how to use fertilizer teas, another article

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How to Use Fertilizer Teas

We use these teas when we are planting or transplanting, during the growing season when we water and when the plants appear to need a boost. Teas with high amounts of nitrogen should be used only during periods of active growth. Teas can be used strained or unstrained. If there is a lot of sediment or if there is a slurry left, we add this to the compost pile or dig it into the garden soil.

Another good way to administer botanical teas is by foliar feeding. Foliar sprays must be well-filtered so they do not clog the sprayer. You have to do this in manageable quantities. Pour the mixture through a strainer lined with fine cheesecloth or use a jelly bag. The idea is to get rid of all of the particles because they will stop up the valve of your sprayer. The teas are best used in the late afternoon and very early morning, and never during periods of temperature extremes. Late afternoon is the best because pores on the underside of the leaves tend to open at night. The pH of the tea should be slightly acid, about 6 to 6.5. Using a pH test kit available at any gardening store, test the tea and add either a bit of baking soda to increase alkalinity or vinegar to increase acidity. All our teas should be safe for foliar feeding as long they are well filtered.

Easy to Make

Add a small coffee can of rabbit pellets (alfalfa) to a 5-gallon plastic bucket and then fill with water and 1 tablespoon of molasses. Molasses speeds up microbial growth. Pour the mixture back and forth to a second empty 5-gallon bucket several times (a process called boxing). Let it age three days, boxing it back and forth at least once a day. What do you get? Alfalfa tea for plants. Water your new plantings with it and you’ll have the earthworms doing circus tricks in your soil.

Compost, horse and rabbit manure, bat guano, chamomile flowers, spirulina and culinary and medicinal herbs are other ingredients used to feed plants and soil. Adding humic acid to the formulas increases the growth and vitality of container and garden plants. Liquid humic acid is derived from decayed organic matter called humates. Humates chelate (combine) plant nutrients and release them to plant roots. Soils high in humus have good composition, water retention and aeration. By using plant- and animal-based teas, we feed and increase that aerobic microherd, which makes nutrients available for happier, healthier plants.

The Big Three

Plants use three main elements — nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (known by their chemical symbols, NPK) — for growing green leaves, making seed and fruit, and growing cells. The standard labeling always lists these three essential chemicals in this order, N-P-K.

Nitrogen (N) is necessary for aboveground growth of plants. Nitrate, the compound produced when nitrogen combines with other elements to produce a salt, produces green leaves. Ammonia nitrogen (NH3), the compound produced by nitrogen and hydrogen, is used by plants to produce fruit and seeds. Ammonia nitrogen is a gas and volatilizes into the air. If there is too much nitrogen, plants have rapid growth but tend to be weak, which makes them break easily and be more prone to disease. When there is not enough nitrogen, plants are stunted and foliage is yellow, not healthy green. The best organic sources of nitrogen come from plant and animal by-products such as alfalfa pellets (2.45 percent), blood meal (10 to 14 percent), bone meal (2 to 4 percent), fish (8 percent), ground poultry feathers (15 percent), manure (varies) and soybean meal (7 percent). We choose alfalfa, fish and aged manure for making fertilizer tea. If you feel hesitant about manure-borne bacteria, stick with

alfalfa or fish.

Phosphorus (P), or phosphate, helps plants transport and assimilate nutrients. During photosynthesis, it helps the plant produce sugars. Plants cannot grow or fight disease without it. Phosphorus is crucial for plants to develop healthy root systems, set fruit and mature. For the organic gardener, soft rock phosphate (20 percent), bone meal (15 to 25 percent) and fish emulsion (7 percent) provide the highest percentages of naturally occurring phosphorus. We use bat guano (5 to 6 percent), fish emulsion or fishmeal to nourish our plants in phosphorous.

Potassium (K), commonly called potash, enables plants to develop strong, thick stems, healthy roots and large, plentiful fruit. Potassium plays a leading role in plant sugar production. Manufacturing sugar helps a plant protect itself from intense heat and cold, and aids in disease resistance. Compost and manure are good sources for potassium, as are kelp (2.25 to 6.5 percent) and natural minerals like greensand (7 percent) and granite dust (3 to 6 percent). Hardwood ash (10 percent) is rich in potash but dries the soil and may create an overly alkaline soil if used in large quantities. For a nutritive tea rich in potassium, we prefer kelp and aged manure.

Trace Elements

There are a total of 16 nutrients essential for the healthy growth of plants. Besides the big three, plus carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, 10 other chemical elements are necessary in the soil. These nutrients are called trace elements and are needed in much smaller quantities. They are boron, calcium, chlorine, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, sulfur and zinc. Some, such as calcium, are needed in larger quantities. Calcium (Ca) is a major building block for plant tissues and is the major element against which other elements react to release energy. Calcium neutralizes toxins and is needed for all plant growth throughout the life of the plant. Calcium is usually added in the form of dolomite lime to correct soil that is too acidic.

Principal trace elements are needed in such small quantities that compost, ground mineral rocks and agricultural meals such as alfalfa should provide all that are necessary. Alfalfa’s deep roots reach trace elements contained in the sub-soil. Use this and other green plants in your compost. All the trace elements are essential to plant growth and fruiting. Organic matter holds these elements and releases them slowly to plant roots. Treating your plants to a fertilizer tea party will provide them with the nutrients they need in low, naturally occurring amounts. An added bonus is that soil organisms essential for plant health crash the party and are fed at the same time.

Suzi

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

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