Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (2024)

“Gardening costs a lot of money.” You’ve probably heard this myth before or might even believe it yourself. Sometime in the past few decades, people started believing they had to make a significant investment to buy all of the fertilizer and supplies needed to plan a garden.

Yet simple activities such as making your own homemade plant food and composting can cut your costs significantly.

It removes the need for store-bought fertilizer. And a natural fertilizer will ensure your plants stay healthy and uncontaminated by unnatural products commonly found in mass-produced fertilizer.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (1)Pin

Try Homemade Food for Plants

Before you try any fertilizers on your whole garden, test it on a few plants first. Every soil, plant, and garden has different needs and deficiencies, and as a result, will react better to different types of fertilizer.

By testing out your homemade plant food first, you will be able to find which one works best for your situation.

If one of your gardening goals is to avoid chemicals you're in the right place. Use these seven easy natural fertilizer recipes to make your own homemade plant food and give your backyard garden that extra boost.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (2)Pin

These seven natural fertilizers represent just some of the total amount of fertilizers you can make at home or find for free. Cost should never be an excuse not to garden, so start getting creative and use these recipes to make your own ultimate plant food.

And before I forget, if you're looking for inexpensive planters, try making your own DIY planters for indoors or outdoors with these fun upcycling ideas!

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (3)Pin

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes

Make homemade plant food with these seven easy natural fertilizer recipes using ingredients you already have on hand.

1. Seaweed Tea

Don’t be scared by the title, you can still make this fertilizer even if you don’t live near the ocean.

Here's a quick look at how to make seaweed tea.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (4)Pin
  1. Collect any “marine weeds” in your area, including freshwater seaweed.
  2. Check your state or local guidelines to make sure foraging for seaweed has been permitted in your area. Depending on protected species and lands, there may be different regulations in your area.
  3. Walk along the shoreline of a local lake, pond, or ocean, and look for washed-up seaweed on the shore.
  4. Rinse off the seaweed to remove any dirt, bugs, or salt (if you have an ocean nearby).
  5. Chop the seaweed then submerge it in a bucket with a few gallons of water, enough to steep the seaweed for a few weeks.
  6. As the seaweed breaks down, the water absorbs most of the nutrients. After 3 - 4 weeks of steeping, strain out the seaweed and use the tea mixed with 50% regular water for your plants.

2. Epsom Salts, Baking Powder, and Ammonia

By combining some inexpensive and common household products, you can make a natural fertilizer that gives your plants all of the nutrients they need. And this is a great solution to try if you're trying to save money off the grid.

Epsom salt contains high levels of magnesium and sulfur, which plants need to create healthy foliage and absorb nutrients from the soil.

Baking soda helps plants bloom and protects them from fungal disease, while ammonia contains nitrogen to assist in growing a healthy root system.

These three simple ingredients conveniently contain most of the nutrients needed to grow a healthy plant, and you most likely have them in your homestead kitchen or around the house. If not, they cost just a few dollars and can be found at most grocery or superstores.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (5)Pin

Here's a quick recipe for using Epsom salts, baking soda, and ammonia homemade fertilizer.

  1. Use an old 1-gallon plastic jug or watering can to mix the natural fertilizer.
  2. Add 1.5 tablespoons of Epsom salt, 1.5 teaspoons of baking soda, and just under half a teaspoon of ammonia.
  3. Once you’ve added these to your empty jug, fill up the rest of the container with water.
  4. Shake well to mix. Let sit for 15 minutes or until all the ingredients have dissolved.
  5. Apply to your vegetable garden or houseplants.

3. Banana Peels

What makes bananas so healthy for us to eat? Potassium.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (6)Pin

Well, it turns out plants need potassium to grow just as much as we do. If you’re anything like our family, you probably go through quite a few bananas every week.

Save your banana peels (if you don’t already compost) and bury them in a hole a few inches below the surface next to plants like rose bushes or other plants that require high levels of potassium. You can even do this with overripe bananas if you don’t feel like making banana bread!

If you want to take it a step further, steep the bananas in water similar to the seaweed tea process. Once the mixture has steeped long enough, use the water AND the peels to add some natural fertilizer to your garden.

4. Animal Manure

The original and most effective natural fertilizer available: animal manure. Our ancestors have been using animal manure as a homemade (or animal made) plant food ever since humans began farming.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (7)Pin

It obviously comes with no cost, other than the cost of owning and feeding animals. But you would be paying for those costs anyway, people don’t own animals just to make compost!

