Fertilizar

Worms can make a compelling natural compost for your plants. The cycle of vermicomposting—utilizing worms to disintegrate natural issue and food scraps—permits you to make a worm manure tea that fills in as a non-poisonous option in contrast to substance compost.

What Is Worm Tea?

Worm tea is a characteristic fluid compost produced using dousing worm castings (worm fertilizer) in water. In a sound manure receptacle, worms help deteriorate food scraps by eating them. As the worms digest the natural material, they produce castings loaded up with supplements and gainful organisms. Soaking these castings in water for the time being makes a worm tea that assists help with planting development.

Worm projecting tea ought not be mistaken for worm leachate—the seepage fluid that gathers at the lower part of your worm receptacle. Leachate can be hurtful to certain plants.

How to Make Worm Tea in 5 Steps

Preparing a great group of worm casting tea is a simple, direct cycle.

1. Assemble your materials. To make worm tea, you’ll need a manure tea sack (this can be any permeable, normal fiber pack), a five-gallon basin of dechlorinated water (for example refined water or water), and worm castings (should fill about a 10th of the container). To gather the worm housings, buy a worm canister, fill it with a blend of soil and kitchen scraps, and add red wiggler worms—the worms produce castings as they eat the kitchen scraps.
2. Fill the pack with worm castings. Fill your permeable worm tea pack with your vermicompost (the worm housings), and tie the open finish of the sack shut.
3. Steep the pack in a pail of water. Start the soaking cycle by lowering the teabag in the pail of water. Air circulation helps microbial movement, so you might need to utilize a fish tank bubbler to add additional oxygen to your worm tea.
4. Keep the pack lowered for the time being. You’ll know your worm tea is prepared to utilize when the water is light earthy colored.
5. Weaken the tea with water. Eliminate both the fish tank bubbler (if important) and the teabag from the basin. Weaken the tea with an extra five gallons of water; the tea won’t lose its strength and will last more.

The most effective method to Use Worm Tea to Fertilize Your Garden

Whenever you’ve blended worm tea, use it at the earliest opportunity. Water your plants with worm tea like clockwork, or once per week for leafy foods.

• Pick your conveyance strategy. A watering can or splash bottle are adequate choices. In the case of utilizing a sprayer, strain the worm tea to abstain from stopping up the splashing system.
• Water your plants with worm tea. You can water your both your outside nursery plants and your houseplants with worm tea. Try to cover both the dirt and the plants’ leaves. Notwithstanding treating the dirt, the organisms in the tea help fight off plant infection.
• Appropriately store any extra tea. It’s essential to store any excess tea in a holder without a cover so the great microorganisms can get enough oxygen to endure. The microorganisms in the tea bite the dust after some time and the tea turns out to be less viable. For best outcomes, utilize another cluster of tea without fail.

Plant based fertilizers

Fertilizers made from plant raw materials have a low or medium N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) value, but nutrients from them, when they enter the soil, quickly become available to plants. Some of these fertilizers also provide an extra dose of minerals and micronutrients. The most common plant-based fertilizers are:

• Alfalfa flour. Is derived from the alfalfa plant and is produced in the form of granules. Contains nitrogen and potassium (approximately 2 percent), as well as a small amount of minerals and growth stimulants.
• Compost from plants. Mainly used to introduce organic matter into the soil. Unlike fertilizers containing nutrients, it is not very valuable in itself, but in the soil it promotes the transition of any nutrients into a form accessible to plants.
• Сompost. Prepared from a variety of organic materials. Plant residues not affected by pests and diseases, feces, bird droppings, manure and other materials are piled in a loose heap (pile) on a flat surface, alternating with sod land or peat. The basis of the heap is a litter of leaves, sawdust or peat with a layer of 10-12 cm.

Periodically, the pile is moistened with water or a solution of fertilizers, after 40-50 days the compost is stirred, and when its temperature reaches 60 ° C, it is compacted.

• Corn gluten meal. Derived from corn kernels, this flour contains 10 percent nitrogen. Applies only to actively growing plants, because it inhibits seed germination. The manufacturer recommends starting sowing seeds 1 to 4 months after using this product, depending on weather and soil conditions.
• Cottonseed meal meal.  Made from cotton seed bolls. This granular fertilizer is especially good for applying nitrogen (6%) and potassium (1.5%). It is best to use flour made from organic cotton seeds because industrial cotton fields are heavily treated with pesticides that may be present in the oils contained in the seeds.
• Seaweed ash. This product is obtained from seaweed and is produced in liquid, powder and granular form. Although it contains only a small amount of nitrogen-phosphate-potassium fertilizer, it contains valuable trace elements, growth hormones and vitamins, which help to increase yields and plant resistance to drought and frost.
• Soy flour. Derived from soybeans and produced as granules, soy flour is prized for its high nitrogen content (7%) and phosphorus content (2%). Like alfalfa flour, soy flour is especially suitable for nitrogen-loving plants like roses.
• Humus. Humus, humates and humic acids are organic substances that are often present in compost. It is believed that humus improves the activity of soil microbes, thereby improving the structure of the soil and promoting the development of the root system of plants.

