants will actually survive and thrive in low light conditions. Your garden placement might be to blame for your lack of output.

  • 5 Common Fertilization Mistakes

    5 Common Fertilization Mistakes

    How much do you know about plant fertilizer? While your level of knowledge depends on your gardening experience, as well as how much research you’ve done on the topic, this doesn’t mean that you don’t make mistakes when applying yours. It’s very easy to use the wrong type of fertilizer, not mix it correctly, or even apply too much (or too little) of it. Since fertilizer is an important part of the growing process, you need to know which mistakes your making so that you can avoid them in the future. Here are some of the most common ones.

    Using Too Much Fertilizer

    Too much of a good thing is definitely a problem. If you use too much fertilizer, you could actually be hurting your plants. As it turns out, over-fertilizing can cause certain compounds in the soil to build up, which will hurt your plants. For example, they need just enough nitrogen in order to survive and thrive, but too much can kill them. Never over fertilize. This is one of those things where the words “too much of a good thing” certainly come true. In fact, if you’ve just fertilized the soil and your plants look as if they need more fertilizer (look for droopy leaves, and so on) this might actually be a sign that you applied too much.

    Suggested Article: The Best All Natural Fertilizers for Your Garden

    Adding Too Much of One Nutrient

    It’s easy to add too much of one nutrient and not enough of the others. Many people focus on the trio of NPK, or Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium, while forgetting that their soil actually needs to be a perfect balance of these compounds and others. In order to balance things out properly, make sure to use more than one type of fertilizer. Look for ones that contain calcium, sulfur, or one of the other many micronutrients that your plants need.

    Related Article: 4 Simple Ways to Improve Your Garden Soil

    Your Fertilized Them at the Wrong Time

    This is where doing research on your plants comes in handy. There are numerous resources out there that tell you exactly when this type of tomato plant or that type of cucumber vine needs to be fertilized. You shouldn’t fertilize everything at once, or just “wing it.” Instead, look up your exact varietals and create a calendar or chart that shows when in their growth cycles that they need to be fertilized. Your plants will reward you growing plenty of vegetables if you do this correctly.

    Repeating the Same Patterns

    You need to remember that what worked great one year won’t necessarily provide the same results the next. It’s easy to fall into these habits and come up with a formula of sorts that spells out success. However, your plants might have different needs the next year, based on the air temperatures, amount of sunlight, soil conditions, and even how much water they’ve received. You need to plan everything to match – not just do the same thing over again because it worked that way in the past. Be open to change and everything will work out for the best.

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    Not Testing Your Soil

    The soil that you plant your crops in needs to be tested every year because its condition can change. Since you want your soil to have that perfect balance of nutrients and micronutrients, it helps to know what it’s exactly chemical composition is. This way, you can add in the right type of fertilizer. Otherwise, you might be applying more phosphorus to soil that already has plenty of this nutrient. This isn’t good for the plants or your soil composition. The more that you know about your soil before you fertilize it, the better.

    Related Article: How to Test Soil Quality

  • 8 Items to NOT Include in Your Compost

    8 Items to NOT Include in Your Compost

    Creating a compost pile is always a good idea. You’ll get to reuse food scraps that would otherwise end up in the trash, and then eventually in a landfill. On top of this, compost piles create new, fresh soil that contains plenty of nutrients. Your plants will love it. However, before it gets to that point, you need to understand the basics of composting, which involve knowing what you shouldn’t put into a compost bin. Many of these items are downright harmful to your compost and will cause a number of problems. Avoid adding them to the pile at all costs.

    Citrus Peels

    While fruit waste of all kinds can be added to a compost pile, you should avoid adding in those citrus peels. They take way too long to decompose and can affect the overall balance in your pile. Your goal is to make soil, and you won’t be able to use it for much when it contains whole chunks of orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit peels in it.

    Animal Feces

    It’s understandable that you want to do something with your cat or dog feces besides putting it in the trash. However, if you add it to your compost pile, you risk contaminating it with parasites and microorganisms. You don’t want them getting anywhere near your plants, especially if you grow your own vegetables.

    Onion Peels

    A good compost pile contains a balanced combination of food scraps and other waste that break down slowly over time. In some cases, you might want to add some worms to your pile in order to help this process along. Onion peels will hurt, rather than help, here. Not only do they slow down the decomposition process, but they also hurt your worms.

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    Sticker Labels

    You’ve no doubt seen those annoying sticker labels that appear on fruits and vegetables. Yes, they serve a purpose – helping the cashier code in the right items during checkout – but they don’t do much else. You can’t even add them to your compost pile, because they won’t biodegrade. They’re actually made of plastic, not paper.

    Paper That’s Coated or Glossy

    When you’re adding items to your compost bin, you do need to balance out those fruit and vegetable scraps with some paper. However, it needs to be the right kind of paper. You can’t use glossy or coated paper. Those enhancements are made of plastic, which prevents the paper from breaking down properly.

    Tea Bags and Coffee Filters

    While used tea leaves and coffee grounds absolutely can be added to your compost, the items that you use to make that tea and coffee cannot. Your tea bags and coffee filters need to be placed in the trash unless you’ve determined that they’re made of natural materials. Many consist of synthetic polyester fibers that won’t break down properly, if at all.

    Meat Scraps of All Kinds

    The meat of any sort can’t be placed in a compost bin. This means that you can’t include any beef trimmings, leftover cooked chicken (or uncooked chicken), fish bones, or anything that came from an animal. The problem here lies not so much in getting those items to biodegrade (they will, along with everything else around them), but in the smell that they give off while doing so. All of the animals in your neighborhood will end up rooting through your compost bin looking for food.

    Used Charcoal

    It can be tempting to dump leftover charcoal in your compost bin, but you shouldn’t do it. This material actually contains a lot of sulfur, which can upset the overall balance of your compost. It’s even worse if your charcoal has been treated or soaked in fire starting liquid.

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  • 5 Tips for Using Manures in Your Garden

    5 Tips for Using Manures in Your Garden

     

    Manure is one the best, all-natural fertilizers around. Yes, it does smell, since it consists of animal feces. However, its many benefits far outweigh the stench. You’ll be glad that you put up with it when your plants are growing strong and tall. Before you begin spreading manure around your garden willy-nilly, take the time to review these five useful tips.

     

    1) Don’t Place Manure around Your Edible Vegetables

    You might be tempted to use manure to fertilize every single plant in your garden, after all, it’s good for all of them, right? Wrong. You never want to use it around any edible vegetable or fruit plants, or even on your herbs. It can dehydrate and burn your plants, as it’s very strong. On top of this, manure is full of bacteria. This means that you might end up transferring salmonella and E. coli to your edible crops. All of the washing in the world may not be enough to keep them contaminant free.  Note: this is based on fresh manure directly applied to your soil.  There are steps you can take to apply composted manure as fertilizer.

     

    2) Research Your Manure before Using It

    Yes, manure is usually all-natural, as in it comes from animals. This doesn’t mean that your batch won’t contain trace amounts of various medications, antibiotics, and pesticides. These things can leach into your soil where they’ll negatively affect your plants. The chemicals in them can also kill off the beneficial microbes that make manure such a useful fertilizer. You need to be careful when using random batches of it. Always ask the provider (as in the farmer or store employee, not the animals) before buying your next supply.  Note: if you are supplying the manure from your own livestock, you will know what they have been fed and ingesting in their bodies.

     

    3) Age Your Manure

    Aged manure is what’s best for your garden. The fresh stuff can stink and even burn your plants.  Aged manure doesn’t smell as bad (although you might find that it has some lingering odors) and contains all of the proper nutrients. The aging process entails drying the manure at around 160 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours or days. Then, it’s left to sit for several months, ideally six months to a year. The end results are powdery and less moist. Many of the harmful pathogens will have been killed off as well.

    4) Place Some in Your Compost Pile

    If you already have a compost pile and need something to do with your fresh manure, then we have a solution for you. Place the manure in that pile and let it cure. Over the course of the next two to four months, your manure will break down along with the rest of the “ingredients” in your compost pile. With that said, this only works well if you add a small amount of manure to an already well-blended compost pile. You need an outdoor pile, as well, not one of those tumbler bins. They won’t work well, and the manure won’t break down properly. Since composting is quite different from aging your manure, you can test out both methods, provided that you have space, to see which one you like the best.

    Related Article: The Best All Natural Fertilizers For Your Garden

     

    5) Make Manure Tea

    This sounds completely unpalatable to the human ear. And yes, you don’t want to drink the manure tea yourself. Your plants will love it though. This liquid mixture of manure dissolved in water is just what your plants need. Your rosebushes, in particular, will love it. Once you have your “manure tea” ready, just pour it around the roots of your non-edible plants. They’ll soak up the liquid as if it were just water. The only difference is that this is a more powerful form of water, one with plenty of vitamins and nutrients.

     

    Conclusion

    While there are many steps and precautions to take when implementing manure, it is one of the most beneficial, natural fertilizers you can use.  Your plants will thank you!