Whether you raise chickens, cows, turkeys, rabbits, or other homesteading livestock, their manure will have awesome benefits for your garden.

Keep in mind, you need to dry and age the manure for about 6 months before adding it to your garden. Also, don’t use the waste from any household pets or meat-eating animals, as these may contain harmful parasites and bacteria.

To learn more about how to properly compost animal manure, check out North Dakota State’s free guide.

5. Aquarium Water

If you have an aquarium or fishbowl that you clean every few weeks, save the water to use in your garden. As you know, aquarium water will get cloudy, smelly, and dirty over time due to fish waste.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (8)Pin

This same waste is what makes aquarium water so good for your plants, adding natural fertilizer and nutrients to your soil. The aquarium water also has a high level of nitrogen, one of the most vital nutrients for healthy plants.

Before you try any of these fertilizers on your whole garden, test it on a few plants first. Every soil, plant, and garden has different needs and deficiencies, and as a result, will react better to different types of fertilizer. By testing out your homemade plant food first, you will be able to find which one works best for your situation.

6. Compost Tea

We've listed compost tea separately from regular compost because it can be used on its own, and gives apartment homesteaders an easy option if you have limited space. Here's how to make compost tea.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (9)Pin
  1. Simply keep a glass jar on your counter, or in a closet or cupboard.
  2. Fill the jar about ⅓ - ½ of the way with clean water.
  3. Whenever you have food scraps, like eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, or vegetable trimmings, crush them up and add them to the jar.
  4. Add more water as necessary, just make sure all the compost is covered.
  5. Once you’ve almost filled the jar, top it up with water and shake once daily for a week.
  6. Let it sit away from direct sunlight, and don’t put a tight-fitting lid on the jar. You don’t want it to explode by accident if fermentation occurs and you forget about it. If you see the liquid begin to ferment, add it to your garden before it ferments any further.

7. Homemade Compost

This one seems like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many people don’t bother composting.

Organic matter contains incredibly high amounts of nitrogen, potassium, and other essential nutrients needed in your garden. Save these nutrients rather than throwing them out. When you have food scraps or any organic waste, add it to your compost pile.

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (10)Pin

The nutrients found in expensive store-bought fertilizer will be similar (if not less) than the levels of nutrients in your own compost, so why would you pay for something you already have at home?

Make composting a family affair - learn more about composting with kids and get started today.

More Resources for Homemade Plant Food & Easy Natural Fertilizers

  1. University of Massachusetts: Fertilizing Flower Gardens Avoid Too Much Phosphorus
  2. North Dakota State: Composting Animal Manures Guide
  3. Michigan State University: Storing Manure
  4. Oregon State University: Here's the scoop on chemical and organic fertilizers

Looking for more information on gardening for beginners? Some of our most popular posts are about gardening.

When we moved off the grid to Canada's subarctic, we had to learn how to garden in a cold climate. And in an area with 20+ hours of sunlight each summer!

Between indoor gardening, using cold frames to extend our gardening season, and learning about permaculture, we're slowly growing more food.

More gardening posts you might like:

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (11)Pin
Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (12)Pin
Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (13)Pin

Like this post? Save it to your favorite Pinterest board for later!

Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (14)Pin
Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (15)Pin
Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (16)Pin
Homemade Plant Food: 7 Easy Natural Fertilizer Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the best homemade fertilizer to promote plant growth? ›

"A compost pile would be the natural fertilizer I would strongly recommend," says Kemper. To make compost, take all your scraps (like eggshells, fruit peels, and coffee grounds) and put them into a pile with leaves, sticks, and other organic debris.

How do you make easy plant food at home? ›

Coffee Grounds, Cinnamon and Club Soda

The combination of this homemade plant food contains NPK (plus other minerals) and takes no time to put together. You'll need four to six tablespoons of coffee grounds, one teaspoon of cinnamon and one cup of club soda.

How to make homemade Miracle-Gro? ›

  1. Fill a large container with 1 gallon of water.
  2. Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda and stir until it dissolves completely.
  3. Add 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt and stir until it dissolves completely.
  4. Add 1/2 teaspoon of household ammonia and go until it is well mixed.
  5. Your homemade Miracle Grow is now ready to use.
Mar 5, 2023

What liquid makes plants grow faster? ›

Do you know about the liquid gold or black gold of the gardening world? It is compost tea! Compost tea is praised as a magical elixir that allows plants to grow stronger and quicker.

