Last Updated on 2 years by Namrata
Liquid fertilizers are fertilizers that contain nutrients and vitamins for plants in liquid form. You can use them by sprinkling or pouring them directly to the roots of plants. Liquid fertilizers can be prepared by composting kitchen wastes, worm castings, grass clippings, and coffee grounds in water.
To make liquid fertilizer from kitchen waste you will need to collect kitchen waste like vegetable peels, rotten fruits, and anything coming from plants that can decompose easily. We will add water to this waste in a container and then keep it aside for a week to decompose. Liquid fertilizer is rich in iron, potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, etc. good for plant growth.
Steps to prepare liquid fertilizer from the kitchen waste at home
Choosing the type of kitchen waste for liquid fertilizer
Choose only wastes like vegetable peels, damaged fruits, and left-out leafy vegetables that can decompose easily. Do not add animal product waste as this can invite maggots and smell very bad. You need to keep in mind that your waste should be decomposable in water after you keep it for one to two weeks.
Preparing the waste for liquid fertilizer
After you collect the kitchen waste, choose a big size bucket preferably a plastic one. Now add water up to the rim of the bucket. Loosely close the bucket with a cover and keep it outside where sunlight falls. It may take more than a week to get the liquid fertilizer from the waste. When the microorganisms in the bucket start decomposing the waste you may get bad smells from it. You can use a face mask to deal with the bad smell of the waste.
Collecting the liquid fertilizer for use
You can collect the liquid fertilizer after a week, that is the perfect time to collect as kitchen waste contains different compost with different composting life. If you live in a hot place where the temperature is high, the process may be quicker. It is advisable to stir the waste on an alternative day to help the decomposing process faster. Collect the liquid waste which is dark in color using a mesh after a few days. You will need to add about ten times of water to the final collected amount of the liquid waste. This will dilute the alcoholic content of the waste if any built up during the process. This liquid is rich in many nutrients.
Use this liquid fertilizer for your indoor plants, outdoor plants, and kitchen garden once a week to see a good result.
How to make liquid fertilizer from banana peels?
You can make liquid fertilizer just from banana peels too. No, need to add any other waste. Banana peel liquid manure contains a high concentration of calcium, potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus which is the perfect food for all plants. To prepare liquid fertilizer from banana peels you need peels from at least 5 to 6 bananas. Then either cut the peels into small pieces or directly put them in a 200 oz container filled with water. Small banana peel pieces make the decomposition process a little quicker. After you add those banana peels, let the container sit for a few days in a sunny place with the lid closed. You will be able to collect the liquid fertilizer from the container in two to three days. Discard the remaining solid part of the banana peels into a compost pit.
How to make liquid fertilizer from grass clippings?
Liquid fertilizer can be prepared from grass clippings. After a fresh lawn mowing, grass clippings go waste, we can collect them to use for making liquid fertilizer. The process is the same as kitchen waste.
How to make liquid fertilizer from coffee grounds?
Liquid fertilizer can also be prepared from coffee grounds. The waste coffee grounds can be used as fertilizer after adding water to them. You will need to keep it in a bottle with the lid closed for at least 2 to 3 days. Coffee ground is rich in nitrogen, calcium, potassium, iron, and phosphorus which is good for plant growth.
How to make liquid fertilizer from worm castings
Worm castings are nothing but excreta of earthworms. Earthworms eat rotten leaves, fruits, and soil which they eliminate as worm castings. Worm castings are highly rich in nutrients. We can make liquid fertilizer out of them. To make worm casting juice, we will need to collect worm castings. We can get these from a worm-casting bin or a from an open waste dumping zone.
Worm casting liquid is prepared by adding water to worm castings and then kept for a few days for decomposition. After, 3 to 5 days we will get worm casting juice that can be used as liquid fertilizer to apply on plants.
Conclusion
Liquid fertilizers are not a new concept, these have been used by many gardeners all around the world. One advantage of liquid fertilizer is that plants get nutrients more easily than solid fertilizers. And at the same time, the water requirement of the plants is covered.
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Few days back I added lequid fertilizer collected from kitchen waste directly to plant but found plants became dry and ultimately perished,what is the procedure to use lequid fertilizer for plants, please suggest.
Did you dilute the liquid before applying? You need to add about ten times of water to the final collected amount of the liquid waste. This will dilute the acidity of the liquid fertilizer.
In the video he puts the mix directly on the plants BUT he says to dilute 10:1 ration water to fertilizer mixture. Don’t skip that part.