8 Organic liquid fertilizers you can make!

Organic gardeners are always looking for ways to improve their soil naturally. Of course you can buy organic fertilizers in a garden center but wouldn't it be more natural to just make them? I have tried many ways to make organic fertilizer for my garden over the years and have found them to be just as good as commercially available fertilizers. Plus I just like knowing what is going into my plants.

Homemade fertilizers for the garden.

So what other kinds of organic soil amendments are there? We all know that coffee grounds give plants a nitrogen boost and compost tea is a great fertilizer. Most people also know about it's stronger cousin, poop tea fertilizer. (I'll still include those recipes just in case you're new to the MYO fertilizer arena) 

There are so many more fertilizers that you can make though! 

I've been looking way past common into the arena of kitchen scraps and garbage! I really like to find a new use for things you were going to throw away anyway, and make them into valuable fertilizers for your organic garden.

We've talked about dry organic soil amendments in the post Feed Your Garden. Today I want to talk about making your own liquid organic fertilizers. Most of these are made by allowing the chosen material to steep in water for several days. After a few days most of the soluble nutrients will have seeped into the water solution.

Unless you actually want to ferment the material, this is where you want to stop steeping and use the fertilizer on your plants. I personally don't ferment fertilizer but some people have great success with it.

MYO Organic Liquid Fertilizer


Banana peel fertilizer:

Banana peels are loaded with potassium. Plants that are grown for their fruits or flowers benefit from potassium rich fertilizers. However foliage plants like lettuce or spinach don't favor it too much. Feed potassium rich fertilizer to your fruits, tomatoes and squash plants! 

To unlock the potassium in banana peels, simply place a banana peel in a mason jar full of water and cap it. Let it sit for 3 days and then use it to water your plants.

Eggshell fertilizer:

Eggshells are full of calcium plus a little potassium. Crush clean eggshells and put in a mason jar full of water. Allowed to set for a week or so then use on your plants. Houseplants and tomatoes love this stuff! In fact, almost all plants need calcium. It can even help prevent blossom end rot

After you've used all your eggshell fertilizer, toss the shells in the compost and use new ones for the next batch. 

Trash to make organic fertilizers with.

Vegetable cooking water for plants:

Once your done steaming your veggies for dinner, drain the water into a bowl and allow to cool. This water contains all the vitamins the vegetables lost during the cooking process. I dilute this about half and half with water and give a splash to all my houseplants first, then head to the garden. 

This does not store well at all! Make sure you use it up the first day or it will start to smell like rotten garbage. Anything left can be dumped in the compost pile. 

Epsom salts as fertilizer:

Epsom salts are high in magnesium and sulfur. Mix one tablespoon of Epsom salts with a gallon of water. I use this as a foliar spray on my tomatoes, peppers and roses about twice a month. I also use it on onions since I read somewhere that they make them especially strong tasting and I love me some brutally strong onions!

More natural fertilizers to make 


Weed tea:

If your weeds have not gone to seed yet you can use them to make fertilizer. You can also add grass clippings. Weeds and grass are high in nitrogen and the water helps break them down and make those nutrients available. 

Put weeds and grass clippings in a 5 gallon bucket. Add water until it's a few inches above the weeds, cover and allowed to soak for 3 days. Drain liquid out and mix with water in a 1 to 10 ratio. Use this mixture to water plants and compost the remaining soggy weeds.

Fish tank or pond water fertilizer:

Sure you're not actually making this one, but dirty fish tank water and pond water has lots of nitrogen and nutrients in it that is good for your garden. Even old bird bath water can be used. Depending how dirty the water is, I dilute it at least 1 to 1. 

I add more water if the pond or tank water is particularly funky. Skip it if it's foamy or sludge like. (obviously you wouldn't use water from a saltwater tank)

Fish tank or pond water for plants

Compost tea

This is made exactly the same as weed tea, except you put compost in the bottom of the bucket and cover with water and a lid. I don't push the lid on tight. I just sort of set it on top to prevent bugs from getting in there. After a day or so simply pour off the liquid and dilute to a 1 to 10 ratio and water your plants with it.

Manure tea:

By far my least favorite liquid fertilizer to make is poop tea. I spend enough time cleaning up chicken poop, I do not need to soak it and water my plants with it. 😄 I compost my chicken coop litter and the compost gets used in the garden, so it gets there eventually. I'm just not into making poop tea. (yes, I can be a bit childish sometimes!) 

