10) The Best Free or Cheap Fertilisers For Your Garden

 

 

This year in particular in the UK (I’m not sure about other places), the evidence of way too much rain over a long time is obvious to the eyes with one glance around the garden. Even if you normally have fertile wonderful soil, this last almost two years have taken their toll. Even farmers have warned for two seasons of shortages and price hikes due to the availability or quality of food due to the weather even without all the other national and global contributing factors.

Evidence in the yellowing leaves, some spotted, others yellow between the veins, some are reddish purple and its nowhere near autumn (the so called summer has been mostly autumnal and we are only a month or two away from what we normally call autumn). Some leaves are curled, dry and brown and it’s not been dry weather and there’re no signs of pest or disease.

Along with the prolonged rainy season lasting for months, comes the lack of sunshine and warmth. At least there is light even if a grey hue. 

I don’t want to bore you with a big explanation into every nutrient needed by the plants in your garden. All plants need varying amounts and combinations and at different times.

Most people generally say ‘N (Nitrogen), P (Phosphorous), K (Potassium)’ and Magnesium (MG).  That’s not all that plants need. There’s a much bigger list:

Molybdenum

Calcium

Sulphur

Iron

Boron

Copper

Zinc

Manganese

And then there are the other enzymes, bacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, nematodes and other micro organisms that make most of the above minerals available to the plants even be able to absorb, accumulate or assimilate them.

Some of the symptoms for different deficiencies all look the same so it’s not always easy to tell exactly which nutrient is missing or lacking.

How, in that case, DO you make sure your plants have enough of whatever they need without needing a science or botany degree? I mean, you’re not exactly going to go buy any of those elements on their own now are you? You’d probably spark the curiosity of the law.

You could buy commercial fertilisers that aren’t complete, neither in their nutrient contents nor exactly in the right amounts of everything. Too much of a good thing is just as bad as too little in plants just as much as for humans and animals. Commercial ones can be expensive anyway. You might not want to give your support or business to the companies manufacturing them either.

I’d bet many of you are already saying, “Comfrey” or one of many of the homemade or readily available items in your own home and garden.

I don’t know about you but it all still seems a bit much to remember, so how can I simplify it further?

Let’s get back to basics. Nature can balance everything if we use the right systems and believe it or not, we don’t have to have it all set up and perfect to start with.

Here are some basic points to think about as foundations.

Soil

Did you know you can study soil science at uni? That’s how in depth and complicated it can be and I LOVE the subject myself. Soil is the foundation for all plants and even life in general, just as much as water and air.

In healthy soil are not just minerals or nutrients but all the micro organisms I mentioned before. They work together in a holistic way. Nature balances naturally what is needed, if we don't interfere with our 'tidy' obsession.

·       General rules are zero till as far as possible. This isn’t always possible especially when first starting out and you have to get those bramble roots out. They can grow just over two feet deep!!! Not tilling protects the soil from the elements and also stops the weed seeds germinating as soon as THEY are exposed. Think of the soil as nature’s skin and tilling/digging as damaging the protective skin leaving it vulnerable to pest and disease.

·      Homemade compost. It isn’t scientifically balanced or calculated but if you stick to the rules of layering greens, browns and liquids (including urine and water), turning regularly for a few weeks until it starts to blacken then leave it for a couple of months, it should be super food for plants.

·       If you don’t have the space for compost, how about a wormery? It can take up much less space than composters, doesn’t need turning and you get a fantastic liquid feed from it too. It can even fit on a balcony. Worm compost and liquid has the very apt nickname of black gold. It’s that valuable.

·       Well rotted manure. If you have a free supply and the room to compost it through the winter (like a hot bed in the polytunnel, greenhouse or potting shed), you can compost it there while it’s giving you crops during the colder months or just heating those spaces as it composts.

·         Seaweed.  If you have a nearby supply of fresh seaweed after a storm, that’s free with a bit of gathering effort. You can buy liquid seaweed amendments but if it’s free, why not?! It’s immune building for plants and soil preventing pest and disease attacks due to weak plants.  

      Put it in the compost with the browns or it will be a slimy mess just in with the kitchen waste. You could dig it up to a spade deep in the soil in the autumn through to spring. Otherwise, blend and dehydrate to keep for longer and add as granules. Fresh is always best.

·       Keep the soil covered. Plants are nature’s clothes; the soil is figuratively her skin. Uncovered soil is like us going out naked in the harshest climates. You wouldn’t do that without some health consequences. Add compost between your annuals and intercrop with faster growing plants to keep the soil shaded, around other border plants, trees and shrubs, mulch with anything from lawn clippings to hedge trimmings shredded or year old woodchips. Keep in mind those types of mulches are great hiding places for slugs. I hope you have slug feasting wildlife on it.

No bare earth. Fill every space, even if just with compost.

Soil Amendments

·       Make your own liquid feed. As mentioned before, I have a video on my YouTube channel about making comfrey feed and since then I add dandelion greens and nettles in with it too. They all provide different minerals so it’s better.  I never rot them in water. That would take up too much space and the neighbours would report us to the council, it smells so bad! I just pour off the concentrated feed into an old bottle and use it the same as a liquid tomato feed.

·       Urine. I put a bucket on the toilet lid and the men in the house know I’m after plant food. It only takes a day to gather enough to dilute and feed to the plants in my garden (especially the potted or basket plants and specifically when they are establishing roots) I use this nitrate rich feed one week and the next week the concentrate.

·       Magnesium flakes/Epsom salts. If you already have these at home for a foot soak or bath, you could use some to feed your plants but I am no expert on using these types of minerals so please, this is my disclaimer. Do your own research on this one. I have used it in the planting hole of the hungry plants when planting out and the plants don’t seem worse off for it. So I’m not making any claims to benefits.

Good for a plant footbath too.

·       Companion planting. This is a tricky one but there are lots of books, sites (RHS is one of them) and YouTube channels that can give you more specific details but essentially, different plants have different reactions to or interactions with each other. From pest and disease control/deterrent to accumulating or fixing nutrients and minerals. Plant communities can help to boost growth, production and mutually benefit each other as well as make it possible to grow more in a smaller space and still protect and enhance the soil. 

Beans, tomatoes, strawberries and flowers in the same pot.

·       Mycorrhizal fungi. You don’t have to buy this one in. If you can get a load of fresh woodchips delivered for free, you will have mycelium for free as the wood breaks down. You see the white filaments/vein like network is priceless. Carefully place it around the perennials and in the planting hole of stronger plants, and the organisms will help turn all those nutrients into usable food for the plants.

·       Coffee Grounds. (Needs time to ‘compost’ before use) Hubby and I used this at the allotment one year and discovered that it probably was too acidic and too full of nitrates as it stunted and yellowed our plants. Then we added it to the compost and it was much better.

·       Fermented plants (Jadam) to feed the plants it's made of. I’ve never used that one but I imagine it would take up way too much room to ferment plants from every type you grow. I have however at times added fermented veggies that have gone over before finished into the compost and all looks good there.

There are many other ways people have always found to increase fertility of soil but if you work with nature and set up the right way from the start, you won’t need to add too many amendments and you don’t have to spend a fortune nor need a huge amount of space, unless more is better for you.

Conclusion

I’d love more space. Once you start growing, you never have enough! Whatever size of space you have, soil is always the foundation and if the foundation is great, so will the garden built upon it be. You don’t have to be a botanist or scientist and you don’t have to know it all or do it all at once. If all you can do is buy a bag of compost, try to make it a good one but if not, you can easily and inexpensively make it better.

What kind of soil amendments have you tried and do you have any more tips and experiences to share?

As always, I love to hear from you.

Happy soil building.