What can I use if I don't have plant food? ›

DIY Flower Food Alternatives

Baking soda: Dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda into a vase of fresh water. Sugar: Dissolve 2 tablespoons of sugar in a vase of lukewarm water.

What are the 3 ingredients in plant food? ›

Most fertilizers contain three main nutrients: nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Each of these fertilizer ingredients provide your lawn with specific benefits that will help your lawn flourish.

Is vinegar good for plants? ›

Vinegar is a contact herbicide, which means it kills the part of the plant it comes into contact with. Systemic herbicides, on the other hand, are taken up by the plant's vascular system and delivered to roots, eventually killing the whole plant instead of just its top growth.

Can I mix Epsom salt and baking soda for plants? ›

Mix 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon clear ammonia and 1 teaspoon Epsom salt in a gallon of water. Mix well and give each plant about a quart of the solution. This solution will work as a fertilizer, the plants that are looking dull, and growing slowly will perk up, rejuvenate their growth and become lush green.

How do you make Epsom salt plant food? ›

Adding Epsom salt is a simple way to increase the health of their blooms, and is something that you can include easily as a part of a normal routine. For potted plants, simply dissolve two tablespoons of Epsom salt per gallon of water, and substitute this solution for normal watering once a month.

How do you make homemade fertilizer with Epsom salt? ›

Add one-and-a-half tablespoons of epsom salts, one-and-a-half teaspoons of baking soda, and a scant one-half teaspoon of household ammonia. Don't add any more than that. with ammonia, a little goes a long way. Fill the jug with plain tap water, put the lid back on, and swish it around to mix everything up.

What is the best homemade organic fertilizer? ›

15 Easy Organic Fertilizers to Make at Home
  • Fish Tank Water. ...
  • Wood Ash. ...
  • Compost Tea. ...
  • Liquid Seaweed. ...
  • Comfrey Tea. ...
  • Worm Tea/ Wee. ...
  • Poo Tea / Composted Animal Manure Fertilizer. Composted animal manure is great for feeding the garden. ...
  • Weed Tea Fertilizer. Weed tea is made just like comfrey tea.
May 30, 2021

What is the most used natural fertilizer? ›

1. Compost. Compost reigns supreme in the world of natural fertilizers. This nutrient-rich material is created by the decomposition of organic matter like food scraps, yard waste, and leaves.

What do farmers use for natural fertilizer? ›

Organic farmers can and do use composts of plant and animal materials and uncomposted plant materials are allowed under Federal NOP (National Organic Program) guidelines. Raw manure can be used, but must be applied at least 120 days prior to harvesting most crops.

How do you make homemade plant growth booster? ›

Quick how to: Add banana peels, coffee grounds, vegetable scraps, tea bags, and any other organic waste to a large, glass jar using a 1:10 ratio of compost to water. Mix in fresh or dried seaweed as an added nutritional bonus. Seal and shake the mixture once a day to agitate the tea.

What household ingredient helps plants grow? ›

Put pantry staples—like baking soda, vinegar and olive oil—to good use in your garden. These genius ideas will encourage growth, keep pests at bay and ensure your garden is the most beautiful one on the block.

What do farmers use to make plants grow faster? ›

For a healthy crop to grow, it needs fertilizer, heat, sunlight and moisture. Farmers take soil tests to see what nutrients their fields may be lacking. With these results, they are better able to apply precise amounts of fertilizer to their crop.

What is the richest natural fertilizer? ›

Worm Castings are the richest natural fertilizer known to humans. That's right: as little as a tablespoon of pure worm castings provides enough organic plant nutrients to feed a 6" potted plant for more than two months. Worm castings stimulate plant growth more than any other natural product on the market.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Tyson Zemlak

Last Updated:

Views: 6386

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (43 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Tyson Zemlak

Birthday: 1992-03-17

Address: Apt. 662 96191 Quigley Dam, Kubview, MA 42013

Phone: +441678032891

Job: Community-Services Orchestrator

Hobby: Coffee roasting, Calligraphy, Metalworking, Fashion, Vehicle restoration, Shopping, Photography

Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.