Nutrients

Just like us, plants need a nutritious diet to grow healthy and strong. We’ve got a rundown of some of the very best organic and veganic ways to feed them.

Plant Hormones: Auxins and Cytokinins

Grubbycup Stash

Auxins are plant hormones that help guide plant growth. They work in conjunction with but in opposition to, cytokinin hormones. They are both required, and the ratio of one to the other will either promote root growth (if the ratio has more auxin), or promote shoot growth and inhibit root growth (if the ratio has more cytokinin). IAA (indole-3-acetic acid), and…

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DIY Seaweed Fertilizer

The internet seems to have turned us into a society of hacks. It offers the secrets of how to do anything – including DIY seaweed fertilizer. Not living anywhere near the ocean, it never occurred to me that this was possible. Like most gardeners, mine comes out of a jar, instantly melting in water. But…
December 3, 2016
Tammy Clayton

Fertilizer from Food Waste

Here’s a concept long overdue – making fertilizer from food waste. Not by composting. The process is much faster, and emits no greenhouse gases. After all, when grown with conventional methods, it’s already contributed to the greenhouse gas problem. Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from tilling, fertilizing, and even irrigation practices are responsible for over 50% the emissions…
September 12, 2016
Callie

Fertilizer Pollution & Your Garden

If it weren’t for the excess nitrogen applied to farmland, there would be no fertilizer pollution. Wrong! What kind of fertilizer are you using in your garden? How about on your lawn? It’s not the size of the plot, but the fertilizer itself that is causing the problems with nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in drinking…
August 19, 2016
Amber

Biosolids (a.k.a. Sewer Sludge)

Gardeners and health conscious consumers may be shocked to learn that the organic sounding ingredient “biosolids” found in some potting and compost mixes is actually municipal sewage sludge. “Biosolid” is a misleading public relations term for semi-treated municipal sewage sludge. The sludge is sometimes sold or given to consumers and farms for use as a free or low-cost fertilizer.…
July 25, 2016
Grubbycup Stash

The Phosphorus Fertilizer Dump

Adding phosphorus fertilizer to soil to correct pH or nutrient balance is commonly done by farmers and gardeners. But it’s normally done in small to moderate amounts to boost the P needed in NPK to the level needed by whatever you’re growing. Unless you happen to have tropical soil. Then you need lots of it. So much, in fact, that…
April 23, 2016
Tammy Clayton