There are all kinds of solutions you can use to fertilize your plants. There are commercial fertilizers available at garden stores and then there are organic fertilizers that can provide the same nutrients that the commercial brands do.
(Courtesy: beammeuppattie at flickr.com)
We have already written about using milk as a fertilizer. However, have you ever considered fish? Actually, it is fish emulsion to be exact.
Using fish as a fertilizer is not a new idea. In fact, the settlers at Jamestown used fish as a fertilizer. They caught the fish and then buried it with the crop. Today organic farmers around the planet use fish emulsion as an alternative to toxic chemical fertilizers.
What Is Fish Emulsion?
Fish emulsion is made from all of a fish or parts of it.
Homemade fish emulsion is also a cheaper alternative to commercial emulsions and you can make a lot of it at one time.
Moreover, there are nutrients in the homemade version that do not appear in the commercial variety. That’s because commercial fish emulsion fertilizer is made of trashed fish parts, not whole fish. This solution has less protein, oil and bone than the homemade variety made of whole fish.
As gardeners know, bacteria and fungi are necessary materials for healthy soil, hot composting, and disease control. Homemade emulsion fertilizer includes more bacterial microorganisms than one would find in commercial emulsions.
The ingredients for fish emulsion fertilizer include:
- One part fresh fish
- Three-parts sawdust
- A bottle of unsulfured molasses
- Water
Mix the ingredients in a large container with a lid and stir and turn daily for about two weeks until the fish are broken down.
Using the emulsion on plants is easy. You need to include a little water to dilute the mixture. The ratio of water to emulsion is 1 tablespoon of emulsion to one gallon of water.
Pour the solution into a spray bottle and spray directly on the plant leaves. You can also pour the solution around the base of the plants. It is suggested that you thoroughly water the plants after fertilizing to assist them in absorbing the emulsion.
(Source: gardeningknowhow.com)
