Homemade Fertilizers

This article will not only tell you how to prepare your own homemade concoctions, it will also tell you how to save money when it comes to taking care of your garden. You can purchase all those expensive fertilizers and pest control and disease control items, but I have got to tell you that all you need for taking really good care of your garden can be found in your kitchen or medicine cabinets. How cool is that?

I have been gardening for over twenty years, and have done a lot of experimenting along the way. My Mother and I have Gladiolas, Roses, Irises, Camallias, Gardenias, fruit trees, Lilies, Hydrangeas, Azaleas, Dogwood trees, daffodils and one Snowball tree. My four-year-old little boy planted some butter beans last week and they are beginning to come up. He is so excited.

The good thing about going all-natural is that you can’t overfertilize, so you don’t have to worry about burning your beautiful flowers with too much chemicals. The all-natural way is by far the least expensive way to feed your beloved garden plants, and most importantly, your flowers and vegetables will get all the nutrition they need to thrive.

First word of advice: NEVER THROW AWAY THOSE KITCHEN SCRAPS
Secondly, let’s talk about what you can safely use right out of your very own kitchen to feed your flowers, vegetables, trees or shrubs.

EGG SHELLS: Shells from a hard-boiled egg are recommended. You can either crush them up or just crack them up in the palm of your hand, apply to your garden soil or you can even just sprinkle them around the base of your plant. Eggshells also serve yet another purpose- they repel cutworms and will also discourage slugs.

BANANA PEELS: These are just perfect for your roses. Roses love banana peels. You can just rake away your mulch, place a few peels around the dripline and the base of the plant. You will probably need to do this about once a month. If possible, they will work best if frozen.

COFFEE GROUNDS: Your cup of joe has just taken on a whole new meaning. With coffee grounds, it is a little different. You will need to mix these grounds in with your mulch, such as dead leaves or pine straw. You can also place coffee grounds in your planting hole with any type of plant.

TEA BAGS: Just scatter some used tea bags around your plant and cover with mulch, pine straw, or wood chips, or you can soak the tea bags overnight and feed them to your plants the next morning. Make sure the tea hasn’t been mixed with sugar or honey. I use herbal teas in my garden, it does seem to work more efficiently than your regular teas.

GARLIC: OOO LAA LAA- Garlic will help keep those little pesky creatures from eating on your plants. Do you have cats or dogs? Allrighty then, check this out, you can put a few cloves where your cat or dog sleeps and this will protect them from fleas and ticks. And you can also squeeze some garlic juice into their drinking water.

EPSOM SALT: You can just sprinkle around your plant after a good rain or a good watering. Use about an ounce per every foot of height. If you have a big flower bed, you might want to use your spreader. Not only can you find Epsom Salt in your pharmacy, you will be able to locate it in your local Wal-Mart’s gardening supply area for about $2.50.

PESTICIDES: Mix two teaspoons dishwashing liquid {preferably Joy} with a few drops of vegetable oil and one gallon water. You can use a plastic spray bottle,or you may have one of those feeders that are already premeasured for you.

WILD ONIONS: Take a few of these and plant them in or around your garden and this will aide in pest control.

JALEPENO PEPPERS: Throw some of these hot ones around your garden, and those pesky creatures will surely stay away. Do not put close to your plants. Make sure you put these hot ones at least five feet or more away from your plants.

FUNGICIDES: Mix one teaspoon baking soda with several drops of vegetable oil dissolved in one quart of water.

Not saying you are never supposed to purchase any chemical fertilizers, it just saves money and you don’t have to worry about overfertilizing and burning your plants.

If you have had a long hard winter, and you have a few plants having a tough time coming back up, you will want something that works fast so here’s what you need to do: Go to your local Family Dollar or Dollar General stores, and pick up a box of 6-10-10 all-purpose fertilizer. You can get it for a buck or two.

If you transplant something, you will probably want to purchase Miracle-Gro to protect your plant from transplant shock.

MOSQUITOES: Rub baby oil on exposed areas of your body. Be careful not to get in your eyes.

ANTS: Try pouring some paint thinner directly on the ant bed. If you don’t have paint thinner, grab you some hot sauce and just sprinkle it on the ant bed or wherever they seem to hang out most.

MULCH IDEA: When you deadhead your hydrangea, save them, mix them with your pine straw or wood chips, and you have a wonderful mulch. Also, save your egg cartons, crunch them up, throw them under some dead leaves or straw, let them stay there a couple of months, and viola, you have mulch.

GUMBALL TREES: If you are lucky enough to have one of these “gardener’s dream” trees in your yard, please take full advantage of what they have to offer. In the fall, these leaves fall to the ground, DO NOT RAKE THEM UP, PLEASE. When spring comes around, you will see this beautiful sight of dead blackened, browned leaves lying on the ground. You and your garden will benefit a great deal. You will just put these leaves around all of your plants, and you will be amazed.

BLEACH: To help discourage black spot, soak mulch in a solution of one ounce bleach per gallon of water for at least an hour.

FERTILIZERS, PESTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES ALL-IN-ONE: Mix 2 cups of coca-cola, a few drops of vegetable oil, one teaspoon baking soda, two teaspoons dish detergent {preferably Joy}, 2 capfuls of vinegar, 2 capfuls of lemon juice, a few handfuls of Epsom salt in your hose-end sprayer and then finish filling up with ammonia. This way you will be feeding and preventing pests and diseases all at the same time. Make sure you soak the foliage too.

WATERING: When you go to water your beloved garden, it is always best to water deep. A good way to tell if your plant has had enough water is: When you take the water away from the plant, if the water stands for five or more seconds, then your plant has had enough. If you have large trees or shrubs, the best thing to do is to just lay the hose down under the spread of the branches, rather than to stand there for a long period of time watering the plant.

REMINDER: Always remove infected leaves before you spray with pesticide or fungicide. These infected leaves, if left on the plant, will damage the rest of the plant, and it will be more and more difficult to get rid of those infestations.

I hope these gardening ideas will be beneficial to you. As I experiment more in my own garden, I will bring you more ideas.