Organic Guide

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The Guide to Organic Gardening

Chapter 4

Organic Amendments

Recipies for Organic Fertilizers

Teas for the Garden

Teas and How to Make Them

Here are some ingredients for making teas: compost, fresh or old manure, fish, seaweed, comfrey, stinging nettle, chamomile, and horsetail.

COMPOST - Compost tea is nutrient-enriched water. It is used on plants during transplanting, flowering and fruiting and works to improve the overall health of the plant. Compost tea can be used immediately or stored and used at a later date. Spraying the tea on plants is an excellent way to prevent plant diseases, such as blight or mildew. It has a direct effect on disease-causing organisms. This tea is especially good for cucumbers and tomatoes. A weekly spray on foliage enhances plant vigor and protects the plant from blight. European studies have shown that a tea made from well-decomposed compost is a very effective treatment for strengthening the plant's resistance to fungal diseases.

MANURE - Raw or aged manure can be used; however, the tea needs to stand for two weeks and be stirred every day before it is used. Caution: don't use dog or cat wastes. The use of liquid poultry and animal manure tea has many benefits; it helps foliage and stem growth as well as promotes root development.

Compost and manure teas are easy to brew. They are made by filling a container 1/4 full with compost or manure and the rest with water. I steep the ingredients in a large trash can or a 55 gallon drum. It also works in smaller containers. The brew is covered and stirred once a day to introduce oxygen, then the solids are strained and the liquid is used on the plants. If the steeping material is in a cloth sack, the brew doesn't have to be strained. When finished, the sack is emptied onto the compost pile. The tea steeps until the water turns a rich, brown color. If the brew is dark brown or black, I dilute it with clear water. The tea can be used full strength on plants in the garden, as it will not burn. For greenhouse seedlings, dilute it to the color of weak tea.

Herbal Tea Plant Food

Here is a homemade product called Herbal Tea Plant Food. The formula is

1 tsp Comfrey leaves
1 tsp Alfalfa leaves
1 tsp Nettle leaves
1 qt boiling water

Steep for 10 minutes and let cool until lukewarm. Drain the leaves out and add the lukewarm tea to your plants to keep them healthy and vibrant!

The reason for adding slightly warm tea (or water) to your plants is that it keeps the root pores open; plants absorb the needed nutrients more easily with the root pores. Cold tea (or water) will have a tendency to restrict the pores, meaning a much slower process of absorption.

Comfrey is also called knitbone or healing herb. It is high in calcium, potassium and phosphorus, and is also rich in vitamins A and C. The nutrients present in comfrey actually assist in the healing process, especially since comfrey contains allantoin.

Alfalfa is one of the most powerful nitrogen-fixers of all the legumes. It is strong in iron and is a good source of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and trace minerals.

Nettles are helpful in stimulating fermentation in compost or manure piles and this helps to break down other organic materials in your planting soil. The plant is said to contain carbonic acid and ammonia, which may be the fermentation factor. Nettles are rich in iron and have as much protein as cottonseed meal.

Deuley's Recipe for a Complete Organic Fertilizer for the Texas Hill Country

I've adapted this recipe to better supplement our Hill Country alkaline soils. To the best of my knowledge, the original formula was created by Steve Solomon (founder of Territorial Seed Company). One word of caution: Instead of buying the components in small boxes, buy them dry in bulk-they will last for many years.

All measurements are in terms of volume, not weight:

4 parts seed meal
1/2 part bone meal or 1 part Texas Green Sand
1/2 part kelp meal

Seed meal

This component provides nitrogen with smaller amounts of phosphorus and potassium. I like to use cottonseed meal, which is cheap (~$13US for a 40 lb. bag) and easily available. In some states, though, it is not allowed in a certified organic operation (not something a home grower needs to be concerned about). Other options are alfalfa meal or rape/canola meal. Cottonseed meal has a NPK value of around 6-2-1.

In spring I like to substitute blood meal in place of some seed meal, since blood meal is somewhat faster acting. Try using three parts seed meal and one part blood meal.

Bone Meal and Rock Phosphate

These ingredients make up the bulk of the phosphorus component. Less bone meal (NPK ~ 0-10-0) is required since it releases its phosphorus more readily. The advantage of using rock phosphate (NPK ~ 0-3-0) is that it continues to contribute phosphorus to your soil over many years.

I like to use bone meal. Not only is it easier to find, but also it is already being produced as a byproduct of the beef industry. Rock phosphate is mined. Twenty pounds of bone meal will run about $5US.

Kelp Meal

Kelp meal (NPK ~ 0-0-10) contributes potassium and also many micronutrients. This tends to be more expensive than the other components—I recently paid $35US for a 50 lb. bag.

Another possible potassium source is Texas Greensand. It has the same advantages and liabilities as rock phosphate (it's very slow release). In addition, it does not supply micronutrients.

