liquid vegetarian fertilizer?

I am forever on a quest for a pre-formulated liquid, balanced, vegetarian fertilizer--something like a 4-4-2. I have a good source for a vegetarian fertilizer that meets all of these criteria except the liquid part, but I really need a liquid for feeding my seedlings. I have been a vegetarian for 20 years, but I usually end up caving and buying some fish emulsion. (And then I have to deal with bad karma guilt every time I feed my plants....) I know I could make alfalfa tea or compost tea, but I really haven't liked the results I have had with these with seedlings. I thought I would try, once again, in a new forum, in the hopes that someone might know of the miracle product that is out there somewhere?

You might check out Terracycle--they make a line of liquid organic fertilizers. I'm not sure what all the ingredients are though so you'll have to do some homework on that. I know they use worm castings, but worms aren't technically animals and they aren't killed in the process, all they do is collect their castings, so I figured you might be OK with that. But there may be other ingredients, I've never looked that closely.

Also, if it makes you feel better about the fish emulsion, I doubt that any fish are dying just to make fertilizer--I have a feeling they use the parts of fish that are leftover from other stuff.

I'm trying worm castings now. I've had great success in the past with castings on house plants. However, they don't have the N-P-K ratio your writing of. I'm also trying Mollases, Liquid Compost, Seaweed and Liquidfied fish. I agree w/ ecrane that the fish is probally a by product of the fishing industry. I'm not sure if that puts you at ease or not.

That's why I'm not sure what else is in Terracycle's products--they call themselves a fertilizer, and in my mind worm casting tea isn't fertilizer, it's more like compost where you're adding organic matter to the soil and maybe a small amt of N/P/K and other nutrients but not enough to take the place of fertilizer. So I suspect they have something else in there too, but I don't know what it is since I've never really looked into it.

Thanks for your suggestions! I've been trying the "byproduct" argument on myself--it's the same one I use to justify leather shoes, but at the end of the day it is really just a mind game to make me feel better-- someone is profiting of off the suffering of a sentient being, and I am participating in that. I think that worms are animals, technically, but as you say, they aren't harmed in the creation of the castings.

I had never heard of Terracycle I looked up their website (http://www.terracycle.net/plant_food.htm, in case anyone else is interested)and it appears that their products are entirely worm castings in various forms, made local landfill ingredients fed to their worms and packaged in recycled plastic soda bottles. They claim to a a zero-to negative environmental footprint. They say their garden product ranges from 2-2-1 to 2-1-1.

Like ecrane3 notes, this is a bit low for "fertilizer", but for seedlings I think it may work very well. I can mix the solid fertilizer into the ground at planting time.
Definitely worth a try! Thanks!

I'd always figured they put something else in there...I'm a little disappointed at how they're marketing their product if all it is is worm tea. If you'd like to save yourself some money, you can make your own worm casting tea. I have a worm tea brewing system that I bought from www.soilsoup.com but you could easily make your own setup as well if you don't want to buy their kit. All you need is a tub/bucket, a pump to keep things mixing, some worm castings, and some molasses. You can buy worm castings, or if you want to do it all yourself you can buy worm bin kits and generate your own castings that way.

Do you think that buying worm castings are much cheaper than buying the tea? (I've never bought either) I am definitely not going the worm farm route. I have enough going on right now with 3 foster cats!

Thanks for the link, too!

I think buying the castings is cheaper. I saw the worm tea stuff at a local big box store and it looked like it was really diluted. With the castings I bought a 5lb bag for like $3.00. The casting tea was like $7.00.

That's a big difference! Probably worth the mess I'll make! (there's a reason for my user name....) Thanks for the great info, all of you!

Making your own is definitely cheaper--there's some initial cost for the bucket/tub and pump if you don't have one, but if I buy $10 or $ 20 worth of molasses and worm castings, I can make probably 100 gallons or so of worm tea. Plus from what I understand, the fresher the tea is the better it is for your garden--I know the instructions that came with my Soil Soup maker you're supposed to use it fairly quickly once you stop mixing it, otherwise anaerobic bacteria start to grow which are stinky and not as good for your garden as the ones that grow under aerobic conditions while you're mixing/brewing. So anything you buy that's been in a bottle for a while has probably lost a bunch of the beneficial microoragansims.

interesting. i'm a vegetarian, but i don't worry about it when feeding cats or plants - only when feeding me!
i just dropped in because the thread title was amusing to my twisted mind...

amy
*

I topped dressed with worm castings and then fed with liquid molasses.

Amethystsm--I figure my cats are carnivores, but my plants (I hope....) are not!

point taken.
i was just amused at the image of fertilizing vegetarians. growing a new crop of them? encouraging the current ones to higher (re)production? or just making them healthier?

amy
*

I'm sure my carnivorous husband trembles at the thought of any plan to create more or even better, stronger vegetarians!

mwhahahaha!
Today the garden - tomorrow - the WORLD!

They have it at Home Depot. It fits on your garden hose so the correct amount is mixed with the water.I got mine in the back section where they have just the fertilizers (small bags)and pots etc. I was there Sun and they were putting it where they used to have the hoses.My son had gone fishing and I noticed he had left the head and parts from scaling his fish and I said you need to throw that away.But later they were still there so I cut them up and put them in the soil where I have something for winter planted.Probably would never have done it but had just gotten some plants from Home Depot to plant, as I normally use the liquid fish emulsion.So will see if it is better. Deanna

Hi. I was vegan when I found this liquid fertilizer, though it is a home made one. You have to have some comfrey, as it works best, but alfalfa hay may work too, as it is high in protein (read that as high in Nitrogen). Take comfrey leaves and stuff them into a 5 gallon bucket, as full as you can and still get the lid on tight. Then sit it in the shade for a month. Wait. Then open it up (keep your head back!) and decant the black, ammonia smelling liquid. Store in another bucket, and it keeps well for months (what could grow in it?). I use 1-2 oz per gallon of water, and wow, great stuff, better than fish. Need an iron enhanced liquid fertilizer? Just add som stinging nettles (Urtica dioica), about 15-20% of mix. Comfrey is really easy to grow, just cut up roots and place in seedling tray, covering them with mix or soil. Each little piece will grow into a plant. Put them where you plan on never gardening again, as they are tenacious once established (they don't "run" with rhizomes, so they tend to stay where you plant them...one guy built up his comfrey planting by running his rear mount tiller over his small patch and for 15 feet further. Result: an extra 15 x 6 foot comfrey bed!) Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions about it.

