Content
Every gardener understands perfectly well that on depleted, depleted soils, good yields of garden and vegetable crops cannot be obtained. In the old days, our ancestors used only organic feeding. Many farmers are not going to give them up even today.
With the development of chemistry, mineral fertilizers appeared that improve the structure of the soil and have a beneficial effect on the development of plants. One of the little-known fertilizers is blood meal, a substance of organic origin. Its properties and significance for the garden and vegetable garden will be discussed in the article.
Description and composition
Blood meal belongs to the group of organic fertilizers. Russians still rarely use it on their personal plots. Fertilizer is not a product of the chemical industry, which increases its value.
Flour is a by-product of animal processing. Blood is collected at the slaughterhouse, from which they then produce high-quality fertilizing with a high nitrogen content for growing plants. Fertilizer is sold in specialized stores. Some gardeners prepare top dressing on their own.
How is fertilizer obtained
To obtain Blood meal, as fertilizer, the blood of farm animals and poultry is used.
Processing stages:
- During the slaughter of animals, blood is collected in special containers and thoroughly mixed so that clots do not form.
- Liquid blood is pumped into a vibroextractor, in which coagulation occurs - complete removal of moisture. This procedure is carried out with live steam.
- After that, the dehydrated semi-finished product is transferred to a dryer, which consists of three compartments. After a certain time, the finished fertilizer comes out.
In addition to blood itself, the fertilizer contains:
- bone semi-finished products;
- fibrin;
- protein;
- lysine;
- fat;
- methionine;
- cystine;
- ash.
This fertilizer does not contain phosphorus and potassium, which sometimes makes it difficult to use.
Ready blood meal is a free-flowing granular substance with a specific odor.
Characteristics
The main purpose of the fertilizer Blood meal, judging by the description, is the rapid saturation of the soil with nitrogen for the successful growth of plants at certain points of the growing season. Like any product, it can have positive and negative points. Let's consider these issues in more detail.
Benefits
So, what does the use of Blood meal give:
- the composition of the soil improves, acidity decreases;
- plants grown in soil grow faster, gain green mass;
- greenery on plants becomes bright and healthy due to nitrogen absorption (yellow spots disappear);
- the yield of garden and horticultural crops increases;
- the soil becomes more nutritious, its fertility increases;
- the unpleasant odor repels many pests, including rodents.
disadvantages
Despite the fact that this is an organic fertilizer, it has negative aspects that gardeners must know about:
- reduces the amount of phosphorus and potassium in the soil;
- application requires the strictest dosage, excess leads to plant burns;
- reduces acidity, therefore it is recommended for highly acidic soils;
- limited shelf life, after six months in an open package, practically no useful properties remain.
Application features
Gardeners who first encounter blood meal as a fertilizer are interested in how to apply it to plants. This is not an idle question as organic matter is not recommended for all soils. In addition, application errors lead to negative results.
It is best, of course, to conduct laboratory research. But this is not always possible for owners of personal subsidiary plots and summer residents. After all, the procedure is not only expensive. The reason is that not every district, let alone a village, has specialized establishments. Therefore, you need to know the folk methods using scrap materials.
Determination of acidity
Our ancestors, without any special agrotechnical knowledge, grew rich crops on different soils. They knew how to distinguish between acidic and neutral (alkaline) soils with improvised means and by observing plants:
- Gardeners and gardeners have long noticed that not the same plants grow on different soils. Therefore, to determine acidity, we were guided by the presence of various weeds... For example, woodlice grass, horsetail, plantain, creeping buttercup and other plants are lovers of acidic soils. On neutral and alkaline soils, such weeds are in single copies and look depressing.
- Put a handful of earth and a little crushed chalk in a bottle, add water. Cover the container with your fingertip and shake well. If the fingertip is filled with air, then the soil is acidic.
- Currants and cherries are not only berry bushes, but also excellent indicators for determining the acidity of the soil. Grind the leaves and boil with boiling water. When the liquid has cooled down, fill up the soil. If the soil is neutral acidic, then the water will turn blue. Acidic soils color the liquid green.
- Mix the earth with water until a gruel is formed. Then add baking soda. If there is a hiss and bubbles, the soil is acidic.
Terms of use
Bone meal can be used in any form: dry and diluted. Moreover, one part of organic fertilizer is diluted in 50 parts of water. The resulting solution must be thoroughly mixed and left to infuse for several days.
The container with the solution must be covered with a lid so that nitrogen does not escape and insects do not enter. Water the plants at the root. This fertilization is especially important in early spring, when the seedlings can be damaged by rodents. After all, the unpleasant smell of blood scares them away, unlike dogs and cats.
Blood meal has a high nitrogen content (up to 13%), therefore, thanks to such feeding, plants increase their green mass, their growth is accelerated. But since plants need trace elements such as phosphorus and potassium, they have to add bone meal to the top dressing.
Since the saturation of plants with nitrogen occurs quickly, then blood meal can be used for a limited time. One or two dressings in the spring are enough, when the plants grow green mass and before budding begins.
If your soils are acidic, but you still decide to use this organic fertilizer to enhance plant growth, then first you need to lime the soil with fluff lime or dolomite flour.
Instructions
Blood meal is a versatile organic supplement not only for horticultural crops, but also for domestic plants.Due to the presence of a large amount of nitrogen, the structure of the soil improves, the vitality of plants increases, which leads to a good yield.
When working with fertilizer, you need to read the instructions, apply nitrogen fertilization in strict dosage. Here are some guidelines for dry fertilization:
- When planting seedlings of vegetable crops, only 1 tablespoon of blood meal is added to the hole. For flowers, the number increases by one and a half to two times.
- In large planting holes for garden trees and shrubs, for every 30 kg of soil, add 500 grams of blood meal and mix thoroughly.
- Under perennial flowers and shrubs 50-200 grams of substance.
- In the spring preparation of the ridges, 150 grams of organic fertilizer are applied per square meter.
- Add 200-500 grams of top dressing to the near-trunk circle of fruit trees and mix it with the soil.
- If you mix Blood and Bone meal in a ratio of 100 to 400 grams, then you get a complex top dressing, which can be applied under crops 3-4 times during the growing season from spring to autumn.
Often, blood meal is diluted in water. On a ten-liter bucket 500 grams of substance and insist from 5 to 10 days. This dressing is poured under the roots of the plants. Since nitrogen is quickly and easily absorbed by garden and horticultural crops, you should not overdo it with fertilizer. Moreover, one feeding is enough for 6-8 weeks, so the timing of plant nutrition must be observed.
Other organic fertilizers for the garden and vegetable garden:
