Findingnatural sources of nitrogenfor your garden is an easy thing to do. After years of failed gardening attempts, I sent a soil test to my closest testing lab. It turned out that I was in need of nitrogen! Since I wanted to keep my gardens organic, I found 10 ways to add a natural source of nitrogen for plants usingorganic materialonly.
Table of contents
How to addnatural sources of nitrogento your backyard garden in 10 easy ways everygrowing season.
The best decision I ever made was sending a soil test to theUF Extension Soil Testing Lab. Receiving a complete soil test to find the levels of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) in your growing soil is crucial for the longevity of the soil and to grow healthy crops.
I had such ahard timegrowing edible crops. Once I learned that my gardens needed a nitrogen boost, myplant growthtook off!
Whether you’re a beginning gardener or a seasoned gardener, your soil needs fertilizing. And if you’re planning to garden for the long haul then it’s best to utilizeorganic nutrients.
Nitrogen fixationand why nitrogen is important
“The act of breaking apart the two atoms in a nitrogen molecule is called “nitrogen fixation”. Plants get the nitrogen that they need from the soil, where it has already been fixed by bacteria and archaea.”
–Dr. Christopher S. Baird
Nitrogen deficiency in plants decreases photosynthesis, affecting the plant’s productivity. Plants also need nitrogen to produce chlorophyll, the basis of photosynthesis.
I am still learning to understand this whole process and instead of acting like I know everything, pleasevisit this great linkto read more about this process. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“There are many ways that nature gets nitrogen into the soil. Lightning strikes, rainfall, cut greens, fresh poop, fallen ripe fruit, all help. Most of all, there are soil bacteria which can transformatmospheric nitrogeninto fixed nitrogen: inorganic compounds that are usable by plants.”
–Diane Cynthis Beelerof Finch Frolic Garden Permaculture
What I can say, with confidence, is I do know that we don’t needchemical fertilizersfor thehealth of your plants. The air and soil have asymbiotic relationshipthat existed long before humans planted a garden, and nitrogen plays avital rolein that relationship. And if we don’t nurture that relationship, it will only take more work and more money to grow organic crops.
Golf courses, for example, are an unfortunate use of space. They will likely never be able to be reused fororganic growersdue to the high levels ofcommercial fertilizerand weed killer utilized to produce such beautiful green grass. So much chemical has been dumped on the ground and soaked up by the soil that the microorganisms that work so hard to providehealthy soilhave likely all been reduced to nothing.
Nitrogen deficiency in plants
Before we move on, it’s important to note that some soil might have toomuch nitrogen. So just because mine was deficient in theamount of nitrogen, it doesn’t mean yours is.
Consider purchasing asoil test kitto figure out exactly what yourNPK ratiois, and what yourgarden bedsneed, for thebest results. Also, learn thesigns of a nitrogen deficiencyingarden plants. You don’t have to see theplant rootsto know if you havehealthy plants.
Healthy,green plantsare what you often want in your garden. The topsigns of a nitrogen deficiencyare:
- Slow growth (small leaves when they should be larger)
- Excessive leaf drop
- Yellow leaves
- And, in my case, low yields
Alternatively, you can have toomuch nitrogen, as well. For example, if you have a healthy balance of nitrogen and still add nitrogen to your gardens.The signs of an over-abundance of nitrogen (over-fertilization) are:
- Actively/rapidly growing plants producing little-to-no fruit/vegetable production or flower formation
- “Burnt” leaves (brown, gray or yellow)
- Cupped leaves, or even abnormally thick leaves
- Wilted plants that might even die from nitrogen shock
Enough of sad stuff, though. Let’s finally move on to how you can incorporateorganic nitrogen sourcesto feed yourvegetable plantsthis season.
Bone meal and blood meal
Bone mealandblood mealare great, natural ways to meet yournitrogen needsand also add phosphorus source to yourgarden beds. You can buy bags of organic bone andblood mealat mostgarden centers.
You can also make your own bone and blood meals. I plan to use this recipe by Salt in My Coffee called “How to Make Bone Meal”.
Recently I read aboutfeather meal, which is made from poultry feathers by grinding and drying them. The internet claims thatfeather mealisslow release, as opposed toblood mealwhich is a fast-release source oforganic nitrogen fertilizer. Both are thought to havehigh nitrogen levelsand a good option fororganic soils. The jury is out on whetherfeather mealprovides nitrogen in ausable form, though.
Always do your research before incorporating practices on your homestead, folks.
Planting beans
Did you know different crops give and take certain things to and from the soil it’s planted in? Utilizing acrop rotationofnitrogen-fixing plantsis one of the best ways to addessential nutrientsand yield ahealthy soil.
Byplantingbeans, the crop will act as ahost plantand addsmall amountsof theirown nitrogento the crops around them. This makes beans a great planting companion for strong nitrogen feeders such as broccoli or cabbage. And you can utilize theplant materialin yourcompost pileat the end of the season.
Once I started learning and reading about gardening I just thought that was the coolest thing! That’s why companion gardening is so important and can boost your gardening game BIG TIME.
