Does Soy Bean Oil Work As a Fertilizer?

Soybean Oil Composition

• Like other vegetable oils, soybean oil's molecular structure consists of a chain of carbon atoms with hydrogen sticking out to the sides. At the end of this chain is an oxygen and hydrogen tail. Plants don't require additional applications of any of these elements. Their roots pull up hydrogen and oxygen in the form of water, and the leaves take in carbon and oxygen from the air.

What Plants Need

• Plants take in nutrients from the soil. If the soil is lacking in certain nutrients, the plant will show nutritional stress such as weak growth, discolored leaves or lack of blooms. Organic and traditional fertilizers add major nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and micro-nutrients such as iron and calcium. Soybean oil has none of these nutrients.

Soybean OIl Uses

• Soybean oil can be used in the garden as an ingredient for a natural insect repellent. Into a gallon of water add a 1/4 cup of the oil, three tbsp. of chili pepper flakes,3 cloves of crushed garlic and 1/2 tsp. of dish soap. Allow this mixture to sit for a day or two and then strain it into a spray bottle. Spray the solution onto your plants to keep insects away. Some plants are sensitive to this mix, so test spray a few leaves first.

Soybean Oil Byproduct

• Soybean oil is made by crushing the soybeans to extract the oil. What is left at the end of this process is a cake of soybean meal. This cake has been used by Asian farmers as fertilizer since before World War I. Now, this nutrient-rich cake is used as the basis for soy flour for human and animal products and as an ingredient in fertilizers.