Natural Flower Fertilizer
Would you like to know whats the best and least
expensive natural flower fertilizer?
Its no
secret that composting is one of the oldest methods used to
fertilize plants whether of the flowering variety or the leafy
kind. Learning how to compost certain food scraps and
yard waste and turn it into a natural flower fertilizer is the
single most money-saving method of fertilizing out
there. In addition, it helps you reduce waste. Once
finished, compost is a dark, crumbly mixture of decomposed
organic matter.
Used as a natural
flower fertilizer, it can:
Provide
nutrients to plants
Control weeds
Reduce
the need for fertilizer
Improve the quality of clay
or sandy soil
Save
water
Recipe
But you might be
wondering what's the best compost recipe for natural flower
fertilizers? The basic rule is: two parts brown to one
part green.
A compost pile is a teeming
community of microorganisms that helps break down organic
matter, such as yard debris in to compost. To
encourage the growth of these microorganisms, you must
use natural flower fertilizer that's two parts brown
materials, such as dried leaves, which are rich in
carbon.
Mix this with one part nitrogen-rich green
materials, such as grass clippings, and you have a natural
flower fertilizer the perfect formula for
promoting large populations of microorganisms that will heat
up your yard debris and produce compost quickly.
Raw Materials
Use the following materials
for composting the brown parts:
Old
potting soil
Twigs
Dried grass and
leaves
Straw
Wood chips
Shredded
newspaper
For green
matters:
Grass
clippings
Fresh leaves
Plant
stalks
Annual weeds without heads
Hedge
trimmings
Coffee filters and tea
bags
Vegetable and fruit
scraps
DONT use the following
materials:
Diseased
plants
Weeds with seed heads
Dead
animals
Invasive weeds such as quack grass and morning
glory
Pet feces
Meat or fish
parts
Bread and grains
Dairy
products
Grease, cooking oil or oily
foods
Size Matters
To speed up
the composting process of your natural flower fertilizer, try chopping them small. Cut
them into smaller pieces because the smaller they are,
the faster they compost. Use shears or a machete to chop
garden debris. For shredding, use a
chipper-shredder or lawn mower.
For even faster
composting, your compost pile should be at least 3 feet square
in size. Why does size matter? Because composting actually
happens with the heat generated from the millions of
microorganisms in the soil. As they process the raw materials,
they release lots of energy that will help activate
decomposition. So, if you want hot, fast composting, use this
minimum size.
Air and Water
Every form of
life on earth needs a certain amount of air and
water to survive. The microorganisms in your natural flower
fertilizer can do their job best when they're supplied with
enough water and air. Sprinkle some water over your compost
material. If possible, make them as damp as a wrung-out
sponge. Also, make sure there are plenty of air passages for
air to get through.
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