Homemade fertilizer

[Vina]

Originally Posted by BlakeeBoo

I wish it was 24 degrees Celsius in the day here! How I envy my homeland of Acadiana, It was about 18 degrees there yesterday!

....

Guys! I wish it was at least +15 degrees Celsius in the day here! And longer days... We experience the shortest days of the year, less than 6 hours! I hate thinking of my electricity and heating bills...

[Ray]

Violacea,

1) I doubt that you have been teaching for three times my age (maybe you meant Blake's), as you'd be close to 200!

2) I did "invent" the pots I use - plastic containers with two 6mm holes in the side about 3cm up from the bottom, but it was done for my own growing benefit, so I didn't patent it.

[kosmickforestchild]

Originally Posted by gixrj18

How are you going to know your N-P-K, to write on the label? There is no way to tell what percentage of what nutrients your final mixture will have.....good luck with that!

You can test it using a test kit or take it to yourlocal cooperative extension and for about 10 bucks you can get it professionally analyzed...its not that difficult

[thakshila smith]

Back to the topic again.
thanks for the valid proposals .
I just wanted to add to your ideas that I use rice rinsing water to my plants too. That gives nutrition to bigger leaves . Yes for larger flowers . We just dump green leaves as a mulch later that becomes a fertilizer.
And we add used up tea leaves for oncediums and anthuriums.

[natasha]

my mom use bloody water from rinsing fish & meat too. but not for chids. just for normal veggie plants. actually, its kind of normal here to use that and water from rice rinse too... her plants are great!

[Junebug]

A reliable orchid savvy source once told me to use a pinch of blood meal occasionally instead of fertilizer. He said it's sound gross but really works. Two weeks ago I fertilized with my own experimental concoction using single large pinches in equal parts of dried blood meal, ground egg shell, ground dried banana leaf, and a tsp. of molasses to a gallon of water. All of the ingredients were insoluable except the molasses so I poured the mixed ingredients through the potting media 2 or 3 times so traces of the ingredients would get entrapped. I fertilized some of my non-orchids in this non traditional way too. So far so good. All fertilized plants look happy and/or happier. The most amazing results were displayed by my Hoya which sent out 2 8" leads within one week of receiving this mixture.

[rogerman]

I have found in the past that doing things like what was previously said is actually very good..... The only thing i'd do differently is to soak the concoction for at least 24 hours.

I had a 200 litre(44 gallon) drum half full of rotted grass and cow manure....... I filled it full of water and let it brew for about 2 weeks...... Gave off a powerful smell, but the "fertilizer turbocharged the plants though.

[natasha]

i try to ferment sheep fertilizer a couple of weeks ago... i am surprise i am still alive! the smell was terrible, even worse than sewage!

[POLKA]

Okay
Here I am, 10 months later after the last posting to this thread.
However, I would like to add my two cents:

The nitrogen cycle goes something like this
1--an organism dies and begins to rot into its component parts, for this case--protein. Or, it excretes waste materials from protein metabolism, including urea.
2--protein, by biological action (with or without soil), breaks down to urea.
3--urea breaks down to Ammonia
4--ammonia breaks down to Nitrates
5--soil organisms convert nitrates to nitrites (maybe this 4 and 5 is backwards), and is able to hold that in the humus.

Now--Orchids are perched in trees, usually. They get what comes their way. Waste products in dilute form slowly, and consistently while moist. Most plants, including most orchids, have enzymes that break down even large molecules like urea. They don't have to have the urea broken down. However, in warmth, urine (urea) turns to ammonia quickly (hence the singapore example above, and works well).

Whether urea, ammonia, or nitrate, orchids need their nitrogen because they reform orchid proteins from the nitrogen components of the molecule. And from these proteins, eventually the nitrogen cycle starts again.

Now--compost tea is excellent for any and all orchids. You can make it at home. Phals especially like the stuff. Catts, dendies, oncids, and grammatophylums too.

I hope I have helped in this matter.
Take care
May all your orchids bloom like crazy
Rex
aka Polka

[rogerman]

I'llsort of add to what POLKA has said.

I have a HUGE fish pond that is 4 metres round and 2 metres deep. It has a few big fish and some smaller ones in it and i regularly clean it out.
Now for those that know me, I have an Orchid nursery with about ten thousand Orchids. I now pump the old water out of the fish pond into my irrigation tank and water my plants with this.....Has worked absolute wonders