There are few things that are more rewarding than growing plants and gardening. This is not simply a case of getting the watering can out every now and then, though, as you need to be using fertiliser. Fertiliser provides a dose of important nutrients that will optimise growth and help the plant to thrive. Fertiliser provides key macronutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, which they may not get from the soil alone.
Making Your Own
You can simply buy fertiliser from the store, but you will find that often these are chemically produced and they will not be good for the environment (they can also be expensive). You can buy environmentally-friendly fertiliser, but a fun alternative is to make your own which will also help you to make savings. There are a number of organic ways to make your own fertiliser with items that you might already have at home and this will make gardening even more rewarding for you.
Compost Tea
You can make your own fertiliser with your own homemade compost, which is a great way to extract the key nutrients needed into a “tea” that can be easy to spread around. You can simply fill a bucket a third of the way up with mature compost and then fill the rest with water. Leave it for a week and then strain the resulting liquid. You can then use a garden sprayer to simply spray your compost tea on your plants to promote healthy growth.
Weed Tea
Weeds are a gardener’s worst enemy, but actually, they can serve a purpose when it comes to creating a fertiliser for your garden. Soaking weeds and roots in water in a bucket for a month will break them down and create a rich mineral feed that you can use to fertilise your plants. Keep in mind that they will not break down in a regular compost heap and would actually spread if you did this, so you always need to drown them in water if you want to use them as fertiliser.
Comfey/Nettle Liquid Feeds
Comfey and nettles both make brilliant liquid feeds that will help you to give your plants the nutrients that they need. You simply need to fill a container half full with leaves, fill the rest up with water and then cover it up. Wait a month and you can then strain the solution and use it as an effective fertiliser for your garden.
Hopefully, this post will encourage you to start making your own fertiliser for your plants. It is a great feeling when you are able to help your plants to thrive, especially when you can make the fertiliser yourself at home and create a self-sustaining backyard while also saving money.