These products have no value as a fertilizer and are used, rather, as stimulants, to maintain the microbial activity of the soil, which in turn improves the living conditions of plants.

• Peat.  Peat contains few nutrients available to plants, but it increases the humus content and improves the soil structure. The dark color of peat promotes heat absorption and rapid soil heating. Several types of peat are distinguished by the degree of decomposition.

Horse is characterized by a low degree of decomposition of plant residues and high acidity. Lowland is characterized by a high degree of decomposition and lower acidity. Transitional peat occupies an intermediate position between them. Peat is collected in bogs, then laid out for ventilation or laid in a compost heap. They bring in peat at any time of the year, even in winter on snow. But we must not forget that lime must be added to it. In the garden, peat is best added to composts, as well as to soil mixtures for growing seedlings and greenhouses.

• Silt (sapropel). Accumulates at the bottom of ponds, lakes, rivers and other bodies of water. It contains plant and animal residues in the form of humus, rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. After a short airing, the sludge can be successfully used on sandy soils (3-9 kg per 1 m2).
• Siderata. Natural organic fertilizer is a high-stemmed plant mass of one- or perennial legumes (spring peas, spring vetch, forage beans, lupine, seradella), as well as phacelia, buckwheat, sunflower and others, pre-grown and plowed into the soil. By their action, green manure is almost equivalent to fresh manure.

Nutrients contained in the plant mass of green manure, getting into the soil and gradually decomposing, become available for subsequent crops, and organic green manure contributes to the restoration of the soil structure. Some green manure crops (lupine, buckwheat, mustard) increase the solubility and availability of low-mobile soil phosphates for plants, and lupine can use hard-to-reach forms of potassium.

• Sawdust and bark. Cheap organic fertilizer, which can significantly increase soil fertility, improve its air permeability and moisture capacity. Only they should not be brought in fresh, but rotted or mixed with other materials. Usually sawdust is used as a fertilizer in combination with urea, since they practically do not contain nitrogen.

To accelerate the decomposition process, sawdust is piled up, moistened with water, slurry. You can mix them with fallen leaves and plant debris. It is useful to interlayer sawdust with earth. During the summer, the pile is shoveled twice, adding the accumulated plant debris and nitrophosphate.

No matter how high the soil fertility on your site, its level decreases after each harvest. Fertilizers help prevent this, which compensate for the removal of elements that are of great importance for plant growth. Their effect depends on the composition, degree of solubility, quantitative content and ratio of their constituent components.

What are plant fertilizers?

Depending on the origin, fertilizers are divided into two large groups:

mineral – nutrients (active substance) are contained in them in the form of salts and become available to plants as they dissolve. They are used to quickly replenish soil reserves and balance nutrition. Due to the fact that the composition and content of the active substance in them is known, it is possible to calculate the required dose of application for flowers, vegetables, berry or garden plantings;

organic – represented by products of animal or plant origin, and the elements are released into the soil solution as a result of the decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms. Such fertilizers are characterized by prolonged action and have a beneficial effect on the structure of the soil, its water-air regime, and reserves of organic matter.

In turn, mineral fertilizers include:

• simple – contain one nutritional element (nitrogen, potash, phosphorus);
• complex – they contain several elements in a certain proportion.

New complex fertilizers

In recent years, new water-soluble forms of fertilizers with a balanced composition have appeared on the market, which combine the advantages of mineral and organic compounds. At the same time, you can buy them at an affordable price and choose formulations developed not only for vegetables, but also for flowers, gardens, lawns. In particular, these include:

chelated – as a rule, they are used for foliar dressing and contain trace elements in a readily available form that easily penetrate the leaf blade;

fulvates and humates are made on the basis of fulvic or humic acids, which are an integral part of humus. As a result of the enrichment of humates with macro- and microelements, complex complexes are obtained that increase the resistance of cultures to unfavorable factors, stimulate metabolism, and increase cell activity. Being of great importance for growth, they also improve the condition of the root layer, activating the soil microflora;

organo-mineral with a pesticidal effect – in addition to a set of nutrients, they may contain stimulants, amino acids and have a fungicidal effect, protecting plantings from diseases.

What fertilizers to apply on your site? The large selection is puzzling, and the assortment is constantly replenished with progressive varieties that are replacing traditional fertilizers. A detailed study of this issue is indispensable.

Classification of fertilizers by composition

The main criterion by which fertilizers are distinguished from each other is their composition. Based on this characteristic, they are divided into:

organic – represented by substances and materials of animal or plant origin. In them, nutrients are present in a limited amount and become available only after the mineralization of organic matter by soil organisms;

mineral – is an industrial product that is obtained as a result of the synthesis of several components or by processing and grinding agricultural ores mined in nature. Nutrients are contained in them in the form of mineral salts and are absorbed by the plant after dissolving in water;

bacterial – special preparations-inoculants, which help to improve the soil microclimate.

