Camille and Aboutorchids, great use of natural materials! I've heard about nettle tea and other "teas" but never actually tried them. Compost tea or solid compost is also great. For anyone who's interested, the reason these work so well is because they have natural chemicals that most plants make or consume anyway. Adding the tea just gives the plants more, so they can grow better. I hadn't heard about the horsetail tea though. They must produce higher levels of natural fungicides and other defensive chemicals than other plants. Thanks for the tip!
A couple other points in this thread I noticed, not to sound like a know-it-all, as I'm anything but. Fertilizers derived from urea contain other chemicals besides the nitrogen plants need, and form more salt and mineral deposits than other forms of nitrogen. I think it was Violacea who mentioned the urine. That probably worked because the excess mineral deposits were flushed out during the rainy season. And as was already mentioned, the actual make-up of urine varies widely.
Also, there are ways to determine the N-P-K ratio in your homemade mix Blakeeboo. Home test kits are available from garden supply resources and can give you an approximation of the ratios, or you can go to your local Extension office and ask them to do an analysis. There may be a fee for the second one, I'm not sure, but the people at the Extenion office can give you advice to improve it if necessary.
Personally, I'm trying worm poop once I run out of synthetic fertilizer, as I've seen "liquid worm poop" bottled in recycled soda bottles in stores and I have my own worm bin. First I need to expand my collection to use it up faster though!
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