5 Homemade Organic Liquid Fertiliser Teas

In today's article, I want to talk about liquid fertilisers and how they can benefit your plants. Before you go out and pay good money for liquid fertilisers you should use what you already have at home to create your own. You can make many different types of fertiliser teas but below I want to talk about my favourite 5 homemade organic liquid fertiliser teas.

Why you need to fertilise your gardens

Before I list the 5 homemade organic liquid fertiliser teas it's important to know why fertilising is important. Plants need to be fertilised because the soil they are growing in doesn't always provide all the nutrients needed. Even if you start off with great soil, eventually over time, plants absorb all the nutrients out of the soil so they can grow, leaving the soil depleted and less fertile.Plants that have all the essential nutrients they need are healthier and less likely to suffer from pest infestations and disease. Food crops are more productive, giving you better yields and ornamental plants flower more and are much more beautiful.When you fertilise your garden you're restoring those lost nutrients back into the soil so the plant can continue to flourish.

Worm tea

Worm tea is the liquid produced from compost worms. This liquid is sometimes called liquid gold. I use the Tumbleweed Can O'worms and I probably have approximately 3,000 worms in there eating my kitchen food scraps and leaf material. When the worms eat the organic waste their waste turns into two things, humus, which is the dark organic compost, and worm wee. The liquid drips down into the bottom and out of the tap into a bucket. To create the worm tea it is important to water your worm farm with about three-five litres of water about once or twice a fortnight. The water seeps through the trays down to the bottom and into the bucket taking nutrients from all the food scraps, leaf litter, humus and worm wee with it, creating the worm tea fertiliser.What you will need:

• A working worm farm
• A bucket to collect the tea
• A strainer to place under the tap, worms sometimes get sucked down with the water and into the bucket. A strainer will catch them when they come out of the tap.
• And a watering can so you can water your plants.

It is important to dilute your worm tea with water, this tea can be very strong and may burn your plants. Pour the tea into the watering can and apply directly to soil.

Weed tea

All gardeners hate weeds but they actually have a use in the garden. Next time you pull out those weeds use them to create a nutrient-rich fertiliser.To make a weed tea you will need:

• A pile of weeds. Weeds like comfrey, dandelion, stinging nettle, bull thistle, chickweed, oxalis, clover, purslane and plantago can be used.
• A bucket with a lid
• Gloves for prickly weeds like stinging nettle and bull thistle
• A bag that acts like a large teabag, an old pillowcase or a cheesecloth work perfectly
• A weight, a brick or a rock will work fine.

To create the tea place your weeds and your rock into the bag. Place the bag into a bucket filled with water and cover with the lid. Applying the lid is important for two reasons, it will prevent mosquitoes from getting in and breeding and this tea will smell quite bad. Leave the bag in the water for about three or four weeks. The longer it is left in the water the stronger the tea and more nutrients will leach into the water. Pour fertiliser into a watering can and water over plants covering foliage and soil.

Grass clippings tea

If you mow your lawn, not only can you compost your grass, but you can also create a grass clippings tea. Creating a grass clippings tea is very simple and will be very beneficial to your plants.You will need

• A bucket with a lid
• A pile of freshly mowed grass
• A pillowcase or cheesecloth
• A rock or a brick
• Watering can

Place the grass clippings into the pillowcase with the rock and dunk into a bucket of water. Place the lid on the bucket and let sit for three or four weeks, stirring occasionally. Pour liquid into a watering can and spray directly on plants or soil.

Bokashi tea

Bokashi tea is made from the liquid created in a bokashi fermenting system. Bokashi is a form of composting, that uses microbes to break down food products. In this form of composting, water content is sucked out of the foods and drains to the bottom of the bucket.What you will need:

• A bokashi bucket
• Bokashi bran
• A cup
• A watering can

Every two or three days empty any bokashi liquid into a cup or small bucket. Dilute with water to a ratio of about 1:1000 and pour directly onto soil.

Compost tea

And the last of our 5 homemade organic fertiliser teas is a compost tea. Compost tea is created with just two ingredients, water and homemade compost.What you will need:

• a bucket with lid
• Two handfuls of homemade compost
• A strainer
• A watering can

To create the compost tea, add two handfuls of aged homemade compost into a bucket of water. If you don't have your own homemade compost, you can buy this from your local nursery. Place a lid on the compost tea and let sit for about a week or two, stirring every couple of days. Strain liquid into a watering can or a second bucket and return remaining solid compost back to your compost pile or place directly on to your soil. Apply the liquid to the soil or to the foliage of the plants.I hope you go out and try to make at least one or two of these 5 homemade organic liquid fertiliser teas for use in your garden. Liquid fertilisers are really easy to make and very cost-effective. Good luck with your teas and good luck in the garden.