Types of organic fertilizers

Organic fertilizers have a complex effect on the soil. Their introduction helps to improve the physical parameters and structure of the soil, stimulate the activity of microorganisms, and replenish the reserves of micro- and macroelements. Moreover, their composition is very variable, and the fertilizing effect depends on the origin and method of preparation.

Common organic fertilizers:

Manure – it is recommended to apply it in a semi-rotten form after disinfection from weed seeds has taken place in the process of decomposition, and organic compounds break down into simpler forms.

Poultry manure is the most concentrated of all animal fertilizers. It is introduced into the soil in the form of liquid fertilizing (the ratio of manure: water – 1:20) or in a solid dry form after mixing with humus or earth

Compost – is prepared from plant residues (tops, fallen leaves, sawdust, cut grass), which are mixed and filled with liquid manure, solutions of poultry manure, nitrogen organic fertilizers, fertilizers or bacterial preparations.

Siderata – green manure crops (phacelia, rye, lupine, oil radish, vetch) are mown several weeks after germination and embedded in the soil. Thus, soil decompaction occurs, microbiological processes are stimulated, the root layer is replenished with organic matter.

Types of mineral fertilizers

The nutrient in the composition of mineral fertilizers is called the active substance (AD), and its content is measured as a percentage. This allows you to calculate the optimal fertilizer application rate depending on the needs of the plants.

There are two large groups of mineral fertilizers:

1. Simple – contain one nutrient.
2. Complex (or complex) – contain 2 or more nutrients.

In turn, simple ones are divided into:

nitrogen (N) – the most common are ammonium nitrate and more concentrated carbamide (urea). They are readily soluble and highly mobile.

For this reason, nitrogen fertilizers are applied from early spring and throughout the growing season in the form of top dressing. Their use for the autumn digging is irrational – during the winter, nitrogen is washed out by rain and melt waters outside the arable layer and becomes inaccessible to young plants.

phosphorus (P) – simple superphosphate (20% of ae) and double (45% of ae), which, in comparison with other phosphorus-containing fertilizers, dissolves most easily in water, has become widespread. At the same time, it moves poorly and can be bound by the soil into compounds that are difficult for plants to access.

Its introduction is most effective for the main plowing, locally in rows or nests during sowing (planting), and also as top dressing. A prerequisite for this is deep planting in the soil.

Phosphorus fertilizers scattered over the soil surface or embedded in the upper drying layer are ineffective.

potash (K) – these include potassium chloride (up to 60% of the AI), potassium salt (40%), potassium magnesium (up to 28%)

Their use is especially important on light sandy and sandy loam, as well as peaty soils that contain a small amount of available potassium. For more efficient use, they are brought in in the fall for deep digging or plowing.

Complex (complex) fertilizers save time, money and labor costs when it is necessary to balance plant nutrition on several elements at the same time.

The ratio and content of NPK in them is different, therefore, when used on different soils and under different crops, they can be supplemented with simple fats. For example, the popular nitroammophoska containing 16% nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, when applied in autumn, can be supplemented with superphosphate or potassium chloride.

The same effect is achieved if, by combining simple fertilizers, you prepare a mixed one. However, this should be done carefully, in accordance with the recommendations of the table, in order to prevent deterioration of the physical properties of fats, a decrease in their solubility or loss of nutrients.

The above mineral fertilizers are a source of macronutrients that are consumed by plants in large quantities (NPK).

At the same time, full nutrition of a plant organism is impossible without microelements, which are required in microscopic doses. We are talking about boron, copper, iron, sulfur, manganese, cobalt, zinc, etc.

Microfertilizers can be roughly divided into:

mineral – relatively recently there was no alternative to such varieties. Some of them are still used for pre-sowing seed treatment or spraying of plants. The most famous are boric acid, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate;

chelated – new generation fertilizers containing one or more microelements in the most easily digestible organometallic form. As a rule, they are used for foliar dressing, as they are well absorbed by the leaf surface, or are introduced through a drip irrigation system. Once in the soil, chelates do not bind into insoluble complexes and for a long time mineral fertilizers remain available for the root system.

Recently, concentrated complex water-soluble fertilizers are becoming more and more relevant, the composition of which is developed taking into account the needs of each crop. They are very easy to use, allow you to provide plants with an even rationed nutrition and avoid overdose.

Varieties of bacterial fertilizers

There are no nutrients in their composition, but there are bacteria, the activity of which makes it possible to mobilize the accumulation of nutrients in the root layer and improve its general condition.

The most common ones are:

• nitragin and rhizotorfin – are produced on the basis of nodule bacteria, which, entering into symbiosis with the roots of legumes, fix atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into a form accessible to plants;
• phosphorobacterin – the spores contained in it are capable of removing phosphorus from organic compounds;

Competent use of fertilizers allows you to avoid depletion of the soil in the beds and annually receive consistently high yields of excellent quality.