Part V of Chem-Free Gardening Series

Just as important as weeding, keeping your soil fertilized is essential to growing strong, healthy plants. Because it’s so important, we wanted to share these DIY organic fertilizers that use regular household items and are very easy and effective.  

Organic Fertilizer 1: Tea Bags/Coffee Grounds

A great organic fertilizer uses tea bags or coffee grounds for plants that like acidic environments, such as rhododendrons and gardenias. With coffee grounds, all you have to do is mix them into the soil. Tea bags can be buried into the soil as they are (as long as the bag is made from biodegradable material). 

Organic Fertilizer 2: White Vinegar 

Another great fertilizer for plants that require acidic soil is white vinegar. To make this DIY organic fertilizer, you’ll want to mix 1 tablespoon of vinegar for every 1 gallon of water. You can then use this solution to water your plants every couple of months. 

Organic Fertilizer 3: Epsom Salt 

For an easy and effective fertilizer, mix 1 tablespoon of salt with one gallon of water. The magnesium and sulfur found in Epsom salt are essential for plants to properly perform photosynthesis and produce chlorophyll. All you have to do is water your garden with the concoction.

Organic Fertilizer 4: Eggshells 

Eggshells can be crushed up and mixed deep into the soil. The calcium found in eggshells helps reduce the acidity of your soil. So if you’re growing something that prefers less acidic soil, eggshells could be a good choice.

Organic Fertilizer 5: Bananas 

This one’s another easy one and just requires you to bury the banana peel in the soil to allow it to compost. As many know, bananas are rich in potassium, which is why they work so great on plants like roses, that require lots of potassium for more blooms. 

Organic Fertilizer 6: Compost

If you make your own compost, this also acts as an effective fertilizer. You can just mix it in with the soil. Just make sure you use a finished compost. You don’t want to introduce any disease-causing organisms to your plants. If you use compost, you only need to fertilize about once every two years. 

Summary

In summary, as you can see, there are so many choices when it comes to DIY organic fertilizers. Most of these require items you already have around your home and take little effort to put together and use on your garden.

**This is the last post in our chem-free series. Thanks for reading along with us. You can read more about organic herbicides and pesticides in our previous articles, and remember to let us know what you think in the comments or in our Facebook group!**