Homesteader Depot

Tag: soil nutrients

  • Why Are My Plants Turning Yellow?

    Why Are My Plants Turning Yellow?

    Yellow leaves are never a happy sight to see on plants you’ve been caring for and watch grow. And they’re not a good sign. Yellow leaves on plants or entirely yellow plants can be indicative of a number of different issues. Here are some of them:

    Pests

    One possible cause of yellow leaves is pests that are living on the plant and leaves and taxing the plant’s energy and resources. To determine if this is the cause, inspect the plant carefully to see if you can find any pests. To treat this, you’ll need to eliminate the pests themselves. Neem oil or insect-killing soap are great organic options for a pesticide.

    Overwatering 

    Plants can become yellow if they get too much water, and poor drainage or too much clay content in the soil can be a common culprit of this. To combat this, try to mix some sand into the soil or waterless.

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    Lack of sunlight

    Sunlight is what plants need to thrive, and if they’re not getting enough and aren’t shade-tolerant plants, this might be a cause of yellowed leaves. If this is the case, your leaves will be floppy and faded in color. If you have potted plants, try moving them somewhere they’ll get more sun, or, if your plants are in the ground, transplant if you can or simply choose a sunnier spot for these particular plants next year.

    Dehydration

    Not enough watering can also cause yellowed leaves, as plants require water to transport the essential nutrients of the soil to their foliage. If leaves feel crunchy and dry, dehydration is probably the culprit. Make sure your plants receive enough water and check daily for the moisture content of the soil. Soil should hardly ever be completely dried out if you stick your finger into it.

    Nutrient deficiency 

    If the leaves of your plants are yellowing, they could be deficient in any number of essential nutrients. If you haven’t been fertilizing or amending your soil, be sure to give them some compost tea or store-bought organic fertilizer for either growth or blossom, depending on what stage they are at, and buy some nutrient testing strips to test the nutrient content of your garden so you can amend appropriately.

    Plants are just like people, they need proper food, hydration, and care to thrive! Help respond to your plant’s needs by checking for these important issues and address them today.

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  • Awesome Compostables You Probably Already Have at Home

    Awesome Compostables You Probably Already Have at Home

    Composting is awesome. You can create your own amazing humus right in your backyard, and there’s  just nothing quite as nutritious for your soil as well-composed, beautiful homemade compost.

    Once you start composting, you might find you view your kitchen and home as a veritable goldmine! You might not be familiar with how many everyday items that you just toss in the trash or recycling bin every day can help you build a healthy, well-fed compost pile.

    We’ve put together a list of great compostables you probably already have in your kitchen, home, or on your property, that you can collect, save, or regularly add to a compost pile to add valuable nutrients.

    The items on this infographic are also things you might be able to get for free from businesses who discard them regularly on a large scale as well, so check with lawn care businesses, coffee shops, bakeries, and florists, if you’d like to build a big compost pile!

    Enjoy:

  • Tips to Help You Improve Your Soil

    Tips to Help You Improve Your Soil

    If you are going to be successful at homesteading, you need to have good soil. There are no two ways around it. However, this doesn’t mean that the soil on your land right now needs to be great. There are some simple things you can do to improve the quality of your soil so you can grow your food, and that’s what we’ll be covering over the course of this post.

    Composting

    Take the yard waste and your kitchen waste and create compost. Grass clippings, leaves, vegetable and fruit peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, and the like can make great compost. However, you don’t want to add leftover meat, human waste, or the waste of any animal that eats meat for that matter. Making your own compost pile is easy, and it can make a difference in your soil, as it adds so many nutrients to it.

    Manure

    Another good option to consider is manure, but you need to be careful. It should be added to the compost pile, or you should age the manure by letting it sit. Otherwise, it is going to get too hot. If you were to put this onto plants, it would burn them, which is not something you want to happen. If you have fresh manure, add it in the fall after the harvest. This way, it can sit through the winter.

    Many different types of animals’ waste can be used for your manure. Some of the best options include cow, horse, chicken, sheep, and goat. You can even use rabbit pellets, so if you also happen to raise rabbits, that should be a plentiful and free source of manure for you. One of the other benefits of rabbit pellets is the fact that they are a “cold” manure, so you can add them to plants immediately. You can just place the droppings onto the plants and leave them.

    Mulching

    Another fantastic way that you can start to improve the quality of your soil is through mulching. You can use hay or straw for the mulch, but make sure that it is organic and that it hasn’t been treated with any chemicals. You could also use a variety of other materials. Choose something that you have readily available.

    When you add mulch, you can hold moisture in the soil, which can help protect your plants. It can also ensure the plants stay safer during fluctuating temperatures. For example, it can help save some plants from a frost. Like compost, as it breaks down, it will add some more nutrition to the soil.

    Some simple items that you can use for mulch in addition to hay or straw include grass clippings, bark and wood chips, decaying leaves, peat moss, and some of your compost.

    As you can see, these are some very simple methods you can employ to improve your soil and therefore improve your garden no matter how large or small it might be.

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  • Coffee Grounds For Your Garden

    Coffee Grounds For Your Garden

    Coffee grounds are a common cheap and easy form of organic material to add to your compost pile or garden. Here are a few tips for how, and why, to use them in your garden.

    Coffee and pH

    Despite what you might have heard, coffee grounds in your garden will have little to no effect of your soil pH and will not harm plants even when applied directly as a top dressing in generous amounts.  The acid that is in the coffee you drink is there because it is water-soluble, meaning that is has been removed from the coffee grounds by the water that was used to brew your coffee.  The spent grounds themselves will have a near-neutral pH of 6.5 to 6.8.

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    Nutrients in Coffee

    That being said, there is quite a bit in coffee grounds that will have an effect on the soil in your garden.  Coffee grounds have an average NPK of 2.1, 0.3, 0.3.  And the Phosphorus and Potassium are plants available right away, while the Nitrogen will not be available until broken down by micro-organisms and worms that will be attracted to the garden by the grounds.  There is also Magnesium, Copper, Calcium, Manganese, Iron, and Zinc in coffee grounds.  All of which provide food for your plants and for soil life that contributes to the health of your garden. For those that still can’t get over the fear of applying coffee grounds directly to your garden soil, there is always the compost pile.

    Compost

    Coffee grounds will heat up a compost pile quickly which can help keep the necessary organisms alive as we head into the fall and winter months.  And worms love coffee grounds.  Like chickens, worms have gizzards and have no teeth to break down their food.  The coarse texture of the grounds and their small size are great for this.

    Availability

    But perhaps the best thing about coffee grounds is that they are available in most places, and in bulk, for free.  Coffee shops are just going to throw them away, and often times they have separate trash cans that only contain coffee grounds and coffee filters (which are also great in the garden or compost pile).  So even if you don’t drink coffee yourself, stop by a coffee shop today and get your garden a boost.

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