Homemade fertilizer experiment

[Chic Rustler]

They say necessity is the mother of invention. Just so happens i need some fertilizer for the garden. I have been doing alot of reading and found people making home made fish emulsion, compost tea, etc. So i was looking at the garden and looking at the rabbit hutch and i thought why not make some manure emulsion?

So i scooped enough rabbit manure to fill half a bucket, wet it down and squished it up with a hoe. Then i filled the bucket with water and stirred it up. I pit the lid on it and i plan on letting it sit for a couple days before using it.

Im not sure how its going to work out or even how much i want to use. Im thinking ill start out diluting it and seeing how the plants react.

Anyone with experience with this type of thing feel free to chime in. Id love to hear what u guys have to say on the subject

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I bet it'll work great!

 

[sumi]

I think so too.

I've made compost tea before with comfrey leaves and the plants loved it. Manure always went on the compost heaps, so I'm curious to hear how this turns out. Please let us know!

 

[Chic Rustler]

Will do. This time im going to take the less is more approach. When i broke ground on the garden i tilled in ALOT of manure. The areas where no seeds sprouted were where the manure was the heaviest. Too much of a good thing i guess

 

[sumi]

Some vegetables like a heavy feed. I remember our pumpkins thriving in the compost heap, for example.

If you ever overdo it with manure and made the soil/compost to acid, you can neutralise it VERY quickly with some wood ashes. Chicken and pig manure is very acid, so go easy on those two if you use it. Pig manure is garden gold though, once it's aged enough. We used to let it age for a year.

 

[Chic Rustler]

We use alot of chicken manure in compost. I may burn some wood or buy ag lime

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I often make "weed tea". Put those weeds in a bucket. fill with water and let it sit till it smells... putrid. then, dilute, and pour onto your plants. Water from the bottom of an aquarium is incredible as a fertilizer.

 

[lcertuche]

I remember one year I got a lot of old cow manure and put it in an old pillow case. I sat it in a big tub of water and let it set until it was dark brown. I just dipped it out and poured it around my plants. My plants produced better with little disease or insect damage. I also mulched deeply with shredded leaves and cardboard. The chickens ran in the garden all winter. I guess I can't say for sure what really helped but I suspect it was all of above. I think anything could be used for this. I've heard good things about comfrey tea but rabbit poo should be fine and I wouldn't think you would need to worry about it being too hot.

 

[Chic Rustler]

I kinda want a leave shredder. I think it would be a great layer of mulch with the wood chips.


Well i checked the buckets today and im pretty sure they were already ready. The water was pretty dark, like chocolate. So i used one bucket. Let me tell ya, its not for those with a weak stomach! It was raw sewage.


So after skimming it i ended up with about a gallon (3 gallon bucket) of liquid. I then diluted that with a couple gallons of water and gave each plant 1/2-3/4 cup of the diluted solution. After that i diluted the remaining gallon again and used that for the pole beans. About 1/2 a cup.
I then gave the garden a heavy watering just before dark.

I kinda wonder if i should have diluted it much more. I guess we will see in the next couple days.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I have high hopes it'll be just fine!