Can't vouch for it, but after reading it I think it's on this years "try" list :)

http://homeharvest.com/seaweed.htm

brambledad,

Yes, I've heard of stinging nettles being used in teas before. I used to have a book on organic gardening that prescribed that method. Only it was combined with compost.

Hi
This will be my last post for today....
I used nettle tea (a very strong brew) to correct iron deficit in some of our blueberries (these were potted nursery plants; the plants in the ground have never had this problem). They were gallon sized plants, and I gave them three "treatments" over a weeks time, and they were completely dark green by the time I was finished. They had been golden yellow, and I thought, "Boy, that's it for them". A commercial nursery grower told me to use a chemical iron with sulfur, but the nettle super brew did the trick. Definitely more involved, but absolutely natural, and no way to "burn" the plants. Plus, you can sip it while you work! (a little honey and ice and away you go)

I didn't relize you could drink the stuff! Thanks, for posting the information.

Wow, bramble, I may try that comfrey idea - you just pack the green leaves into a bucket? That is, the fresh "hay." ? No water?

I have tried the alfalfa "tea"--is comfrey higher in nitrogen? What would be the benefit of using it over alfalfa? I am in the alfalfa capital of the world (well, at least everyone with a spare acre seems to grow it...) but I don't see much anyone growing comfrey...Also isn't alfalfa tea mostly nitogen and not much else?

OK,
Just wanna make sure this is clear: nettle tea OK to drink; fermented Comfrey, do not drink . I once ate some ants I wasn't supposed to in Ecuador (well, the wrong kind, the name only differed by one letter), and we organic gardeners use lots of teas, so be careful out there.

Yes, CompostR, all the green leaves and stems go right in the bucket, stuffed full (use your boot to really pack it in). As a man, I don't drink too much nettle tea, as it is loaded with iron. Since I gave up cage fighting, I don't need to replenish my iron as frequently now ;) .

Yes, mudpiegirl, alfalfa does have a lot of protein (usually 18%), which translates to nitrogen. But comfrey and alfalfa also both have a wide nutrient spectrum. Alfalfa is an arabic word (Al Falfa is the arabic word) that means something like "king of forage". It has a really deep tap root, in good soils going down over 50 feet (that is the root threads, most of the roots are in the upper soils). Alfalfa is such a good feed because it has a great mineral profile (due to its deep roots bringing up subsoil minerals), much like (but not as complete as) kelp.
Comfrey seems to me to be a more balanced tea than alfalfa makes, and it doesn't mold or go bad for a long while. Comfrey tea is also fermented, which introduces some interesting compounds that traditional "steeping" teas don't have. Nobody grows alfalfa near us (just Monsanto corn and...oh yes, Monsanto corn), and I just sort of started out with this ancinet patch of comfrey my wife planted when she was 11. If you have access to fresh alfalfa, try the bucket method and let me know what happens. We are the Dream Makers.

Greetings, all --

I'm glad I noticed this thread because I keep reading about using comfrey both as a tea/leach and as a great addition to the compost pile. I was going to ask if anyone was using comfrey and/or growing their own for the garden, but I guess I already have the answer!

Another thing to add to this year's list:
Comfrey patch

Liane

Thanks bramble! Yeah, we women cage fighters need a lot of iron - ha ha

Hey, brambledad, thanks for the etymology lesson. I love that stuff almost as much as dirt and bugs. Thanks for clearing up the difference btwn comfrey and alfalfa, too. Alfalfa tea does get nasty fast, at least around here in the summer.

And by the way, mudpiegirl, those worms are not only not harmed, they are absolutely spoiled rotten!!! All mine had to do was eat and poop. (Of course, that's all my ex did, too... got rid of him, kept the worms...)

This message was edited May 5, 2008 10:39 AM

I've heard for years that comfrey was the miracle brew for gardens but could never find any. This year I finally did find some roots from horizonherbs.com, which I have planted in pots (for lack of space to plants them, I've heard they can really take over) and they are growing really well. Thank you for all this helpful info on how to "brew" it.

I ordered a comfrey plant from Richter's about 4 years ago -- it consisted of a leaf and a little root. It now fills a 24" diameter pot and is absolutely gorgeous. The hummingbirds love the flowers, and it's beginning to bloom now. I don't know how many times I've read the dead leaves make the best compost in the world.

Mine has is forming flowerbuds right now, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Do you know if they self-sow? I love that the hummingbirds love them. I wonder if they are good for beneficial insects and butterflies as well.

I don't know whether they self-sow but I wouldn't be surprised. I do know they spread from the roots, and the butterflies in my yard can't seem to get enough.

I use comfrey/nettles tea as a plant fertilizer often. Chamomile tea as a damping off preventative for seedlings too. I have regular (officinale) comfrey, Russian comfrey, dwarf comfrey with white flowers, yellow flowered comfrey, raspberry flowered comfrey and now a golden leafed comfrey. I also make a great skin salve with comfrey leaf and calendula flowers. Comfrey is a good thing.