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Seaweed Organic Fertilizer
There are many organic fertilizers out there in the market that makes it hard for a beginner gardener to choose which one to use for their garden. One of the best organic fertilizers that you can use for container gardening will be seaweed organic fertilizer. Regular application of this fertilizer has been known to give many benefits to plants to help them thrive. There are many benefits that you can get from seaweed as an organic treatment for your garden, whether on the ground or in containers:
Benefits of Seaweed Organic Fertilizer
The sea is a diverse environment, comprising a delicate ecosystem that sustains life on earth. Along the shallow depths of the nutrient rich shore lines are seaweeds that feed from the remains of both land and water creatures to help give the ocean fresh oxygen. Because of this, seaweed is rich in elements that have everything necessary to keep your plants healthy.
- Seaweed has numerous elements such as nitrogen, an element that is needed for photosynthesis. Seaweed also contains other trace elements such as magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc – all of which are essential for keeping a plant healthy and resistant to pests and diseases. These trace minerals can be immediately available to crops when seaweed fertilizer given as a liquid feed.
- Because of these trace elements, seaweed is a great addition to a container that has been planted with too many plants or a container that has been serving you for years and years. Adding seaweed in the container soil will help improve its condition and is particularly valuable in its contribution to improved water retention.
- The problem in container gardening is that you can either add too much, or too little water. With adequate drainage holes, and enough seaweed, the soil will gain improved balance for plants. Seaweed will act like a sponge that will help keep water off the roots but store in moisture which will be available to the plants when needed.
- Seaweed amendment can act as food for beneficial bacteria in your container soil. Most container mixes have no beneficial bacteria for your plants to benefit from. Applying compost or giving your plant compost tea will give your plants a start of these good bacteria. Adding in seaweed will help feed the bacteria, which will produce some metabolic by-products that can help provide nitrogen for your plants.
Disadvantages of Seaweed Organic Fertilizer
- Preparation can take quite a long time
- You need a lot of raw materials to make a small amount
- Storing can be a problem if you are sensitive to its smell. You could try adding molasses to improve the smell.
- Other organic fertilizers may be needed to add as a supplement for your plants.
Creating Your Own Seaweed Organic Fertilizer
Making your own seaweed fertilizer is easy as long as you have the right materials for creating one. What you will need are the following:
- A 5-gallon container that comes with a tight lid to keep in the smell and also to keep insects from getting inside.
- 1kg (2lbs) of seaweed or kelp broken to little pieces to help degradation
- 2 gallons of warm water – warm temperature will help encourage bacterial growth
- Fish emulsion – which is optional but can be used to hasten the breakdown of seaweed
Mix all of the materials together inside your container, adding the warm water last. Stir the mixture well and carefully seal the container tightly with the lid. Let the mixture rot. This will help produce beneficial bacteria that will breakdown the seaweed to produce the trace elements seaweed fertilizer is famous for. Promote growth of aerobic bacteria by opening the container and stirring the mixture every 2-3 days. Within a month, your mixture will produce a brown, murky substance that should have the smell of rotten plant matter. If it smells too bad, you may have not mixed the solution well enough. Once you reach this consistency, your fertilizer is now ready to be prepared for plant feeding. Strain the concentrate by passing it through a sieve, cheese cloth, or nylon stockings. You must dilute your concentrate to a concoction of 1:16. This means for every liter of concentrate, you need to add in 16 liters of water.
Use a garden spray bottle to give the concoction to your plants. The good thing about seaweed organic fertilizer is that you can spray it on the leaves of plants, flowers, and vegetables to promote foliar growth and prevent pests and diseases from harming your plants. Spraying on leaves also give your plants additional chlorophyll for photosynthesis. This means your plant will be producing more food to keep itself healthy. Spray on the surface of your potting mix and let the plant soak up the fertilizer. Although it can be absorbed by the leaves, most nutrients formed in the fertilizer can only be absorbed and processed by the roots. Soaking is needed most especially when you are growing root crops such as potatoes, beets, carrots, and onions.
Do not discard the solid material that was strained from the process. You can add it directly to the soil or dry it in an oven. Place the solid material in an oven tray and bake it in the oven that has been preheated to 200°C or 392 °F. Bake the seaweed for 2 hours or until the leaves are crisp but not burnt.
Container plants will benefit from seaweed fertilizer if applied every 1-2 weeks. Rain and frequent watering can wash out nutrients from your potting soil, so frequent application may be necessary for your plants to benefit from the elements and growth hormones from the seaweed. Seaweed is particularly important when starting your crops from seeds. Some gardeners soak seeds overnight in seaweed organic fertilizer to promote germination. If this cannot be done, you can still prepare your soil by adding in the fertilizer before planting the seeds.
Some gardeners would mix seaweed fertilizer with fish emulsion to further increase the trace elements to improve the nutrients in the soil. This is only an option, but a lot of container gardeners see the difference when comparing plants given just fish emulsion or seaweed organic fertilizer alone.
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