How Much Do I Use?

There is no single answer that fits all situations because different plants have different nutritional requirements. It also makes more sense in many cases to fertilize plant by plant, instead of broadcasting it into the entire bed. But, in general, 50 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. is a good starting point. This recipe will also work for ornamental plants, and even for lawns, but exact guidelines have not been established

Homemade Fertilizer

For this fertilizer you only have four ingredients: beer, Epsom Salts, ammonia, and water. We'll start with two cups of water. Then, we're going to put in a cup of ammonia. I don't know about you, but I don't like the way ammonia smells so I have to hold it out away from me a little ways. Next, add a cup of the Epsom Salts. If you're really serious you'll get one of these big boxes of Epsom Salts and maybe a funnel. The last ingredient that I hate to see go in there, but it's going in there anyway, is beer. Alright, we're all set. What we need to do now is mix it up a little bit. It works great on your lawn when sprayed through a hose end sprayer at a 10 to 1 ratio. It's going to make your lawn really look good. I use Shiner Bock beer. If you want thinner grass though, go for the lite beer (ha-ha!).

From Master Gardener Jerry Baker's Files

"The Master's" All Purpose Fertilizer

1 can beer
1 can cola (any kind, NOT diet)
1 box or cup apple juice
1 cup lemon scented liquid soap
1 cup ammonia
1 cup liquid lawn fertilizer

Mix together all ingredients. If you buy liquid lawn fertilizer with a hose sprayer attachment, you can use the attachment with any 1 liter bottle to make a 50 gallon sprayer. Spray your lawn and garden with the above mixture every 3 weeks, early in the day.

For houseplants, mix 4 shot glasses of the above mixture to 1 gallon of water and add 1/4 tsp knox gelatin.

Non-Flowering Houseplant Fertilizer

1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp Epsom salts
1/2 tsp saltpeter
1/4 tsp ammonia
1 gallon water
Add 5 tbsp black coffee for acid loving plants

Water your plants with this mixture once a month.

Spring Lawn Feeding

1 cup Epsom salts
1 cup ammonia

To use with a hose sprayer, mix with enough water to equal 1 quart total volume and pour into the sprayer container. Fertilizes 2,500 square feet of lawn.

Fall Lawn Feeding

2 cups Epsom salts
3 tbsp baking powder

To use with a hose sprayer, mix with enough water to equal 1 quart total volume and pour into the sprayer container. Fertilizes 1,500 sq. ft. of lawn.

Fertilizer for azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias and hollies

4 cups coffee grounds
1 cup bonemeal
1 cup wood ash

Mix well. Scatter evenly over ground shaded by the plant. Use 1 pound of fertilizer for each 1 foot of diameter.

Garden vegetable and flower fertilizer

1 part dried poultry manure or 5 parts dried horse manure
1 part bonemeal
1 part wood ash

Mix well and spread over garden soil before planting.

All-Season "Green-up" Tonic

Feed your yard in the morning once every three weeks during the growing season with my All Season "Green-Up" Tonic:

1 can beer (not light—I like Shiner Bock for this)
1 cup ammonia
1/2 cup shampoo
1/2 cup liquid seaweed
1/2 cup molasses

Mix and apply with a 20 gallon hose-end sprayer.

Other Organic Mixes

N-P-K LEVEL	FORMULA

2-3.5-2.5	1 part bone meal
	3 parts alfalfa hay
	2 parts greensand

2-4-2	4 parts coffee grounds
	1 part bone meal
	1 part wood ashes

2-4-2	1 part leather dust
	1 part bone meal
	3 parts granite dust

2-8-2	3 parts greensand
	2 parts seaweed
	1 part dried blood
	2 parts phosphate rock

2-13-2.5	1 part cottonseed meal
	2 parts phosphate rock
	2 parts seaweed

3.5-5.5-3.5	2 parts cottonseed meal
	1 part colloidal phosphate
	2 parts granite dust

2.5-6-5	1 part dried blood
	1 part phosphate rock
	4 parts wood ashes

0-5-4	1 part phosphate rock
	3 parts greensand
	2 parts wood ashes

3-6-3	1 part leather dust
	1 part phosphate rock
	3 parts seaweed

3-7-5	1 part dried blood
	1 part phosphate rock
	3 parts wood ashes

3-8-5	1 part leather dust
	1 part phosphate rock
	1 part fish scrap
	4 parts wood ashes

2.5-2.5-4	3 parts granite dust
	1 part dried blood
	1 part bone meal
	5 parts seaweed

4-5-4	2 parts dried blood
	1 part phosphate rock
	4 parts wood ashes

6-8-3	2 parts fish scrap
	2 parts dried blood
	1 part cottonseed meal
	1 part wood ashes
	1 part phosphate rock
	1 part granite dust