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  • The Best All Natural Fertilizers For Your Garden

    The Best All Natural Fertilizers For Your Garden

     

    Store-bought fertilizers can get expensive. On top of that, they don’t always produce the results you are looking for. They aren’t natural, so there’s no guarantee that they are going to work the way they’re supposed to. Instead of heading into town to pick up an overpriced bag for your garden, go to your kitchen and mix up your own batch with any of these natural fertilizer recipes.

     

    1. Egg Shells

    After breakfast, don’t toss your egg shells. Wash them up and crush them. They are 93% calcium carbonate. With that there, it’s effective to use near peppers, tomatoes, and other plants to prevent rotting. If you are planting something fresh, you can mix your egg shells in with your potting soil for bigger and better results.

    Related Article:  13 Useful Ways to Reuse Eggshells

    1. Coffee Grounds

    Your coffee is good for waking up more than just you in the morning. Those grounds can bring to life a variety of plants including roses, azaleas, blueberries, and tomatoes. You can mix the grounds directly into the soil or place them on top before you water. The nitrogen seeps in and gives the foliage a jolt. You can mix up a batch for watering by blending six cups of coffee grounds in a full five-gallon bucket for a couple of days. Then, dump it over your plants.

    Related Article:  The Undeniable Benefits of Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

    1. Banana Peels

    Bananas have a ton of nutrients for humans, so it’s no surprise that they are also healthy for plants. You can bury the peels in the ground before planting so that they decompose in the soil.

     

    1. Molasses

    Molasses is said to increase the good bacteria and microbes in various plants allowing for bigger and healthier results. A simple recipe is mixing one to three tablespoons of molasses per gallon of water. Dump the concoction directly on the plants.

     

    1. Human Urine

    As long as your body is healthy and free of any disease or infection, your urine is sterile. Sounds kind of gross to use it as a fertilizer, but it’s loaded with phosphorous, potassium, and nitrogen. There’s way more in there than what you find in the store-bought versions. The ideal urine to water ratio is 1:8.

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    1. Pet Food

    This is going to depend on what kind of animal food you have. As long as it’s not loaded with artificial stuff, even the cheap type has protein and nutrients that can aid in fertilization. Just sprinkle it over the garden, turn the food into the soil, and water. Cover the area to keep the critters away. Continue watering and turning the soil for about a month. When the food has decomposed all the way, put in your desired plants.

     

    1. Worm Castings

    You are going to have to do some worm hunting for this one. Get a handful of red wiggler worms and toss them in with some cardboard and various kitchen scraps. The worms will start making compost from the waste they create, and you can use that for fertilizer safely wherever you want.

    Related Article:  DIY Worm Casting

    1. Manure

    One of the most significant benefits of using cow, horse, or chicken manure is that with a little legwork around your local farms, you can get it for free. The composted manure should be put in some type of permeable bag made from a decomposable material. Put the bag in the shade and allow it to sit for a few days. When it’s conditioned properly, toss the bag or bury it and spread the compost over whatever area you are planting.

     

    1. Grass

    Put your grass clippings in a five-gallon bucket. Add water to fill all the way to the top and then let it sit for a couple of days. The nitrogen from the grass is excellent for plants. The tea you have made with your grass clippings can be diluted 1:10 with water before being dumped at the base of your foliage.

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  • 4 Critical Methods to Improve Your Garden Soil

    4 Critical Methods to Improve Your Garden Soil

    You have the perfect spot picked out for your new garden.  It gets just the right amount of sun, its easy to access and there is plenty of room to plant whatever your heart desires.  Just one problem.  The ground in your perfect spot is less than optimal for growing anything more than plastic plants.

    What do you do when your potential garden’s soil is more akin to just plain dirt that the rich compost you dream of getting your hands into?  Pick another site?  Probably now very practical.

    Fortunately, there are several natural ways you can inject your ground with what it needs to support a flourishing garden.  Here are a few you might want to consider.

     

    Composting

    Composting your kitchen and yards waste gives you a tremendous source of organic material that will add nutrients and extra material to your garden plot.

    If you haven’t had a chance to get a good compost heap going, your local DIY or garden center will be able to provide you enough to get started.

    Not sure you want to take on the job of maintaining compost?  Consider at least saving all your used coffee grounds and egg shells.  Adding these directly to the soil around each plant will go a long way to building up much-desired nutrients.

    Related Article:  The Undeniable Benefits of Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

     

    Natural Fertilizer a.k.a Manure

    Adding animal dung to your soil will give it a much-needed boost in organic material, nutrients, and beneficial microbes. If you go this route, make sure you follow a few precautions.

    First, most fresh manure is too “hot” to add directly to plants.  There are high levels of several compounds that can burn your plants chemically.  For best result, let manure compost or at least age for a while before adding it to soil and around existing plants.  This gives those chemical compounds time to break down to safe levels for planting.

