Today, we are going to introduce 7 ways to make fertilizer that you can easy to handle with at home. Let's take a look!
1.Use water from a freshwater aquarium.
Freshwater aquariums contain nitrogen, which can provide your plants with a healthy boost. Fish naturally release nitrogen into the water, making their "waste" water an important source of nutrients for plants. Instead of dumping it down the toilet, use it to water your plants once a week. Fish waste, as well, contains trace elements important for plant growth.
2.Create a coffee compost.
Mix coffee grounds with leafy yard waste for "quick compost," especially for acid-loving plants. Mix your coffee grounds with an equal amount of dead leaves, pine straw, and other brown yard clippings and sprinkle over the soil once a month. Roses, azaleas, hydrangeas, and many other plants crave a low pH soil and will respond particularly well.
3.Use eggshells.
Spread old eggshells over your garden, or in the bottom of planting holes, for a calcium boost. Plants like tomatoes and peppers particularly love calcium, but your whole garden will enjoy eggshells. Calcium, which is over 90% of an eggshell's makeup, helps a plant develop strong cell walls. To use eggshells, lightly crush up the shells and spread over the garden. You can till them into the soil or leave them right on top -- they decompose very quickly.
4.Brew grass tea.
Make a "nutrient tea" with grass clippings from your yard. Use the bag on your lawnmower to keep the clippings the next time you cut the grass. Use them to fill up a 5-gallon bucket roughly 2/3s of the way to the top, then fill it near the top with water. Stir it quickly, then let it sit for three days, stirring once each morning. When done, strain out the grass clippings and use your "tea" to water your plants, providing essential nitrogen, by mixing it with an equal amount of water and spraying over the plants.
5.Save and spread your fireplace ashes. Wood ash is high in calcium and potassium, making it an excellent supplement to your soil. Simply spread it right over the garden, using your hands to lightly turn it into the top layer of the soil.
*Vegetables, in particular, tend to love ash, as it promotes healthy root growth.
*Warning: Do not use fireplace ashes on plants that love acidic soil like blueberries, roses, or azaleas.
6.Try banana peels. Cut up banana peels and add them to the hole when planting. Banana peels don't do much once the plant is already in the ground, but it can work wonders as you're planting. The peels contain a lot of potassium, which promotes a plant's root development. Cut up half a banana peel and toss it in the bottom of your hole before adding the plant.
7.Make your own compost. Composting at home is easy, so you can turn all of your old food scraps, leaves, and plant clippings into food for your garden. When organic matter decays, it releases nutrients that can enrich your soil. You can build your own compost in your yard, or you can try one of the commercially-available kitchen compost units.
via wikihow
