Natural fertilizers for the garden and indoor flowers: description and their application | TOP-20 dressings | (Photo & Video) +Reviews

It is considered the most valuable organic fertilizer. Contains up to 21% organic matter, 0.5% digestible nitrogen, 0.6% potassium and 0.25% phosphorus. For fertilizer, horse, cow or rabbit manure is used. Pork is used less often due to its strong acid reaction. Mostly manure is used on a litter of straw, peat or sawdust.

Traditionally, horse manure is used on heavy soils, cow manure on light soils. There are four stages of manure decomposition:

Each of these stages is applied at its own time of the year. For example, slightly decomposed, they are brought in in the fall, and humus - in the spring. On cold soils, it is deepened by 10-15 cm, on warm soils - from 30 to 40 cm. With a small amount of manure, it is evenly distributed over the planting sites (placed in holes or spread over the beds).

Often, manure, especially cow manure, is diluted with water at concentrations from 1 to 6 to 1 to 10 when applied.

This type of fertilizer, with some reservations, can be used for any crops. Often, due to its high chemical activity and high acidity, it is recommended to make it in a mixture with lime.

Sometimes gardeners have a desire to fertilize seedlings with manure, even in the absence of other dressings, this should be avoided. Even in a diluted form, this fertilizer is too active and, after treatment of very young plants, can lead to their death.

It is bird feces mixed with urine. In terms of nutrient content, it is not far behind manure. The most valued chicken or pigeon droppings, to a lesser extent - duck and goose.

It is especially effective in the form of a solution in water (concentrations from 1 to 10 to 1 to 20). It is recommended to pre-fill the litter with water before use, and, after closing the container with a lid, leave for up to 5 days.

There are few useful trace elements in this fertilizer, but there is a high concentration of humus, which has a beneficial effect on soil structure.

According to the degree of decomposition, it is classified as follows:

Usually, peat is applied on top of the soil, and often it also functions as a mulch. In addition, the dark color of this fertilizer contributes to the warming of the soil. Peat can be applied at any time of the year. But it is especially effective to fertilize the ground with peat in the spring, since for young plants it is the most “gentle” top dressing.

Peat is considered a universal fertilizer. It is great not only for the garden, but also for fruit crops. Thanks to peat, you can get good yields of fruits, gourds, pumpkin. It is recommended to use it for berry crops: fertilize strawberries, raspberries, currants. Many gardeners add it to composts and potting mixes.

Peat is very popular as a component for seedling substrate. In some cases, especially when growing pumpkin crops, tomatoes and peppers, it is recommended to plant their seeds for seedlings in clean peat without impurities. In the event that high-moor peat is used for this purpose, it will be correct to mix it with lime or wood ash. This measure is needed to reduce the acid content in it.

On peat, it is not bad to grow various crops in greenhouses. Unlike manure that is too energetic, which creates an additional greenhouse effect, peat will be good for this purpose in the middle of spring, when excessive heat generation is not needed.

This term refers to mixtures of various natural organic materials:

Usually, they are laid in layers in a special container, a pit, or simply on the ground. In this case, the layers are interspersed with garden soil or peat.

The compost mixture should be moistened regularly with water or liquid organic fertilizers. Once every 1-1.5 months, the heap layers are mixed. The time when the compost is completely ready for use is from 8 months to 1 year.

Often, earthworms are planted in compost heaps, which contribute to its more natural processing. Just like peat, compost enriches the soil at any time of the year. But it is best to do this in the phase of digging the earth, carried out in spring or autumn.

This organic matter accumulates at the bottom of ponds, lakes and rivers. Despite the low density, it contains a large amount of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. Usually, it needs to dry a bit before use.

In terms of efficiency, it occupies an intermediate position between compost and manure. Works well on sandy soils. Application rates or range from 3 to 10 kg per 1 sq. m.

The use of freshly cut grasses as fertilizers is very effective, since they are a substance similar to manure in terms of their effect on soil quality. Mostly cereals or legumes are used as such. The most popular of them are oats, peas, chickpeas, beans, sweet clover, mustard.

The advantage of using green manure is the possibility of almost year-round application. Green manure crops can be planted several times as intermediate plants between the cultivation of the main crops. For example, they can be sown after harvesting early vegetables or herbs (such as onions or garlic). The terms of their growth are relatively fast and within a month the plowed area will be ready for planting the next crop.

In some cases, green manure is planted even before winter, so that before the start of winter or early spring they are immediately mowed and mixed with the soil for its further use.

