How to make herbal infusion for plant nutrition?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Nitrogen is the element that, like no other, can help plantings at the stage of their growth. And herbal infusion for plant nutrition is the most economical nitrogenous fertilizer. The green mass in compost completely rots in just 2-3 months, and even less in a barrel, so every year you will be provided with such a useful top dressing for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, as well as a suitable component for creating warm beds. Let's talk more about herbal infusion in this article.

Pros of herbal infusion

Let's list the objective benefits of herbal infusion for plant nutrition:

• You get effective fertilizer at virtually no cost.
• This top dressing is pure organic, therefore its use is absolutely harmless.
• In terms of effectiveness, herbal infusion sometimes bypasses advertised remedies.
• Fertilizer is universal - in addition to the mentioned peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes, it is also useful for fruit and berry crops.

How to prepare herbal infusion for plant nutrition: general recommendations

So before you mix your first herbal fertilizer, here are some general guidelines:

• The combination of herbs for top dressing can be very different (we will introduce you to some recipes below). Any plant without seeds will do - even the same weeds after weeding.
• Average proportions: 1 kg of grass per bucket of water (10 liters).
• Basically, the infusion is fermented in a large barrel. An important point: it is preferable to cover the container with glass, while leaving gaps for air access. So the mass will warm up faster due to the direct rays of the sun and roam more actively. In the absence of glass, it can be replaced equally with black film.
• The grass is coarsely crushed and completely filled with water.
• To prevent the herbal infusion for plant nutrition from emitting unpleasant odors, microbiological special preparations sold in gardening stores are added to the mass.
• Fertilizer is not applied in its pure form! As a standard, the infusion is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 (top dressing / water).

Important Components

And now let's dwell on the important components of the solution:

• Nettle. For a better effect, it is desirable to add nettle - itrich in both silicon and a number of trace elements.
• Hay. Mature hay will be an excellent component for the prevention of fungal diseases in your plantings. Before adding to the barrel, fill it with hot water and, after it has cooled, place it in the total mass. Active reproduction of hay bacillus will begin, and in the end you will get an almost equivalent replacement for phytosporin, the enemy of pathogenic microorganisms.
• Yeast or crackers. Another wonderful remedy for fungal diseases is yeast or rye bread crackers. 10 g of yeast is enough for a barrel. Crackers - 0.5 kg. Wet yeast - 50 g.
• Bone meal or eggshell. A few kilograms of bone meal will enrich your homemade fertilizer with calcium. An alternative is well-dried and ground eggshells. A suitable dosage is 1/2 bucket per barrel.

Let's now move on to certain recipes for infusions obtained from experienced gardeners.

Recipe 1: grass and ash

The fastest and easiest way, but the grass slurry for it must already be ready. We will tell you how to dilute the herbal infusion for plant nutrition in this case: 2 cups of wood ash and 10 liters of high temperature water, but not boiling water, are added to the fermented grass. Readiness will come in a day.

Application - an aqueous solution of infusion in a ratio of 3:10.

Recipe number 2: with chalk and jam

How to make herbal infusion for plant nutrition using this method? First of all, preparecomponents:

• Mixed herbs (+ rotten hay - optional).
• 3 medium-sized pieces of chalk (eggshell alternative).
• 250 g of any jam - to speed up fermentation.
• Hap manure (optional).
• 2 cups of wood ash.

Grass is laid on half of the barrel - freely, without tamping. Then it is filled with warm water. After all the components are thoroughly mixed and left alone - for 3 days in the hot season, for a week - in cool weather.

For application, the proportion must be observed: 1 liter of such a solution per 10 liters of water.

Recipe 3: manure, urea and ash

Additional ingredients add value to grassy top dressing. It is recommended to put the following in the infusion:

• 10 glasses of sifted ash.
• Manure.
• Optional - a small amount of bird droppings.
• 10 art. l. urea (based on a 200-liter barrel).

Pour two liters of boiling water into the resulting solution, infuse for several hours and then use it for its intended purpose.

Recipe number 4: with superphosphate

Let's share how to make herbal infusion for plant nutrition of this plan:

• Chop the freshly cut grass. It is desirable to add as much nettle as possible to the composition.
• For every bucket of grass - a bucket of water. However, the liquid level should not be higher than 20-25 cm to the edge - there isthe probability that the fermented solution will "run away" from the container.
• For 10 liters of water - 40-50 g of double superphosphate. Without this component, there is a high probability of potassium starvation of plantings.
• Stir all the ingredients, put in the shade for fermentation. Do not forget to periodically stir the composition in the future.
• In a week the solution will be completely ready - this will be evidenced by the cessation of foam release.

Use this herbal infusion to feed plants in a ratio of 1:2:4 with water.

Recipe 5: With EMs

Prepare the following ingredients:

• Microbiological preparation: Vostok-EM1, Renaissance, Baikal or Bokashi.
• Plastic barrel 200 liters - iron is not good due to the strongly acidic reaction of EM products.
• 5 buckets of grass. Preferred lawn, nettle, bean tops.
• 1-3 kg of dolomite flour.
• 3 kg of bone meal.

Fill all of the above with water, leaving 10-20 cm to the edge, so that the magic solution does not "run away" during fermentation. Cover with glass or black film, leave to roam in a sunny place. After 10-15 days, expect the finished fertilizer. It is used in the proportion of 5 liters of solution per 200 liters of water. Thus, a barrel of herbal infusion is enough to process 30 acres of land.

Ready and use

When you can talk aboutreadiness of herbal infusion for plant nutrition? Depending on the ambient temperature, such products can be used already a week after preparation. Readiness will be indicated by a specific "aroma", as well as the formation of foam on the surface.

Herbal fertilizer in its pure form is not fed, because the solution is very concentrated, which can negatively affect the roots. It is best applied as follows:

• Stir the contents of the barrel thoroughly with a stick.
• Scoop up the solution, strain it from the grass and other ingredients.
• Dilute with clean water 1:10 (infusion/water).
• Make such top dressing once every 7-10 days.

Don't wait for the solution to be completely used up - as the barrel is empty, fill it with new grass and other components (except manure), fill it with water. So you will have ready-made organic fertilizer all summer long.

About universal feeding methods

After you prepare an aqueous solution of herbal infusion, it's time to apply it to business:

• Irrigation of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers is carried out at the rate of 1 bucket for 4-5 bushes.
• Feed root crops with an aqueous solution of herbal fertilizer as you would regular watering. This is best done in the spring, 2 weeks after the sprouts appear. This fertilizer should be used systematically throughout June.

Feeding fruit and berries

Product of natural farming - herbal infusion for feedingplants - among other things, it is also useful for fertilizing fruit and berry plantations. Feeding is carried out according to the following scheme:

• Punch 50-60 cm deep holes in the soil around the tree with an iron rod or similar.
• Prepare top dressing: for one bush - 1 liter of fertilizer, for a tree older than 5 years - 2 buckets of infusion. The solution is made in the proportion: 1 liter of fertilizer per bucket of water.
• Pour the infusion into the prepared holes - so it will be near the roots faster.
• After fertilizing, it is important to leave the soil well moistened, and then cover it with a dense layer of straw or dry grass.
• An excellent solution would be to periodically carry out such a procedure throughout the season.

Preparing an economical, effective and safe herbal infusion-fertilizer, as you have seen, is not so difficult, the main thing is to be the owner of a suitable barrel. The tool is also very versatile - it can fertilize many plantings.