Algae, a natural fertilizer for plants
When the sea washes up seaweed, many gardeners and growers collect it to make a natural fertilizer used by everything from vegetables and flowers, to herbs and fruit trees.
Seaweeds contain a range of nutrients, trace elements, carbohydrates and natural growth stimulants such as cytokinins, auxins and amino acids, which strengthen and strengthen plants.
The valuable ingredients that algae contain in gardening to improve the soil, stimulate our plants and help them cope with adverse conditions.
In addition to the seaweed we collect from the sea, in agricultural stores we find organic preparations with seaweed as the main raw material.
There are solid kelp fertilizers that we apply to the soil, as well as liquid kelp fertilizers for root watering and foliar kelp fertilizers for leaf spraying.
As we see in detail what uses seaweed has for plant care and how we can make our own fertilizer and seaweed extract to use in the garden. What are the uses of seaweed in plant care?
Algae is an excellent natural ecological material, suitable for organic farming that helps plants and crops in the following ways:
- Algae are a natural tonic and organic fertilizer for plants
We use algae on plants as an effective biological fertilizer, as they enhance the growth and propagation of the root system in the initial stages of cultivation. In addition, they offer a multitude of useful nutrients to plants.
- Seaweed improves the soil before planting
We apply algae as an ecological soil improvement material together with other natural materials such as manure, compost, peat to enrich the soil with nutrients, as well as to improve aeration and drainage.
- Algae strengthen plants and protect them in difficult conditions
Algae for the protection of plants when they suffer from frost, heat, wind while contributing to the improvement of plants’ resistance against attacks by insects and diseases.
- Algae are an excellent fruit set biostimulator
During flowering, we spray the foliage and flowers of the plants to improve the fruit set of horticultural and fruit trees as well as to improve the quality and taste of the fruits.
- Algae accelerates seed germination
Before planting the seeds of vegetables and ornamental plants in a nursery, we can keep them for 24 hours in a wet cloth soaked in seaweed extract to improve and accelerate the germination of the seeds.
How do we make seaweed fertilizer and liquid seaweed extract?
In order to make use of the algae washed up by the sea during the winter and use them for our garden plants, we follow the following procedure:
We collect the seaweed from the beach that the sea has taken out in early spring.
Rinse the seaweed several times to remove the salts. Alternatively, we can leave them on rainy days in a space for the rain to wash away.
We chop the seaweed and keep it for 2-3 months in a year of composting, stirring every week and let it ferment.
After fermentation is complete, we will make our own seaweed compost and can be incorporated into the soil for soil improvement or used as organic fertilizer.
In addition, we can make algae extract to stimulate our plants by watering or spraying.
a) Algae as a natural fertilizer and soil conditioner: Before we plant, we incorporate the fermentation product of the algae into the garden as a soil conditioner along with any leftover compost or manure we have. During cultivation, we add the product of algae fermentation as a biological fertilizer to horticultural, aromatic plants, ornamental plants and fruit trees.
b) Liquid fertilizer from seaweed extract: We can make liquid fertilizer from seaweed to water or spray our plants by dissolving 1 kg of seaweed fermentation product in 20 liters of water.
We leave the medicine for 48 hours and then it is ready to use by spraying or watering our garden plants.
And a secret about algae in gardening
In potato crops, if we dip the potato tubers, i.e. the potato seed, before planting it in a seaweed extract medicine, we achieve stimulation, improvement and acceleration of bud sprouting.
Read hundreds of articles that will answer any question about #green-masters by clicking here.