How to Make Organic Fertilizer
Originally by David Porcar. Who is a long time organic gardener and backyard farmer in Historic Wethersfield, Ct?
Imagine eating foods that have no nutritional content. Over time, we would develop health problems, which would lead to illness and disease and possibly death. Proper nutrition is always important.
Well, the same goes for live plants, especially the types of plants we grow in our gardens or greenhouses and consume. In just a minute, I’m going to share with you my unique formula for homemade organic fertilizers that produces plants with superior taste and nutritional value.
Unfortunately, most of our soils, and certainly potting mixes, lack the crucial trace elements and micronutrients that plants need to be healthy and robust enough to resist and fight the diseases and fungi that attack them. Healthy soil is depleted of its micronutrients for many reasons: excessive fertilization with chemical fertilizers, use of pesticides, soil erosion, and poor soil management. This can happen in a backyard garden, as well as small or large farms.
Yes, you can grow nice looking vegetables and even have an excellent harvest, but without proper soil management, most plants will be weak and unable to fight invasive diseases. But most importantly, they will be nutritionally deficient.
Every vegetable, fruit, and nut, every plant we eat, has a significant nutritional benefit; it is how our Creator designed things.
Organic does not automatically mean nutrition.
Just because sometimes something is organically grown doesn’t mean it has the nutritional value it should.
For example, suppose you buy organic fruits and vegetables at Whole Foods or your local supermarket. You feel good, and rightly so, because you are not going to feed your family, anything that may have harmful chemicals.
But if the soil they grew in lacks essential minerals and nutrients, the harvested crop does not contain the vitamins and minerals it is capable of. The nutritional value of the product is minuscule, even though it is technically organic.
Feed the soil
The solution is to feed your soil what it lacks. Then the soil will feed your plants, and you’ll end up with healthier plants that will contain the nutritional value they are designed for. The result? You will be eating the healthiest food you can ask for.
It all starts with the soil and uses a feeding program that will nourish your soil, making your plants very happy. Your plants can only be healthy if your soil is healthy.
With proper soil management, whether large or small-scale, your harvests will be more abundant and taste much sweeter than you’ve ever felt before. Greens will be greener. The reds will be more vibrant. And most importantly, this can be done organically, so you know that your food is not only high in nutritional value but safe to feed your family.
How to Make Healthy Soil
There are five products that I use to create healthy and active soil:
- Boogie Brew- Compost Tea
- Sea-90 Organic with trace minerals
- SOS (Super Organic Stimulator) – Beneficial bacteria
- Terpinator-packed with amino acids
- Raw cane molasses: acts as a sweetener and carbohydrate
Let me explain how these five products work together for the health of your soil and crops.
Boogie Brew – The Catalyst
Boogie Brew is a solution for all your organic needs. This formula works as a 100% natural fertilizer and as a vitalizing natural tonic for the soil. Activates a mixture of bio-matter (nutrients) with surprising results for your plants.
Add two teaspoons per gallon of brew.Mar – 90, trace minerals
The best and most complete mineral in history. Loaded with calcium, magnesium, potassium, and more than 90 elements. Produced from pure ocean water, the Sea-90’s marine mineral solids are made in a pristine location from fresh trace mineral-rich seawater.
The crops exhibit higher yields, with more excellent resistance to diseases and insects. Tissue tests indicate higher levels of vitamins, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Sea-90 works to increase microbial populations in the soil significantly.
Add one teaspoon per gallon of brewSOS (Super Organic Stimulator) – Beneficial bacteria
This product helps plants break down salts and dead biological material (in their soil) into food and nutrients so that plant roots can feed. It brings 19 species of beneficial bacteria to the root zones of plants and promotes strong, healthy growth of roots, fruits, and just about anything you’re growing.
The growth rate when using SOS is phenomenal. This product is ideal for both hydroponic and soil-based crops.
Add 1 oz. (2 tablespoons) per gallon of brew.Terpinator – Amino Acids
This product is designed to increase the production of a plant’s natural oil-producing glands to increase the oils known to improve the plant’s aroma, flavours, and pigments. Terpinator is also loaded with amino acids, which aid in the overall health of the plant.
It has a neutral pH level of 6, making it compatible with all fertilizer products and can be used in conjunction with any nutrient program. So, in essence, your crops will have a sweeter smell (aroma), they will have a more delicious taste (flavour), and the colours of your harvest will be deeper and more vibrant (pigments). The reds will be much redder, the greens deeper in colour, and the more intense and bright yellows.
