Organic Fertilizer Recipe:
Make Your Own Garden Fertilizer
★ SaveAn organic fertilizer recipe lets you feed your vegetable garden without chemicals, using natural ingredients you can buy by the bag or make at home.
There are two kinds of homemade garden food: a mixed fertilizer that gives plants a quick, balanced meal, and compost that builds rich soil over time. This page covers both.
From My Garden
We get a load of aged manure from our neighbor who raises cattle. He is glad to get rid of it, and we are happy to take it!
We put the aged manure on our garden in the late fall, so there is plenty of time for the winter rains to wash some of the nutrients into the soil. When we work up our garden in late spring or early summer, it all gets turned and mixed into the soil.
We have never had to add any chemical fertilizer to our gardens.
Charlotte
When and how much to feed?
See our complete guide to fertilizing your vegetable garden, with 8 free soil and compost charts.
How to FertilizeOn This Page
Free Organic Fertilizer and Compost Charts
Click a chart to download it, then print it or save it to Pinterest.
All-Purpose Organic Fertilizer Recipe
This classic all-purpose organic fertilizer recipe is based on the "complete organic fertilizer" made popular by Oregon garden writer Steve Solomon. Measure by volume, with a scoop, can, or bucket as your "part."
| Ingredient | Amount | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Seed meal (alfalfa, soybean, canola, or cottonseed) | 4 parts | Nitrogen, slowly released |
| Agricultural lime (finely ground) | 1/4 part | Calcium |
| Gypsum | 1/4 part | Calcium and sulfur |
| Dolomite lime | 1/2 part | Calcium and magnesium |
| Bone meal or rock phosphate (optional) | 1 part | Phosphorus for roots and fruit |
| Kelp meal (optional) | 1/2 to 1 part | Potassium and trace minerals |
How to use it
- Before planting: sprinkle about 4 to 6 quarts per 100 square feet of bed and mix it into the top few inches of soil.
- For hungry plants: work 1/4 to 1/2 cup into the soil around each tomato, squash, or cabbage-family plant.
- Side-dress heavy feeders with a little more in midsummer.
- Store the mix in a closed bucket in a dry place.
Skip the lime if a soil test shows your pH is already above 7.0. Wear a dust mask when mixing.
Organic Fertilizer Ingredients
★ SaveEach organic ingredient feeds mostly one thing. Mix and match to cover what your soil test says is missing. Numbers are approximate N-P-K.
| Ingredient | About N-P-K | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Blood meal | 12-0-0 | Quick nitrogen for leafy greens |
| Feather meal | 12-0-0 | Slow nitrogen |
| Alfalfa meal | 2-1-2 | Gentle all-around boost |
| Fish meal / fish emulsion | 10-6-2 / 5-1-1 | Nitrogen; quick liquid feed |
| Bone meal | 3-15-0 | Phosphorus for roots, flowers, fruit |
| Rock phosphate | 0-3-0 | Slow, long-lasting phosphorus |
| Kelp meal | 1-0-2 | Potassium and trace minerals |
| Greensand | 0-0-3 | Slow potassium and minerals |
| Wood ash | 0-1-3 | Potassium; raises pH, so use lightly |
| Aged manure | varies | Nutrients plus organic matter |
Compost: Free Fertilizer from Your Yard
Compost is the easiest homemade soil food. It turns kitchen and yard scraps into dark, crumbly humus that feeds plants slowly and improves any soil.
| "Browns" (carbon) | "Greens" (nitrogen) |
|---|---|
| Dry leaves, straw, hay | Grass clippings, weeds without seeds |
| Shredded newspaper and cardboard | Fruit and vegetable scraps |
| Sawdust, pine needles, corn cobs | Coffee grounds and tea leaves |
| Dryer lint from natural fabrics | Chicken, rabbit, cow, or horse manure |
Aim for about 2 parts browns to 1 part greens. Crushed eggshells add calcium.
How to Build a Compost Pile
- Pick a spot that drains well and is handy to the garden. A bin of wood, wire, or a purchased compost bin keeps it neat.
- Start with sticks or straw on the bottom so air can get in.
- Layer browns and greens, a few inches each, in even layers rather than mounds. Water each layer until it's as damp as a wrung-out sponge.
- Build to 3 or 4 feet tall. At that size, the pile heats up and breaks down quickly.
- Turn it every week or two. Smaller pieces break down faster.
- Use it when it's dark, crumbly, and smells like earth, usually in 2 to 6 months.
Covering the pile in very wet or dry weather keeps it from getting soggy or drying out. A rotating compost tumbler makes turning easy. See compost bin plans.
What Not to Compost
- Meat, fish, bones, fat, oil, and dairy attract animals and flies, and smell.
- Dog and cat waste can carry diseases; never use it where food grows.
- Weeds with seeds and diseased plants, unless your pile gets very hot.
- Coal ash and treated wood.
If your compost smells rotten, it has too much green material or not enough air. Mix in more browns and turn it.
Leaf Mold: The Easiest Soil Conditioner
★ SaveLeaf mold is simply leaves left to rot, with nothing else added. Pile fall leaves in a wire bin or bag, keep them damp, and wait a year or two.
It isn't rich in nutrients, but it's a wonderful soil conditioner and mulch that helps soil hold water. Make it alongside your compost pile.
Using Manure Safely
Age manure 6 months to a year before using it, or spread it in fall so it breaks down over winter. Fresh manure can burn plants and may carry harmful bacteria.
Bagged, composted manure from a garden center is sterilized, so it has fewer weed seeds. Farm manure is free or cheap, but plan on a little extra weeding. See horse manure compost and compost tea.
Organic Fertilizer Questions
- What is the best homemade organic fertilizer?
- A balanced mix of seed meal, lime, and kelp (recipe above) for quick feeding, plus compost or aged manure every year to build the soil.
- Is compost a fertilizer?
- Compost adds nutrients slowly and improves soil, but it's not a complete fertilizer. Heavy feeders often need a little extra.
- Can I put coffee grounds and eggshells in the garden?
- Yes. Both are best added to compost first. Coffee grounds add a little nitrogen; crushed eggshells add calcium.
- How long does compost take?
- About 2 to 6 months for a hot, turned pile; up to a year for a cold pile you leave alone.
- Is organic fertilizer safe for kids and pets?
- Most ingredients are natural, but store blood meal, bone meal, and seed meals where dogs can't get into them; dogs love the smell.
More: University of Missouri Extension: Organic Vegetable Gardening Techniques.
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