If however you want to give it a try, it's the same as weed tea or compost tea except you use rabbit or chicken poop instead of compost. This is very high in nitrogen so dilute at least a 1 to 20 ratio. 

Here's how they do it over at Hobby Farms.


Before you apply any type of liquid fertilizer you'll want to make sure that the plants are adequately watered. If they have any level of drought stress they could possibly take up too many salts from the fertilizer. If your plants are desperately in need of watering, water then first then come back tomorrow with the fertilizer.

Why buy fertilizer when you can make your own and save lots of money? Want to know my other money wasters in the garden? 11 Gardening  mistakes that will cost you $$$. Happy growing!

~L

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liquid organic fertilizers, homemade

20 comments:

  1. Good ideas... (most of them anyway, I wouldn't do the last one either!!!! :) ) I use banana peels and eggshells in the garden at the beginning of the season and need to do this for the rest of it. Thank you. :)

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    1. lol...I figured I needed to draw the line somewhere! I plant use banana peel and eggshells in the garden soil too. Much better the the chemicals from the store!

      Lisa

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  2. I love the idea of banana fertiliser, I'm definitely going to try that on my tomatoes this year! I have a bucket of very smelly weed tea going in my garden, it's been fermenting for 3 weeks or so and it smells baaaaaad (but will be so good for the garden!)

    (ps. visiting from #wastelesswednesday blog hop :) x

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    1. 3 weeks...I bet that does smell bad! lol It probably works great though!

      Lisa

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  3. Wow, what a list. We just throw most scraps in the compost pile. We haven't tried to make our own liquid fertilizer yet. Thanks for sharing on the #WasteLessWednesday blog hop!

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  4. This is fantastic! My compost isn't ready but I need something to put on my veggies. I will definitely be using some of these ideas. Thanks very much for sharing with #wastelesswednesday

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    1. These are great because they're ready in such a short time! Good luck with your veggies!

      Lisa

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  5. How many times in a week will i have to water my plants with the fertilizer?

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    1. Hi Mark,

      I use liquid fertilizer about once a week. Keep an eye on your plants and skip a week if they start to show signs of being over fertilized.

      Lisa

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    2. What are these signs of being over fertilized am i looking for? ��

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    3. When a plant is over fertilized it makes it hard for the plant to take up water, so the leaves will yellow and wilt. Sometimes the tips of the leaves start to brown. Growth will slow or stall in an over fertilized plant and sometimes the roots will start to rot. Hope that helps!

      Lisa

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  6. Would or could any of these be used in a non-circulating hydroponic system? If so, which ones and at what concentration? I'm looking for something my students can do at home for a project. I can't expect that they would have epson salts at home and can't require them to purchase anything except maybe some seeds or an already started plant from the grocery store.

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    1. I honestly don't know. I would have to do some experiments first before I could say one way or the other. I think fish tank water would work the best, and food based ones would get smelly pretty quick. Maybe run a few test batches and see how it goes.

      Lisa

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    2. Hi new this great ideas 💡 do anyone knows if these also work for hydroponics n aeroponics?

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    3. I have been using a few of these on plants just growing in water and they have done well so far, however I have not used them on anything with a pump system as I'm worried about affecting it. For instance I add a couple drops of black coffee to the water when I'm rooting Pothos cuttings and it seems to help! (they like a more acidic environment) I use fish tank water in almost all my cuttings that I'm rooting and they have been doing amazingly well since I started. If you do use one of these in hydroponics or even aeroponics make sure you run the liquid through a coffee filter first to remove any solids that might clog the pump! Let me know the outcome if you try it!

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  7. I love all your ideas. I compost with egg shells and banana peels now. I am difinetly going to try the banana tea fertizer. Thank you.

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    1. Aww, thanks! The banana tea fertilizer works really well and it's easy to make small batches if you only have a few plants that need it!

      Lisa

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  8. Hi. I was wondering what kind of fertilizer works best for herbal plants. Thank you.

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    1. Hi! I like to use compost tea on herb plants. Mine do great with a dose of it every 2 weeks or so.

      Lisa

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    2. Wow love to know if can use on my hydroponics

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