Home Formulas for Plant Fertilizer

Purpose

• As plants grow, they take in nutrients in the soil. Fertilizing plants ensures that they have sufficient nutrients that they need to grow. Unless you replace key nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, plants will grow poorly. Homemade fertilizers also typically contain organic materials that improve the soil and are better for plants in the long run.

First Steps

• If you are growing plants outdoors in pots or beds, adding soil amendments is a good starting point before applying homemade fertilizers. The richer the soil, the better your plants will grow. When you add organic matter to the soil, it releases nutrients throughout the growing season, creates better soil structure, and improves the activity of beneficial microbes. Add 1 to 2 inches of composted yard waste, bone meal, coffee grounds, crushed egg shells, manure or other organic material to your existing soil.

Liquid Fertilizer Recipes

• There are many relatively simple recipes for liquid fertilizer that will give your indoor or outdoor plants a lift. To make manure tea, fill a large bucket with a lid halfway with dried cow, chicken or other manure. Add water until the bucket is full. Punch holes in the lid and close it. Allow the mixture to sit for one month, stirring weekly, and straining through cheesecloth before use. To use the fertilizer, combine 1 part manure tea with 10 parts water and pour it near the plant's base so that it penetrates the roots. Apply once or twice per month at a rate of 10 gallons per 1,000 feet in landscapes, or approximately one cup of tea per rose-sized plant. To apply as a spray, add 1/8 teaspoon vegetable oil per gallon and spray both sides of leaves. To make a weed tea, follow the recipe above, substituting weeds and other green plants or grass clippings for manure. Let the mixture sit for three weeks, stirring weekly. Strain, dilute and apply the mixture as described above. The same recipe can be followed substituting comfrey, known to strengthen roots, or chopped seaweed for extra nitrogen.

Other Recipes

• To make a more complex but hearty fertilizer, or if you need to supply only one of the three major plant nutrients, use a mixture of fish parts, wood ash and animal bones. If your soil or plants need nitrogen, mix 1 part fish waste such as guts and other discarded parts to 2 parts water in a large bucket. Allow the mixture approximately six to 12 weeks to rot and then apply it at a rate of 3 gallons to every 10-by-10-foot area. To add phosphorus, collect and burn the bones of any animal until they become ash. Spread the ash over the plant area at a rate of up to 5 pounds per 10-by-10-foot area. To supplement plants with potassium, burn wood to ashes and apply at a rate of 5 pounds per 10-by-10-foot area.