Bone meal, bat guano, gypsum…what ARE all of these organic fertilizers and how do you actually know WHICH to use, and HOW to use them? Enjoy this long-overdue organic fertilizer breakdown video.
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Espoma Organic has been organic from the start and makes absolutely epic potting mixes, and organic fertilizers. They make awesome blended fertilizer mixes as well as single-ingredient bags for specific amendment goals: https://www.espoma.com/where-to-buy/
0:00 – Intro
0:40 – Alfalfa Meal
1:30 – Cottonseed Meal
2:31 – Bat Guano
3:37 – Kelp Meal
4:34 – Rock Phosphate
5:35 – Greensand
6:41 – Gypsum
7:47 – Garden Lime
8:57 – Blood and Bone Meal
10:15 – Cow Manure
11:05 – Chicken Manure
11:59 – Earthworm Castings
12:49 – Fish Emulsion
13:41 – Which to Use?
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For flowering plants u can use npk fertilizers
You're right, that fish head video is great. Thanks for this great info. More organic-nutrient content please 🙂
Thank you
This was hugely enlightening as to the nature of organic fertilizer!
Sheep manure is the best I used sheep years ago it's the best
Keep in mind while I love Espoma it's pretty much the only product I use in conjunction with mycholrizal fungi and trichoderma bacteria blend of your choice is my choice. However you can get a bat guano from Africa which is from fruit bats. Which is relatively low in nitrogen but very high in phosphorus and potassium. So something to look into if your looking for a fast acting fertilizer to add as a amendment or compost tea.
This would be better if you would have told us what TRACE MINERALS are in each. Otherwise great!
Where a mask when you work with bat guano, the particles can get in your lungs and
cause a fungal infection.
These are the ratios and some of the suggestions, if you just want to scroll.
Alfalfa meal: 2-0-2
Spring suggestion
Cottonseed: 6-2-1
Suggested for the fall, weed suppression
Bat Guano: 10-3-1
Fast acting fertilizer, compost tea spray
Kelp Meal:
Many Trace minerals
Rock phosphate: 0-3-0
Green Sand:
Iron potassium silicate, helps bind sandy soil and loosen clay soil, and increase soil water hold
Garden Gypsum:
Need soil clay/salt heavy to be helpful
Garden Lime:
Raises ph in soil
Blood Meal: 12-0-0
Fast acting and acidic
Bone Meal: 4-12-0
Suggested for raised containers at the end of grow year
Cow Manure: 2-1-3
Trusted source- moderate speed
Chicken manure: 3-1-2
Hot, and can cause nutrient burn, compost a little bit.
Earth worm casting: .5-.7-.1
Fish emulsion or bury a full fish: 2-4-0
Huzzaaahhh
Thank you so much for this video! When I walk into a garden center, it can be overwhelming seeing all the different products on the shelves. There are so many options, and the numbers can get all mixed up in my head. Thank you for talking a little bit about each of these, and offering concrete examples of when or how you might want to use them.
How often do you recommend applying these fertilizers? I am specifically going to try fish emulsion with my veg.
Hi! I know you mentioned applying some products in the spring or fall, but which animal free product do you recommend for applying monthly to the garden? Kelp, alfalfa, or cottonseed? We currently use Down to Earth Vegan mix and would like to add another organic fertilizer to it since it has an NPK ratio of 3-2-2.
Lots of very useful info. Here's something I am sort of hesitant towards using and that is paper. There are dyes, ink and who knows what else in paper. Any input?
If a plant needs lets say a 10-10-10 fert, does that mean if i have a 2-2-2 fert do i need to multiply the application by 5 to make it a 10-10-10 ? would love to know if this is true 🙂
Isn’t it one of the idea of organic gardening or farming supposed to be cheaper than conventional synthetic fertilizers farming,even we can do it for free in organic farming ..? Organic farming is about work with nature,use all the resources what the nature provides..Cheaper and better quality harvest and also environmentally friendly..why do you have always to spend a lot of money by buying organic fertilizer..?it defeats the purpose of organic farming or gardening..that is why organic farming takes time,not like synthetic fertilizers that you will got instant results but bad for environment,soil and the earth in general..I understand maybe because you don’t have resources to make your own organic fertilizers..do you,,?or is it because having mindset of easy gardening,just buy buy buy for everything…?i know you do your own composting,but not the fertilizers..correct me if I’m wrong..
Excellent presentation.
Thanks for sharing
Love this presentation. Many of the products I use already, I am in the right path for a newbie
Thanks for the info
What do you recommend for potted dragon fruit?
What about cottonseed meal??
I once read a book called Bartram’s Travels. I highly recommend it. He documents the indigenous farming practices of the time (late 18th century). One thing that always intrigued me was the practice of digging up oyster shells and spreading them on the surface of the soil
I appreciate you explaining each of these in one video for a good reference. Thanks Kevin!
I experimented by burying a fish carcass under 1 tomato plant and it made no difference. However I do bury them in the compost and allow them to break down. I use alfalfa cubes soaked in water to activate my compost pile.
Do you have a video for fall garden prep? What fertilizers should I use to return nutrients before spring? I plan on laying straw to try and preserve the soil is that a good idea? This will be my second year garden on basically dead soil. None of my crops produced this year.
No DownToEarth Fertilizer?.
Back in the 90's I was introduced to fish/kelp fertilizer and have done many experiments with vegetable production. Read many books on soil and the life that happens with rotting materials. The book: Teaming With Microbes was quite interesting and opened my eyes to the secrets of growing food utilized across the pond throughout Europe.. A few years ago I was looking for bags of Oyster Shell chicken scratch (sold out) and Alfalfa livestock feed and could only find the cubes loaded with salt and other additives; just purchased alfalfa pellets with minimal additives from a farm store. I use Espoma tomato formula for the added microbes to go to work on composted manure and homemade compost from grass clippings/leaves/wood chips and people are amazed at the volume of produce coming out of my garden in heavy clay soil.