Too many people overlook the importance of fertilizing houseplants. However, proper fertilization is essential to growing healthy, beautiful plants. Unlike outdoor gardens, where nature provides rain and plants can grow new roots to find food, the nutrients available to indoor plants are strictly limited by the amount of soil in the pot and the extra feeding you use, limited.
Think of fertilizer as the second half of your potting soil. When the potting soil is fresh, your plants don’t need much fertilizer, if any. This is especially true with modern, rich potting soils, which are often fortified with fertilizers and other additives. However, after about two months, the plants will have used up the nutrients in the soil, so fertilization will be required if you want to continue growing healthily.
There are many different natural garden fertilizers that you can use directly in the garden or with potting soil. Some of these fertilizers can be made at home or collected using common items in your kitchen or yard. Here are 8 of our favorite DIY fertilizers for a variety of needs.
1. Grass Clippings
If you have an organic lawn, be sure to collect grass clippings to use in your garden. Half to an inch of grass clippings does a good job of covering weeds, and it’s also high in nitrogen, an essential nutrient for most plants.
2. Weeds
Like grass clippings, many weeds you find in your garden are very high in nitrogen and make great fertilizers. The problem is, once you’ve pulled the weeds, you definitely don’t want to put them back in the garden, because all the seeds will germinate and form new weeds. solution? Make weed tea. To do this, fill a five-gallon bucket no more than 1/4 full with the weeds you pulled. Then fill the bucket with water and let the weed soak for a week or two. Once the water turns a nice brown color (like tea), pour this nutrient-rich herb tea into your garden.
3. Kitchen Scraps
Dispose of kitchen and garden waste by making your own compost. Compost slowly releases nutrients, meaning a well-composted garden can go a year or two without re-fertilizing. Compost also helps the soil retain moisture, which is vital for vegetable gardens to thrive during the hot, dry summer months.
4. Manure
Feces come from a variety of sources—cows, horses, chickens, and even bats. Fertilizers of any type are rich in nitrogen and other nutrients, but you must use them sparingly. Raw manure is very acidic and actually contains more nutrients than the plant needs, so too much will burn the plant. It is best to use compostable fertilizer. Because it’s less nutrient dense and acidic, you can use more of it to improve soil water retention without harming your plants. You don’t have to wait long – the fertilizer turns into the perfect odorless soil amendment in no time.
5. Tree Leaves
Instead of bagging fall leaves on the roadside, collect them for your garden. The leaves are rich in trace elements, attract earthworms, hold water and help lighten heavy soil. You can use leaves in two ways: till them into your soil (or mix chopped leaves into potting soil) or use them as mulch to fertilize your plants and suppress weeds.
6. Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds have many uses, but one of the best uses is as garden fertilizer. Many plants, such as blueberries, azaleas, roses, and tomatoes, grow best in acidic soil. Recycle your coffee grounds to acidify your soil. There are a few ways to do this – you can spread the used soil over the soil surface, or you can “brew coffee” and pour it in your garden. To brew garden coffee, steep up to six cups of used coffee grounds for a week, then use them to water acid-loving plants.
7. Eggshells
If you’ve ever used lime in your garden, you know it has many benefits – mainly that it helps reduce soil acidity for acid-hating plants and provides plants with plenty of calcium, an essential nutrient Lime itself is an all-natural fertilizer that you can buy at garden centers, but if you want to save some money, there is a less expensive way to get the same benefits. Simply wash the eggshells from the kitchen, store them, and chop them for use in your garden. It turns out that 93% of eggshells are calcium carbonate, which is the scientific name for lime. See what else you can do with eggshells here!
8. Banana Peels
We eat bananas for potassium, and roses love potassium too. Just bury the peels in a hole next to the rose bush and let them compost naturally. Bury the cups in the top soil as the roses grow. Both of these methods provide much-needed potassium for normal plant growth.