DIY Free Fertilizer from Weeds - Regenerative Gardening
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 พ.ค. 2024
- Do you want to grow bigger, healthier, more tasty fruits and veggies? Then this video is for you. Today I’m gonna show you how to make your own natural, low cost fertilizer using something that you might already have growing on your property.
Hi I’m Christina with Forever Food Forest. A channel where we explore ways of growing food without the use of herbicides, pesticides or commercial fertilizers and instead we rely on permaculture principles and other gardening - natural gardening methods to grow food that's good for the garden and good for the planet. So let’s get started.
This method was inspired by Korean Natural Farming, JADAM, and some regenerative farming methods with my own personal twist on it. Because I have to utilize what I have here, your results may vary depending on what you have growing in abundance in your area. First thing you’re gonna need is some weeds. Weeds are amazing for their ability to extract nutrients from even the poorest soils. Which is why when they’re decomposed back they make such an excellent fertilizer because they concentrate all those nutrients. And some farmers in fact grow weeds such as nettles, chickweeds, comfrey, mullein. Some weeds are gonna have more nutrients than the others, but I like to use what I have right now. I might grow some soil building crops in the future once all of this is cleared of all of these noxious and invasive weeds.
To make fertilizer: you’re gonna need:
- a bucket, preferably with a lid
- a brick or a heavy rock to weigh your weeds down
- water. Rain water is best, but any water that has not been treated with chemicals such as clean river water, well water, spring water, estuary, tributary. Any kind of water other than the water that has been treated with chemicals will do. If you only have access to tap water you can let it sit out for 48 hours.
It's like you’re making a stew for your plants. You just toss all these goodies in there. Make sure the bucket is about 75% full. And then fill the rest with water. And then I take my brick and use it to weigh down the weeds. Fertilizer is gonna be ready to use in about 3 days. On day 2 I cover it with a lid to keep the flies out.
Just a word of caution when you are first making this, that smell is going to hit you. The first time I made it, I ended up throwing out the whole batch because I thought “surely something had gone horribly wrong because there’s no way that it should smell like this”. But no, no. Be aware that that is normal. And the smell is gonna get worse over the next month. That’s why I like to cover it up with a lid and let it ferment for another month. Even though right now it is ready to use. I could dilute it 1 part to 10 and use it as a drench in my garden, or use it to water my seedlings. That would absolutely work, but the longer you wait, the stronger of a concentration of fertilizer you’re gonna have. So I’m gonna show you how I prepare the fertilizer to use it in the garden. I'm gonna use the May vintage (It's currently July). I just strain the fertilizer into another bucket. So the ratio I wanna dilute it at is 30 to 1. I have 2 gallons of water here. Rain water. This is a little over 100 Milliliters. So I want about 180 and that will be about 30 to 1. And this is not exact science. If you make a mixture that’s a little more concentrated or more diluted, you know, do whatever works for you. I have a bunch of different weeds here. And different weeds have different concentrations of nutrients. 30 to 1 is pretty diluted, it shouldn't hurt your plants. I’ve also used a stronger concentration depending on the plants, so you're just gonna have to figure out what works for you. But 30 to 1 is a good starting point. So now I’m just gonna apply it to my okra seedlings over here. I do this about once a week as they’re growing because the solution is pretty diluted and we do get a lot of rain here. The rain has a tendency to wash away any excess fertilizer into our waterways. So I’m really careful about how much fertilizer I apply and how often. I try to apply less fertilizer than needed , more often. Because any excess I put in here is gonna get washed away.
I did a little comparison to see if this fertilizer actually shows improvement in plants. And I have two turmeric plants that were both started at the same time. Same size corms. One has been fertilized with this fertilizer. And the other one I just left alone and I’ve been watering it. That’s it. And look at the difference. The one that has been getting the fertilizer is twice as big. This is amazing. So this stuff really works. It’s a little funky. A little smelly. But it’s free and you can have as much of it as you want. As long as you have weeds, you can have fertilizer. So make something of those weeds and remember to wash your hands after touching that funky, funky, fertilizer. - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
I don't see you failing at this because you aren't rushing things. You are working with nature moving at nature's pace. Thank you for the idea.
I like the slight hint of chaos in your videos
Not sure why but your videos carry an undertone of existentialism. I love it.
Wow! This Jamaican Gardener thank you.
We just retired here up in the hills and the land is loaded with weeds and challenges but it's very organic, so I'm very thankful to find your channel.
