Homemade Organic Fertilizers, Anyone?

Anyone here go all the way organic...meaning not buying pre-made fertilizers & nutes but just making things out of what's available around the house? That's what I'm doing for my first small grow & people are treating me like some kind of freak online. "Just buy some nutes, dude. They only cost $10". I know that. But I'm working on a budget & didn't plan on using anything like that on this grow, nor do I even know how to use those types of things without burning the plant. ("Nute burn" just strikes me as another problem to worry about and, as a noob, I'd rather not).

So far I've used diluted urine (Week 3) & grass clipping tea (Week 4) to supply nitrogen & other minerals to my little plant. And it hasn't died yet, lol. I'm getting some yellowing of the bottom fan leaves at Week 4's end, but it's an autoflower growing in a Solo cup so that's not surprising. I'm planning to add some Tetramin fish flakes (contains fish meal & shrimp meal and is rich in phosphorus & various nutrients) in a diluted solution next week & banana tea for potassium at Week 7. Already tried the fish flakes on my last plant & they worked fine even though it sounds weird.

Any other homemade fertilizers you guys like that don't include chicken/bat/other poop?

Grind up some soybeans and mix it into your soil. NPK will vary slightly by batch but generally 5-2-2.

Pick up some rubber maid totes from garage sales. If you have a drill then put some holes in the one tote. If not, borrow one from a friend and drill holes in it. Then all you need to do is get some cardboard and food scraps. Source some worms from where ever and get that worm bin going. By far the best thing organically you can do!!

kkt3 said:

Pick up some rubber maid totes from garage sales. If you have a drill then put some holes in the one tote. If not, borrow one from a friend and drill holes in it. Then all you need to do is get some cardboard and food scraps. Source some worms from where ever and get that worm bin going. By far the best thing organically you can do!!

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BIG +1 on that!

Starting a worm bin is, absolutely, the best thing you can do organically. I know I'm repeating kkt3, but it simply cannot be stressed enough.

Wet

Ayyy, these are some awesome tips! Hadn't heard the soybean one. Sounds easy enough.

Re: the worm bin - Do earthworms work, or is there a different type you'd need? And when you say "food scraps," does anything work or are there some items that should be left out (meat, milk, etc)?

The grass clipping tea has my plant looking perkier than it has in weeks. I only applied a little to the leaves & soil last night but this is the first time in a week the leaves have been tilted up instead of drooping down. I'm sold on this organic stuff so far.

If you don't even want to invest $5 on your grow you destined to fail.

My earthworms came from my compost pile. No meats, dairies. I've got 3 types of bins going. One that I feed just veggies to the worms. Another just banana peels, and the others get a mix of everything.

Freeze your scraps before feeding them to the worms. The worms go thru it faster. Therefore making the black gold quicker!!

Do some reading in the vermicomposting section. You will be glad you did!!!

Resources vary by location but look into sting nettle comfrey and many other "weeds" that provide nutes, commonly called dynamic accumulators.
Compost/vermicompost
And do your self a favor and go bigger then a solo cup.

Sexx Pistils said:

Ayyy, these are some awesome tips! Hadn't heard the soybean one. Sounds easy enough.

Re: the worm bin - Do earthworms work, or is there a different type you'd need? And when you say "food scraps," does anything work or are there some items that should be left out (meat, milk, etc)?

The grass clipping tea has my plant looking perkier than it has in weeks. I only applied a little to the leaves & soil last night but this is the first time in a week the leaves have been tilted up instead of drooping down. I'm sold on this organic stuff so far.

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I once made a dandelion tea just from picking them off my lawn and fermenting for weeks in a jar full of water. When I opened the jar I almost gagged from the horrid smell and I decided not to give it to my pot plants. Instead I poured it into all my houseplants to see if they would die and as it turns out they are all still alive and thriving.
Never tried it again though because I doubt dandy tea could ever be as effective as fresh compost straight from the worms ass. I also have to agree that starting a worm bin is the best thing you can do to up your organic game. Keeping worms is easy and fun; they are the best pets. I use a worm factory 360 which makes it easy to pull castings when finished and it has a little spigot that dispenses worm leacheate which I dilute for use on all my plants and in teas. Pure liquid gold.

Nettles soon here, Camfrey, Oat meal, coarse sharp river sand, flax seed meal and wood ash and more. Molasses!

Get horse, cow, and chicken manure mixed with rice hulls mix in worms. Sit for one year. Winner!

Sexx Pistils said:

Ayyy, these are some awesome tips! Hadn't heard the soybean one. Sounds easy enough.

Re: the worm bin - Do earthworms work, or is there a different type you'd need? And when you say "food scraps," does anything work or are there some items that should be left out (meat, milk, etc)?

The grass clipping tea has my plant looking perkier than it has in weeks. I only applied a little to the leaves & soil last night but this is the first time in a week the leaves have been tilted up instead of drooping down. I'm sold on this organic stuff so far.

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You really want red wrigglers. Earthworms are good for tunneling and helping with drainage in RSOL grows but for those tasty (to plants) castings you want those reds. I have had worm farms for going on I think 5 years so easy and such a great source of microbes!

also the next time you make a tea, use air stones and a little bit of sugar and let it sit only for a day or 2. You want aerobic microbes not anaerobic.

I don't do campfires often, {stealth for me} but when I do, I always mix the cooled ashes with pee, stir until a thick paste, then let sit for 4-5 months. Amend as needed for a decent fert.

too larry said:

I don't do campfires often, {stealth for me} but when I do, I always mix the cooled ashes with pee, stir until a thick paste, then let sit for 4-5 months. Amend as needed for a decent fert.

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Your back pack says it all!

I've been thinking about sourcing some natural fertilizers myself...There's an abundance of oyster/clam shells, crabshells, fish & sea-weed where i'm from (northeast coast)..one trip to the beach and i'd be set for a long time ...just gotta find a pestle and mortar

alphapinene said:

I've been thinking about sourcing some natural fertilizers myself...There's an abundance of oyster/clam shells, crab/lobster shells, fish & sea-weed where i'm from (northeast coast)..one trip to the beach and i'd be set for a long time ...just gotta find a pestle and mortar

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build a ball mill out of 55 gallon drum or cement mixer..

Has anyone used flaxseed meal as a soil amendment? Results?