Sawdust is a cheap organic fertilizer that can significantly improve soil fertility, and also make it loose and breathable. It should be remembered that they are not used fresh.

Before use, sawdust should be processed in much the same way as compost is formed - make them into a multi-layer heap in which they will be mixed with plant residues (cut grass, leaves, etc.) and filled with water or a low-concentration solution of manure or chicken manure. The sawdust is ready for use in 6 to 8 months.

The principle of preparation and use of this type of fertilizer almost completely repeats that of sawdust. In this case, it is necessary to grind it before laying the bark in the compost heap. In addition, for better decomposition of the bark, a small amount of mineral fertilizers is added to the pile (mainly nitrogen fertilizers in an amount of about 4-5 kg ​​per 100 kg of bark).

The recommended composition of the mineral mixture will be as follows:

Good results are obtained by using herbs that have been soaked in water for a long time. Water contributes to the faster decomposition of plant residues into constituent components that will be perfectly absorbed by plants in the garden.

The recipe for making such a mixture is quite simple. In a large container (for example, a standard 200 l barrel), chopped herbs or tops are placed, filling it up to half. Then the container is filled to the top with water and tightly closed with an airtight lid so that oxygen does not enter the plant residues during the fermentation process.

The optimal turnaround time is 1.5-2 weeks. During this time, the active substances decompose completely and the fertilizer is ready for use. Usually, it is used in low concentrations (not higher than 1 to 10), using it as a liquid fertilizer for almost all crops. This mixture will be especially effective for vegetables or shrubs.

Almost any weed can be used as a herb for such an infusion: celandine, dandelions, nettles, chamomile, and so on. You can also use potato or tomato tops, or beet leaves.

Good results can be achieved if, at the beginning of the cooking process, additional ingredients are added to the container to speed up the fermentation process - expired fermented milk products (for example, kefir), bread, candied jam, etc.

Sometimes, to speed up the process, a container filled with grass is placed in a sunny area. In this case, it is advisable to take especially good care of the tightness, since the fermentation process will go 2-3 times faster.

This product is mainly composed of calcium carbonate. Its concentration can reach 90%. In addition, the shell contains many useful trace elements: fluorine, zinc, iron, magnesium, etc. This is perhaps the only natural fertilizer that has such a rich composition. Sometimes it is not enough for the normal growth and fruiting of plants.

The crushed shell is applied to the plant holes before planting, or used as a mulching material. The finer the shell is ground, the faster the effect of its use will come.

In addition, this fertilizer helps to deoxidize the soil and fight pests. The use of shells is highly recommended when growing calciphilous plants, such as some types of juniper or thuja. In terms of efficiency, it is far superior to chalk.

When we fertilize the garden with various chemicals, this not only allows us to get a good harvest, but also disrupts the acid balance of the soil. Whatever preparations of artificial origin are used (nitrate, phosphates, potassium salts, etc.), they often increase the level of soil acidity due to them. After a few years of this practice, soil acidification becomes global and many varieties of horticultural and horticultural crops begin to absorb nutrients worse, which leads to a decrease in soil fertility and a decrease in yield.

To reduce the degree of soil acidification, natural deoxidizing fertilizers are used. The most popular remedy is wood ash. This substance is rich in various trace elements and in its effect resembles many complex fertilizers. Often they fertilize the garden during flowering.

Ash has an alkaline reaction and significantly reduces the acidity of the soil. Usually, for this purpose, it is brought in at the end of the season in the pre-winter digging of the site. When planting fruit trees, it must necessarily be part of the substrate that will fill up the seat. On average, 500 ml of ash is enough for this purpose per tree.

It is also recommended to add it to the composition of the peat substrate for seedlings, to increase seed germination in an overly acidic environment. For this purpose, you can also use soda instead of wood ash.

An effective tool that not only provides nutrition to your plants, but also protects them from many bacterial diseases. In terms of its antibacterial effect, an onion peel solution is comparable to hydrogen peroxide - both products do an excellent job with harmful microorganisms. Most often, funds based on it are applied as foliar top dressing.

The preparation of fertilizers from onion peel is as follows: 200 g of raw materials are poured into a bucket of water and brought to a boil. Then cool and insist 1-2 days. At the end of this period, the broth is filtered. Next, the resulting mixture is sprayed on the leaves of the treated plants. Especially effective is the use of a decoction of onion peel for cucumbers, zucchini and patissons.