Love that wacky sense of humour as you explain in simple language! Glad I ran into this channel. Helps a lot given we need to keep our livelihood sustainable! Keep 'em coming! Cheers!
The reason weed tea fertilizers like this smell so bad is because it’s anaerobic bacteria and other microbes that have colonized. While not all anaerobic microbes are harmful, some can absolutely be extremely harmful to your soil and to your health, should you eat vegetables that have come in contact with them and have not been properly cleaned. There is no way of knowing which anaerobic microbes you are colonizing without looking at samples under a microscope.
And, while the nutrients extracted during the brew can be beneficial to your plants, it’s a bit of a risky crapshoot whether or not you might actually be causing more harm than good, both to your soil and to yourself. Generally speaking, it is not recommended to use anaerobic fertilizer teas. You can easily get a lot of the same benefits from these brews, by simply adding an oxygen source to your buckets so that you are producing aerobic teas, which pose far, far fewer risks of introducing harmful bacteria. While it’s best to use a constant source of oxygenation, like a fish tank bubbler, even just 4-5 minutes of vigorously stirring your bucket 2-3 times per day can add significant oxygen. And, best of all, you won’t have to deal with the god-awful smells of anaerobic teas.
I would kindly disagree, the only danger with either aerobic or anaerobic is if you treat your lawn/garden with pesticides/harmful harsh synthetic chemicals or outsource your materials from unknown location/origins and have no knowledge of the garden practices used by source other than that I would advise every Gardener to give it a go unless you fall in the category I mentioned above, so if you are not 100% completely sure your materials are free of pesticides/harsh harmful chemicals you are not advised to proceed with procedure, now that being said your garden will benefit from both anae/aero.. as one producing fungal/anae and other bacterial/aero microbes which a good healthy soil needs to thrive.. the more diverse the better which from experience has been a huge benefit in the garden.. will add extra pop in color, taste, size and quality to your fruits, vegetables, flowers, lawn and shrubs.. the key for the anaerobic tea is it must be capped off with airtight lid if not then it is just weeds rotting in water which will produce the foul smell so if done correctly the only thing foul will be your neighbors envy lol.. don't discourage encourage, Cheers! Happy gardening..✨💚🌱💯
I remember seeing this on another video. The bokashi composting (and I think we're doing a modified version of that) is a great way to utilize pest weeds & vines that you otherwise wouldn't dare put into a regular compost pile.
I bought a 20 gallon rubbermaid can with a non-vented lid. Works great, and yes it does smell like the 5th circle of hell (hence keeping the lid on until you want to use it).
As I understand it, you DO want to dilute it down since the acidity can be pretty strong as well as the nitrogen levels.
I've got cucumbers going like crazy from just a little bit of this stuff.
I really appreciate you using what is available with no buying items!!! Thank you!!!
You should lead next time with that side by side pic. Very compelling!!
I love watching videos like this, and its alot more satisfying being explained by a women SO BEAUTIFUL 😍😍😍😍😍😍IM IN LOVE❤️
Its my favorite go to.......lol...it annoys my neighbors they always know when I'm making it.........its that potent.
There are other chemicals in city water that don't gas off... I use a water treatment that is used in fish tanks to condition the water.
Could you name the product - or at least components of the product that we could look for?
The channel Vida no Campo Horta e Animais (Country Life | vegetable garden and animals) recommended your channel, I loved it!!!
Hi Christina! can't wait to try this! I'm in - subbed!
Awesome! Thank you!
Weeds have become my friend since I made fantastic compost using only weeds. So with fertiliser and compost its win-win
I’ve been making compost tea using weeds with great results
I always buy a lot of bananas and I always put the waste into a 200litre tank in the winter alongside nettles, dandelion and grass cuttings as they offer a great Pottasium, Nitrogen feed that's great for potatoes and tomatoes.
Great video and happy gardening.
Another excellent video..thanks again
Great video! 👍😎
Lol😂....I thought u were gonna say it smells like sh*t...but u said sheep 🐑...which can smell like sh*t....😂....thank u for tis great vid...I learned something..1❤
Funky funky funky
excellently explained the process.....good work
Great model for using the valuable nutrients of weeds back into garden. Love it! I've never done anaerobic teas as such... but a stew like that may work for me. Thank you!
This is a very interesting concept. I just started planting my garden and the first year I had an abundant yield. This year I had very little success, tomatoes and cucumbers were the only crops.
I'll be trying your methods. Thanks for sharing.
