ECO FRIENDLY FERTILISER
It’s good to check your sources. When searching the web, if I go to a site written or sponsored by an interested party I undoubtedly read a different story to one in which someone is highlighting a problem. That’s certainly the case when I look up fertiliser. It’s not all good.
So I made up a naff phrase: Don’t be a fertiliser – be a ferti-lifer! We can provide an extra source of nutrition for our plants, so the fertiliser we use should be in harmony with the life in our garden, not just ours but everyone’s. The nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (N-P-K) and other good stuff in fertiliser helps all our plants grow better. But too much use of chemical fertiliser leads to higher greenhouse gases and eutrophication of our waterways (eg. algae build up leading to ‘dead’ zones). Used excessively, even organic fertiliser (like manure and bone meal) can poison your soil, but they are often slow-release, especially in colder weather. They also don’t form a crust and allow better water movement, as well as adding soil structure.
It’s good to focus on mineral or organic fertiliser, and see fertiliser as an ‘amendment’, especially at our common and garden level. It’s a skill to get the levels right for your variety of garden. You could check your N-P-K ratios, go organic, use sparingly, prepare it properly (like grinding) and test it out carefully. Remember to also test your soil first to see what soil type you have, and which type of plants you are targeting.
Here are some fun facts about organic fertilisers.
Approximate % N-P-K ratio is in brackets. Rabbit manure (3-2-1) has the highest N-P-K levels followed by chicken and pig
Blood meal (12-1-1) releases nitrogen over two to six weeks. Feather or alfalfa are good alternatives to blood
The phosphorous in bone meal (4-18-0) is great for root vegetables like onion, carrot and parsnip
Roasted, ground eggshells, of which the main mineral is of course calcium (0-0-2), fish emulsion (5-1-1) and urea (urine – which you can buy granulated (46-0-0) are the fastest-acting organic fertilizers, lasting only a couple of weeks
To boost the nitrogen in your soil, apply urea (46%N), feathers (15%N), blood meal (12.5%N) and dried blood (12%N)
Organic amendments highest in phosphorus include rock phosphate (20-33%P), bone meal (15-27%P) and colloidal phosphate (17-25%P). High in potassium are kelp (4-13%K), wood ash (3-7%K), granite meal (3-6%K) and greens and (5%K).
To decrease soil acidity, use calcium-rich clam & oyster shells (boiled and carefully crushed), wood ashes, dolomite and gypsum (all are at least 30% calcium carbonate or straight calcium).
I hope this gives you a few ideas to start to play with. Your garden is like a cake needing different ingredients to make it a banger, so have fun. Become a ferti-lifer! I know… it’s cheesy, but it’s good.