Fertilizer Types

Of the wide range of fertilizer types, animal manure is often the one avoided by amateur gardeners. Well, contrary to popular belief, animal manure fertilizer does not smell terrible and is easy to work with!

Animal manure fertilizer that is well-rotted is a nutrient rich fertilizer. Make sure though that this manure is from animals that have been farmed to organic standards.

This means that the animals have not been intensively farmed and have been stress-free (plenty of living space and free range), drug-free and fed on healthy feed. Take a look at Soil Association standards relating to animal welfare here

A ton of typical farmyard animal manure will supply approximately 10lb of Nitrogen, 10lb of Potassium and 5lb of Phosphorus.

As mentioned earlier these are the main nutrients required for optimum vegetable growth.

Liquid organic fertilizer

You can easily make up a good liquid fertilizer by adding certain materials to water and letting them decompose there. Once the materials and water have gelled into a thickish liquid, dilute in a ratio of 1 part liquid organic manure to 4 parts water. It can then be safely applied to the soil around your vegetable plants.

Liquid organic manure ingredients

Green plant manure:

• Grass cuttings
• Green leaves from e.g. Hibiscus hedge, Dock, Comfrey, Plantain and others

Animal Manure can also be used to make a liquid organic feed. Use the same method and dilution ratio as above.

Green manure

Green manure is a rich source of nutrition and organic matter for soil. It is produced by planting certain fast-growing plants in the soil, letting them grow for a specific time and then digging them into the soil. There, they release nutrients and provide the organic matter that is crucial for healthy soil.

As well as enhancing soil structure, green manure aids aeration and a well-regulated water drainage system. It also acts as a cover crop that inhibits weed growth and soil erosion.

The longer-rooted of green manure plants are able to bring nutrients up from the lower soil level, enriching the upper levels and making extra nutrients available to vegetable crops.

The planting of green manure in the winter months means they can be dug into the soil for the spring planting of vegetable seeds and seedlings. In this way the soil is well prepared to receive and provide for its new guests.

Green manure plants that are sown earlier in the autumn protect the soil from erosion from rain. They also protect certain beneficial organisms such as beetles from being washed away by winter weather.

Green manure plants include:

• Alfalfa
• Lupin
• Clover
• Rye
• Beans
• Mustard

One of the best fertilizer types is one that you can produce yourself – compost. Click on compost fertilizer to discover the joys of having your own compost heap.

Return from fertilizer types to organic vegetable gardening intro

Home