Add one tablespoon per gallon of brew.Raw cane molasses: carbohydrates
Think about adding sugar to a cup of coffee, and it will sweeten the flavour. Well, that’s precisely what happens when adding raw molasses to your eating program. Your harvest will taste much sweeter, whether it’s tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, or kale.
Just as you and I need carbohydrates to function at optimum efficiency, living plants have the same needs. Organic raw cane molasses should be included in your feeding program.
Add 1/8 teaspoon per gallon of brew.You will also need:
– To pick up a fish tank bomb at your local pet supply store. The smallest size pump will work to brew up to ten gallons at a time. If you plan to make more than 10 gallons, you will need a larger pump. I bought mine at Petco for $ 10.00.
– When you buy your pump, make sure it comes with a bubbling stone. This stone is what goes into your water container and oxygenates your brew.
– During the winter, when I have over 150 plants growing indoors, I make 4 gallons per week in a 2-gallon container. So I make 2 gallons twice. During the summer, you will have to assess your need and prepare enough accordingly.
– You can use a 5-gallon bucket to make up to 5 gallons at a time. Any type of container will work as long as you can transfer it to 1-gallon containers to put in the refrigerator if not used right away.
How to Make Organic Compost
Additional materials needed: (see photos below)
- Air pump to aerate the water.
- Plastic tube for pump
- Air diffuser or bubbling stone
- Watering can or gallon bucket (can make larger batches)
- Cheesecloth: one 12 ″ x 12 ″ square
- Use 2 tsp. Boogie Brew And 1 tsp Sea-90
- Layout a piece of cheesecloth (12 in. square)
- Add Boogie Brew and Sea-90 trace minerals
- Tie up cheesecloth
- Fill the container with 1 gallon of water and add the cheesecloth bundle.
- Insert air bubbling stone into a container to start brewing compost tea.
- Compost tea brewing. Let it bubble for 24 – 36 hours.
- Water pump with tube and bubbling stone.
- You can store the brewed compost tea in the refrigerator until ready to use. Don’t add the additional ingredients until you fertilize your plants.
- When you’re ready to use, add 2 TBSP Super Organic Stimulators (SOS) to the mixture.
- Then add 1 TBSP Terpinator And finally, add 1/8 tsp. raw cane molasses
Brewing Your Brew: (per 1 gallon)
- Put two teaspoons of Boogie Brew and one teaspoon of Sea-90 trace minerals in gauze. Tie the cheesecloth closed. I wear ties that come with a loaf of bread.
- Insert this ball of the mixture into 1 gallon of water.
- Connect the tube to the pump and the bubbling stone air diffuser.
- Insert your bubbling stone air diffuser into the water and connect it to a power outlet. The stone immediately begins to bubble and oxygenate the water.
- Let it brew for 24-36 hours.
After this brewing period, your compost tea is ready.
NOTE: Do not add any other ingredients until you are ready to feed your plants. If you’re not prepared to stock up, grab your finished brew (Boogie Brew and Sea-90 trace minerals) and put it in the fridge. This will last up to a month in the refrigerator.
By the way: Tell your fridge mates! You don’t want them to think it’s a new type of juice.
When you’re ready to feed your plants, it’s time to add to your gallon of brew:
- 1 ounce. (2 tablespoons) SOS-Super Organic Stimulator
- 1 TBSP Terpinator
- 1/8 teaspoon raw cane molasses
Feeding your plants (of course, you are feeding the earth)
Water your plants every 7-10 days with this mixture. You can use this brew from the moment you transplant your seedlings to the life of the plant.
This is an especially good fertilizer if you are growing plants indoors during the winter. But it is suitable for year-round gardening indoors and out.
To summarize things
Most of the food we consume lacks nutritional content due to the conditions in which it is grown. By using the type of feeding program described above, you are not only giving your plants what they require, but you are also doing the same for you and your family and your customers.
And it is organic.
When you grow your food in organic soil and environment and use this feeding program, you’ll end up with the healthiest, most nutritious food you can imagine. The flavours, colours, characters, and textures are like no other.
I just have to add that this approach is not a substitute for adding organic material to the soil, such as compost. Increasing the dose of organic material in the soil improves not only the condition of the soil itself but also increases the microbiology of life in the soil. This, in turn, helps the roots of your crops absorb more nutrients from the soil and your feeding program.
Don’t settle for anything less. Take control of what you put into your body on a daily basis.