Often, decoctions or infusions of various citrus fruits are used as a natural fertilizer - bananas, oranges, tangerines or lemons. A distinctive feature of these crops is the high concentration of essential oils in them, which makes it possible to combine soil fertilization and pest control.

As such, there are no recipes for such folk remedies.. Most often, gardeners and gardeners make decoctions and infusions from banana peels, orange or tangerine peels.

These infusions can be of various concentrations, although, according to the classics, water in such products is taken at the rate of 1 to 1 by weight. They are insisted for several days, filtered, and then used to spray the topsoil and leaves.

in the husk potatoes contains a large amount of potassium and iodine, so it is often used to fertilize various crops. Usually, the husk is dried, crushed and boiled.

Next, the broth is cooled and brought directly under the culture without any addition of water. 

It is recycled bones of domestic animals or fish. It is a valuable phosphorus fertilizer, in which the concentration of phosphorus oxide is about a third of the mass. In addition to phosphorus, it also contains calcium (up to 25%), as well as nitrogen (about 4%). Due to the low chemical activity, it belongs to complex fertilizers of slow digestibility.

Nevertheless, it is one of the most effective means for the gradual nutrition of plants with the necessary substances. It is widely used both in ornamental gardening for growing citrus fruits at home, and in classical gardening - it is good to fertilize apple and cherry trees with it.

Given the relatively high concentrations of active substances, pure bone meal is rarely used. At the same time, the proportions for creating ready-made fertilizers from it are very low.

So, for example, for pot and tub crops, it is used at a concentration of 1 to 100 (that is, pure flour is added to the container in an amount 10 times less than its volume).

In order to fertilize the garden with bone meal, a liquid application method is used. For this, a fertilizer mixture is preliminarily prepared:

That is, the actual concentration of bone meal in the fertilizer mixture is 1 to 400. The resulting mixture is used to water almost any crop in the country, in the garden or in the garden.

Used coffee can be used to fertilize plants that need acidic soil (roses, rhododendrons, tomatoes, melons, carrots, etc.). Usually, coffee grounds are mixed with water in an amount of 200 g per 10 liters of water and infused for a day. Next, the resulting composition is watered with beds with vegetables or flower beds.

Some gardeners practice the use of coffee grounds as a mulching material. It perfectly retains moisture in the soil and does not give weeds the slightest chance of growing. In addition, a strong coffee aroma repels a significant part of the pests.

Yeast or bread is an excellent root system stimulant. They not only increase the efficiency of its work, but also cause the formation of new roots.

This type of fertilizer is applicable to pome, stone fruit and other plants, but it shows maximum efficiency on vegetable and berry crops (cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries and strawberries). 

You can prepare top dressing from this component in this way: mix 100 g of yeast or 200 g of black bread with 10 liters of water and insist for a day. The mixture will be relatively acidic, so in order not to change the acidity of the soil, it is recommended to apply it with wood ash.

For 10 liters of the mixture, about 500 ml of ash will be required. It is poured into a container with the composition immediately before use.

It is traditionally used to water or fertilize ornamental houseplants, but it can also be used to fertilize garden plants. If the crops are watered with tea in small quantities, the plants will receive a fairly wide range of various mineral compounds (more than 300 organic substances and microelements).

Tea leaves can be used as a compost heap filler, an additional component of herbal infusion, or in its pure form. To do this, it is recommended to dry it and grind it further.

Having a sufficiently rich mineral composition, milk and some of its derivatives (for example, whey) can be used as a weak fertilizer for cucumbers. For this purpose, milk is diluted in a ratio of 1 to 5 and used for watering plants.

Another popular use of milk in horticulture is as a means for the prevention of powdery mildew and other fungal diseases at the beginning of the season. It is recommended to spray the leaves of plants with milk several times at the beginning of the season.

The frequency of repetition of the procedure is 2 weeks. Usually 3-4 procedures are enough for prevention.

Boron is responsible for the initiation of flowering processes in almost all horticultural and horticultural crops. In addition, thanks to this element, the formation of new growth points, stems, roots and buds is stimulated. Boron also regulates the sugar content in fruits.

A sign of boron deficiency is the death of growth points and new buds, slowing down the development of the plant and its defeat by fungal diseases, for example, dry and brown rot.

Boric acid is also used to stimulate the growth of seeds and their pre-planting treatment. Like other means, it is used in a diluted form. Foliar top dressing is done at a concentration of 5 g of the drug per 10 liters of water, top dressing under the root - 1-2 g per 10 liters of water.