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When caring for their garden, many owners destroy large quantities of weeds, without thinking that they can be useful in some way. But “extra” greenery from the garden beds can become a very valuable fertilizer; for this you just need to know the technology for its preparation. Fans of organic fertilizers widely use liquid fertilizer from weed for feeding various vegetable crops. We’ll talk about how they do this and what effect they get from it below in the article.
Are all herbs good?
In the garden you can find various types of weeds. All of them are suitable for preparing “green” fertilizer. Clover, chickweed, dandelions, spurge and other freshly cut greens can be safely combined in the preparation of one organic fertilizer. It is important to note that nettle is a particularly valuable ingredient. During the fermentation process, this weed releases a record amount of safe nitrogen, which, when applied to the soil, stimulates the growth of vegetable crops.
An additional benefit of nettles is that when they are in the soil, they attract earthworms. In the process of their life activity, they loosen the soil, making it airy and light, saturating the roots of plants with oxygen.
Advantages of green fertilizer
Preparing fertilizer from weeds requires a lot of time and effort, but gardeners still widely use such fertilizers without replacing them with store-bought fertilizers or manure. The thing is that herbal fertilizer has a number of comparative, very important, advantages:
- Availability. In the summer, you can find plenty of grass in any garden and around your garden plot. For a competent owner, it is an absolutely free raw material for preparing high-quality organic fertilizer.
- Weed disposal method. As a result of weeding the garden or mowing the lawn, the farmer receives a large amount of greenery, which can either be thrown away, burned, or put into compost. Composting requires the preservation of some areas and a long period of time for re-moulding. Preparing green fertilizer allows you to methodically and effectively solve the issue of cleaning the territory.
- High efficiency. Properly prepared fertilizer from grass and weeds is not inferior to manure in its composition and effectiveness on vegetable crops. Liquid herbal infusions are well absorbed by plants and do not make you wait long for results.
- Reduced acidity. Herbal fertilizer is characterized by an alkaline environment, due to which, when applied to acidic soils, allows you to reduce the corresponding indicator.
- Introduction of beneficial microorganisms. The herb infusion contains a lot of beneficial microorganisms, which, when released into the soil, improve its composition and release gases and heat.On soils saturated with beneficial microbes and bacteria, plants get sick less and grow faster.
Thus, when preparing a green infusion, the farmer solves two problems at once: the destruction of excess vegetation on the site and the effective feeding of vegetable crops with cheap, accessible fertilizer. Thanks to the combination of these factors, fertilizing with weeds has been popular with experienced gardeners for many years.
How to make fertilizer from weeds
In everyday life, various recipes for preparing “green” fertilizer are used, which are based on the fermentation process of herbs. You can prepare the infusion according to the classic recipe as follows:
- Select a container, preferably made of plastic, with a volume of 50 to 200 liters. Place it in a sunny place and provide a cover. If the container is metal, then you need to place a stand under it, which will not allow the bottom to quickly rust.
- Chop the available greens and put 2/3 or half of the volume into a container. If desired, you can completely fill the container with herbs, but in this case it will be more difficult to mix the fertilizer during the preparation process. The amount of greens may vary, since cooking always results in a concentrate that requires additional dilution with water.
- You can speed up the fermentation of the infusion by adding fertilizers with a high nitrogen content. For example, for every 40-50 liters of infusion, add a tablespoon of carbamide (urea). Pour the granules into the container when laying the grass, between its layers. Farmers who have a negative attitude towards the use of mineral fertilizers replace urea with organomineral humate (1 tbsp. urea = 5 ml of humate).
- After filling the filler, fill the container with water, leaving a free space (15-20 cm from the edge). This is necessary so that during the process of fermentation and rotting of the herbs, the solution, which has increased in volume, does not float over the edge of the container.
- The container with fertilizer must be covered with a lid or film. When using film, you need to fix its edges and make several small holes for gases to escape. Covering the container will not allow nitrogen to evaporate and will speed up the fermentation process of the infusion. If the container is tightly filled to the top with herbs, then you must put pressure on top.
- During the preparation of the fertilizer, foam can be observed on the surface of the solution, which is a sign of fermentation. After about 1-1.5 weeks, the foam will disappear and the color of the liquid will turn dark brown. These signs signal the readiness of feeding.
The technology for preparing green fertilizer is quite simple and accessible to everyone; it only requires a little time. Some gardeners improve the technology by adding the following ingredients to the solution:
- Wood ash. It will saturate the green fertilizer from weeds with potassium and phosphorus, making it complex. Add the ingredient while adding the herb in the amount of 1 cup per bucket of infusion.
- Chicken droppings or mullein can replace nitrogen-containing fertilizer (urea or humate).
- Bread crusts or yeast (1 kg per 200 l) activate beneficial microorganisms and add mineral trace elements to the solution.
- Dolomite or bone meal add 3 kg of solution to a 200 liter barrel. These substances are rich in calcium and magnesium, which are involved in the process of photosynthesis in plants.
The infusion of rotted plants in itself is a nutritious and extremely useful fertilizer for vegetable crops in the garden, however, by adding additional ingredients to it, it will be possible to feed the plants with important microelements in the required quantities.
For beginners and experienced gardeners, the information shown in the video on how to prepare liquid fertilizer from weeds for feeding vegetable crops may be useful:
Fertilizer use
Before use, the solution in the container must be thoroughly mixed and filtered. The remaining rotted herbs are used to mulch the beds. The liquid is diluted with clean water to obtain a light brown solution. They feed tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetable crops, watering them at the roots. It is worth noting that the use of fertilizing will be more effective if the plants are well watered with plain water before applying it.
Herbal infusion can be used for foliar feeding. To do this, you need to dilute it with water 1:20 to obtain a light solution. It is important to remember that green fertilizer contains a large amount of nitrogen, which means you should not exceed the concentration and abuse such fertilizers.
What to do if fertilizer remains
As a rule, a herbal infusion is prepared in large quantities to immediately fertilize vegetable crops in the ridges, shrubs and fruit trees on the site. But, as often happens, it is not possible to use up all the fertilizer at once.There is no point in storing the infusion in an open container for more than 1 week after the end of fermentation, since the beneficial nitrogen will evaporate from it and the bacteria will die. However, in this case, you should not rush to dispose of the solution, because it can be preserved. To do this, green fertilizer is poured into plastic containers and sealed hermetically. The fertilizer storage area should be cool and dark. In this state, the infusion can be stored for a long period of time without loss of quality.
Leftover liquid fertilizer can also be used as a starter. The infusion at the bottom of the container is saturated with beneficial microorganisms, which, when adding new raw materials, will speed up the fermentation process. Thus, every 3-4 weeks you can get a “fresh” infusion of weeds for use.
Conclusion
Green fertilizer, based on the fermentation of weeds, is an affordable and absolutely free, effective fertilizer for various crops in the garden. It can be used to feed tall trees, fruit bushes and delicate crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries. The composition of the herbal infusion differs little from manure, which is why its effect on plants can be considered similar, which is confirmed by numerous reviews from experienced farmers. The technology for creating natural fertilizer from herbs is quite simple and accessible even to a novice farmer. It allows you to obtain nutritious mulch for the soil and a solution for watering plants at the roots, which means that with its help, even a small garden with low fertility soil can successfully bear fruit and delight the farmer with an excellent harvest.