That's awesome for your first year!
Really great
Thanks for sharing!
Good information
Nice dear ❤
Geez I'm glad i subbed. Thanks for the videos Kristina
I LOVE THIS IM SO GOING TO DO THIS THANK YOU ❤
Going to try this. Awesome. From Australia 🇦🇺
Great idea!...just found your channel and subscribed.
Loving all of your information. 💚 Perth Western Australia
Thanks and welcome! Florida climate and soil is very similar to some part of Australia.
Brilliant! I bet Florida has some gnarly weeds.
You would be right! Bermuda grass is the least of our problems. Right now I'm battling cat's claw vine. Nasty stuff - impossible to get rid of.
Just hit the Sub button. Happened to find you randomly and love your content. Thanks for the advice
Welcome!
Ay Christina..excellent video nice raised beds..where can I find that type ?
Another great video, thank you for sharing your knowledge! I’ve been wanting to do this for the longest time after I saw @spicymoustache do it but I never saw the side by side comparison!
One thing though, can you do this with weeds that are going to seed/have seeded?
I have a good share of bermuda/crab grass growing in a huge patch along side my house and just want to get rid of it!
Thank you and yes, you can do this with weeds that have gone to seed. It's a great alternative to putting them in the compost bin where they might survive and spread. I got Bermuda and crab grass here too and it makes great fertilizer!
Can I use every weed in the garden? We have bindweed also coups I use that? Nice video
Thanks for the video. Very helpful!
Question: What do you do with the left over weed in the bucket after you strained the water out? Do you keep adding new weeds and water to the same bucket on top of the old weeds? Do you ever throw away the old weeds?
You can pull them out and add them to a compost pile or as a layer in a lasagna bed. When we make weed tea/fetid swamp water we pull the solids out after four or five months and bury them two feet deep along with half finished compost and even whole kitchen scraps, then plant pumpkins or melons on top. Any weed seeds still hanging around aren't a problem then.
Mulch! Throw it on your beds on a sunny day. Your friends in the soil will love a wet blanket.
Leftover weed in the bucket? You smoke it.. 😂, if you were referring to garden weeds add them to the compost pile/bin
Great nice 👌👌
New friend and new subs from Arunachal Exotic Flowers and Pots 🌿🍁
What about if you us that fertilizer with out mixing it with
Hi, how long does it keep? Growing season is almost over here in Alberta and starts up again in mid April. Would it make sense to start gathering weeds now or wait till spring? Thanks.
Hi. Was that tropical plants you are pulling up????
Wow, what a great idea!! Thanks for taking the time to make and upload all your videos. 🙂🙂. Is it possible to use anything that you remove from the ground? I'm thinking of leaves and things from pruned plants, tree leaves, grass clippings, basically anything else from the garden. And I presume it's possible to throw any used items onto a compost pile? Keep up the good work!!
It's best with green matter like weeds and grass clippings. I haven't tried it with leaves, but it works great with flowers and anything that has gone to seed.
Was thinking about a spigot to the bucket so I dont have to strain. Im not able to lift the bucket. Would also have a composting bag inside the bucket like a strainer. Would that work?
Great video. Do you think adding boiling water would possibly speed up the leaching process?
It's gonna kill the microbes. Even letting it sit in direct sun might be too much. I did an experiment with Lactose acid bacteria this Summer where I had 1 jarred colony outside and 1 inside for 3 days. The inside colony turned milk into cheese perfectly well in a couple of days, the outside colony barely did anything and took 5 days for a mediocre result. I believe around 20C°/68F° is a good temperature for them to thrive.
Let me add that temperature fluctuations are probably worse than any off the norm but constant temperature.
@@nurfuerverrueckte Thanks, that makes good sense. The microbes are the key to this.
Talking about the smell. If you had of added comfy it would have been about twice as bad, but better for the plants.
Will be growing comfrey here once all the invasive rhizomes are removed!
No bloopers? 😎
My spray bottle falls like that. Drives me crazy.
mine has a little latch mechanism... you push it all the way down, and then you twist it to lock it in place. Then you can hold it by the handle. Does your have that feature?
Where do I find a woman like her?
The smell is terrible dont do this. My wife almost divorced me becoz of this trash😂
You should not pay attention to this woman. She does not know what she is talking about and will cause you more harm than good!
You should offer some evidence if you're going to make an accusation like that. She's not the only person online using this method, all with good results.
Evidence ? Try your college agg dept that does your soil test!@@hyacinthABC