Fertilizer teas are easy to make and are as good for your garden’s health as the tea you drink is for yours.
Fertilizer teas are used when planting or transplanting or any time the plants appear to need a boost. Some people use fertilizer teas every time they water.
The only supplies needed are a five gallon bucket, water, a stick for stirring and the fertilizer. Manure tea and compost tea are most commonly made. Put a gallon of manure or compost in a five-gallon bucket and cover with water. Wait at least three hours, or up to several days. Stir or pour into another bucket once a day. Scoop the water from the bucket and use it to water your plants. You’ll be feeding the plants and your soil at the same time. Add more water to the bucket and use the same manure or compost to make several batches of tea.
There is one concern with using manure tea. Manure from non-organic farms may contain pesticides or antibiotic residues. Fortunately there are other alternatives, and they are much more pleasant.
As plants grow, they extract nutrients from the soil and store them in their stems and leaves. Those nutrients can be harvested and returned to the soil by making and using tea. Any weeds you pull can be made into tea and will have some benefit. Use whole or chopped leaves and follow the same procedure as for manure tea although it probably isn’t worth using the same plants more than once.
Some common plants that can be made into tea include alfalfa, chicory, comfrey, dandelion, German chamomile, stinging nettle, parsley and watercress. Each plant provides different nutrients. As an example, nettle provides vitamin A, C, K, four B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, phosphorus, potassium, boron, bromine, copper, iron, selenium and zinc.
You can buy alfalfa meal, also called rabbit pellets, that when made into a tea provides many major and trace nutrients. Alfalfa meal contains a growth stimulant that increases growth and yield when sprayed on a variety of crops. Soak a few cups of alfalfa meal in five gallons of water. Add a tablespoon of molasses to the tea to speed up microbial growth and provide even more nutrients. Stir the mixture or pour it from one bucket to another every day.
All the teas can be applied strained or unstrained. Any sediment or slurry left over can be added to the compost pile. If applying as a spray, strain the tea well through several layers of cheesecloth or a jelly bag so your sprayer doesn’t get clogged.
As an alternative to using the tea for watering, it can be sprayed on the foliage, which is called foliar feeding. Nutrients are immediately available to the plant rather than having to be absorbed by the roots and taken up into the plant. Foliar feeding should be done in the early morning or late afternoon, never in the heat of the day.
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