    If you are preparing a new site, you can use a tiller to mix in fresh manure in the fall, and then let it set over the winter to be ready for spring planting.

    Also, if you are sourcing your manure from an outside source, say the farmer down the road, make sure the manure you receive is from animals that have not been allowed to graze on food sources that have been exposed to herbicides.

    Some herbicides can survive the digestive process and will exist in the animals waste, which will have unwanted side-effects on your new planting.

    Plant Cover Crops

    This relatively easy option lets you build up your soil quality with much less work than some other methods. Cover crops provide nutrients to the soil as well as improve drainage, attract beneficial insects and other organisms, strangle out weeds, and act as a mulch.

    One thing to note, however, using this method will take longer than others.  You won’t be able to use the site for other planting until the following year.

    If you are someone who really plans ahead, though, this would be a good option for you.

     

    Let the Worms do the Work

    Vermicomposting is basically the process of introducing worms to the environment and letting them add important nutrients as well as increase aeration and drainage just by being themselves.

    There are a few ways to accomplish this:

    • Add the worms to your compost pile. They will speed up the decomposition process and add vital nutrients to the material.
    • Add the worms to your garden soil and pile on some compost and mulch to give them a new home.

    Related Article:  Do-It-Yourself Worm Casting

     

    Let the Gardening Begin

    We’ve discussed four fairly simple ways you can turn a patch of dirt into a flourishing garden plot ready to nurture whatever you want to plant.  With just a little planning, you can turn your backyard into a viable food source in no time.

     

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  • The Undeniable Benefits of Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

    The Undeniable Benefits of Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

     

    Coffee grounds and gardening are naturally a good fit. Whether you are composting with them or applying them directly to your garden and around your yard, you’ll discover that coffee can affect your plants in much the same way it does you.

    If you think your garden is in need of a pick-me-up, get ready to be amazed at the effects it will produce.

     

    Used Coffee Grounds Make Great Fertilizer

    When added directly to the garden soil, the grounds add to the organic material makeup of the soil itself.  This addition aids in the retention of water, improves proper drainage and aerates the soil.

    The coffee also attracts earthworms and aids in the maintenance of microorganisms

    If you have acid-loving plants, fresh coffee grounds (not used) will help raise the acid levels of the soil.  Note: used grounds are a neutral PH and won’t affect either way.

    To get the full benefits of used coffee grounds as a fertilizer, work the grounds into the soil or your garden, versus just sprinkling them on top.

     

    General Benefits of Used Coffee Grounds

    In addition to a fertilizer, grounds can be used as a mulch for plants.  It can also be used to repel slugs and snails, thanks to the caffeine content.  In other words, don’t bother with decaf.

    If you are into vermicomposting, your grounds are an excellent worm food.  Apparently, worms are as addicted to coffee as we can be.

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    Composting with Used Coffee Grounds

    If you already have a compost pile, did you know your used coffee grounds would make a fantastic addition?  Tossing your used coffee grounds (along with the paper filter) is a great way to reduce your footprint in your local landfill and bring added benefits to your gardening at the same time.

    As used coffee grounds compost, they add nitrogen to your composting pile.  One thing to be aware of, however.  Used coffee grounds are classified as a green compost material so you will need to balance them with brown compost material to keep your levels optimal.

     

    Some Thoughts on Using Fresh Coffee Grounds in the Garden

    While fresh coffee grounds can sometimes cause more harm than good to your garden, there are a few circumstances where it could come in handy.

    As we mentioned earlier, fresh grounds can benefit acid-loving plant including:

    • Azaleas
    • Blueberries
    • Carrots
    • Hydrangeas
    • Lilies
    • Radishes

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    In the case of root crops, like the carrots and radishes, you’ll get the best results if you mix in the fresh grounds at the time of planting. Tomatoes, however, don’t typically respond well, even though they like acid soil. Maybe they have a caffeine intolerance like some people I know?

    Some gardeners like to use fresh coffee grounds as an organic weed suppressor, keep in mind, though, that some beneficial fungal pathogens could be suppressed at the same time, creating a less than desirable environment for some plants.

     

    Time to Start Brewing – Well, Not Necessarily

    If you are a regular coffee drinker, you already have a supply readily on hand.  That doesn’t mean you need to take up the habit though.

    You don’t need to be a coffee lover, or even need to go out and buy a coffee pot just to brew it up for your plants.  Check around at your local coffee shops.  Many locations, both national chains, and local small businesses will save them to hand out to anyone who comes asking.  In fact, a lot of places hand it out for free just to avoid it being tossed in the trash at the end of the day.