Home & Garden
As many of you know, producing fruits, vegetables, self-reliance, and waste management in a closed-loop system are all priorities for me. So, with minor work, you can transform various forms of ‘waste’ from around your home into garden fertilizer. When you already have everything you need at home to control the fertility of your gardens, there’s no need to buy fertilizers or buy additional materials to manufacture other fertilizers. Here are six different techniques to recycle garbage into plant manure.
Compost
Compost is organic stuff that has decomposed, such as food scraps, clothes, paper, and various personal care items. It’s an excellent way to improve garden soil and supply nourishment to plants, and it may be all you need to fertilize your garden.
Aquarium water
Plants may utilize nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and ammonia) and microorganisms from fish waste in aquarium water. The nutrients are sufficiently diluted to be applied directly to the plants or soil. It is a fantastic way to water indoor potted plants. If you have a salt-water tank, you can not use the aquarium water since the salt may harm the plants. You shouldn’t use any chemicals on plants if you’ve added any to the water.
Eggshells
Calcium carbonate makes up around 95% of eggshells. It’s a common soil additive for reducing soil acidity and improving fertility. Simply cleaning the eggshells with water and drying them on a window to prevent mold growth will yield a delayed release of calcium fertilizer. Once the eggshells have dried, crush them up in a blender or using a mortar and pestle. Keep it in a glass jar if possible.
Cooking water
When you boil the food in water, nutrients are released. It applies to a wide range of foods, including eggs, vegetables, and pasta. Before using it as a fertilizer, make sure it’s cold.
Wood ash
Among other trace elements, wood ash from your fireplace, fire pit, or wood-fired oven is abundant in calcium (needed for root growth), potassium (improves disease resistance and flower, seed, and fruit quality), and magnesium (required for photosynthesis). Wood ash contains 25–45 percent calcium carbonate. It can lower soil acidity, but avoid using it around acid-loving plants. Most plants like a neutral pH, therefore wood ash can aid if your soil is acidic. It’s great for top dressing fruiting plants and distributing across the vegetable garden while preparing beds because it’s high in potassium (5–7%). If you’re going to use wood ash, make sure you’re just burning hardwood or softwood since treated pine, chemical-laced briquettes, and lighter fluid are all detrimental to you and your plants.
Manure / compost tea or extract
Soaking any nutrient-rich product in water (such as compost or manure) fertilizers can be made. However, an extract is a much faster approach to make a nutrient-rich fertilizer without the same amount of microbes. Place a shovel full of dung or compost in a 20-liter bucket, stir, and keep for a few hours to produce an extract. Remove the liquid and use it as a fertilizer.