I’ve enjoyed companion gardening in eachprevious yearI’ve practiced, and feel like it’s abest choiceandbest practicefor every home garden.
Cover crops
Incorporating into your routine garden planting planning can be one of the most beneficial ways to add agood source of nitrogen, naturally.
Plantingcover cropsis an age old gardening practice. As early as the 1900s, vineyards usedcover cropsto add nitrogen, improve water penetration by promotinghealthy soilaeration and reduce erosion. These are all reasons to utilize them in our home gardens, too!
If you fightsandy soils,cover cropsare a great way to create nutrient-rich soil by tilling the crop back into the soil after the season was over.
Or if you’re a no-till type of gardener, let the cover crop grow and complete its season and compost in place. This increases the presence oforganic matterand improves soil fertility. Hot tip: it’s even healthy to do this withgrass clippings! Not allcrop residuesare bad to leave.
Cover cropscan also help fight weeds, and are still often used in orchards to act as a weed barrier and prevent erosion around fruit trees, thus promoting hydration for the crop.
If you have livestock, consider growingcover cropssuch as cow beans, wheat, field peas or clover. Radishes can even be planted as a cover crop! If you have thesquare feetto spare, plant these crops early enough in the season so your livestock (cows, goats, etc.) can graze on fresh,leafy vegetablesand grains before thesoil temperaturesdrop.
I think the versatility of a cover crop is vastly under-appreciated.
Coffee grounds
If your house is like my house then you also have an abundance ofcoffee grounds!Coffee groundscan be a great addition to yournitrogen cycle.
Coffee groundsdon’t immediately add nitrogen to your soil, though. Instead, they slowly break down addingorganic matterand nitrogen to your soil slowly.
Although addingorganic matterto your soil can help with drainage, aeration, and water retention sometimes compostingcoffee groundscan be a better use of the source.
You can mixcoffee groundsdirectly into the soil when planting orcompostthem – gardener’s choice.
Leaves for mulch
Leaves also act as agood source of nitrogenfor plants, provide aeration and can be used for mulch! Mulching is great because it helps withsurface waterretention, keeping your soil cool, prolonging the life of your soil and so much more.
It’s easy to deal with mulch when you’ve used leaves because at the end of the season, you can just mix the leaves into the soil! Presto! Agood nitrogen sourceANDorganic matter, all at once.
I once tried mulching with this stuff called “EZ Mulch”. I will NEVER do it again because I’m pretty sure there’s some type of chemical on that stuff. It was slimy when wet, got very matted and didn’t let plants grow through and just caused issues.
10/10 do not recommend.
Compost tea
If you’re already composting, then this one is easy. Soak a bucket full of compost in water and strain the liquid (the tea) to utilize as a liquid fertilizer. No specialwater suppliesrequired!
Compost teas are most often a concentrated liquid, so you will likely want to dilute it before adding it to your gardens.
Agedchicken manure
I know I already mentioned Salt in my Coffee but I’m going to do it again. Anna wrote a great article about the Deep Litter Composting Method called “Chicken ManureCompost in 18 days”.
Chicken manureis atype of manurethat containshigh levels of nitrogen. It can be one of the best and most natural sources you can find. You do have to let it age because it can “burn” your plants if you don’t. That’s when Anna’s method comes in handy.
Out of all theanimal manureI have dealt with so far,poultry manurehas been the highest in nitrogen. It was agood thingI read about it prior to utilizing it. I had big plans to add the manure to my gardens and it would’ve fried them completely.
Fish emulsion
You can buyliquidfish emulsionorfish mealat your local Tractor Supply or garden stores. Due to its superior levels of nitrogen, you’ll want to dilute it so you avoid burning your crops. The Spruce has agreat guide on making your own organicfish emulsionfertilizerand what to look for.
I useSUPERthrivein my gardens as aplant nutrientand find it starts working in a veryshort time. SUPERthrive is a very strongfish emulsionfertilizer, packed withamino acids, sure to boost your edibles. I’ve used this liquid fertilizer on mycut and come againvegetable gardens. It would be a great addition to anyvictory garden.
Rabbit manure
Getting access to rabbit manure might be a little tricky if you don’t have rabbits. If you know someone who does have rabbits, though, it could be easy and free!
Unlikechicken manure, rabbit manure can be added right to the gardens since it isn’t hot. If you add the manure directly to your gardens, it will act as aslow releaseorganic fertilizer. Additionally, it’ll assist in supporting theroots of the plantall season by adding justenough nitrogen.
Adding nitrogen to your backyard gardens in 10 natural ways
There are loads of other ways to addnitrogen-rich fertilizersto your gardens in anatural form. Thegood newsis that these natural sources of nitrogenare easily accessible. And they won’t waste loads of fossil fuels getting to your backyard.
And if for some reason you don’t have access to these specific options, don’t worry. There are other more out-of-the-box options likehuman urine(not kidding). Urine is ahigh-nitrogen fertilizer, but thebest wayto use it is heavily diluted. Talk aboutorganic fertilizers!
If you are still purchase fertilizer from the store, it’s always a good idea to find an organic fertilizer. And remember, thefirst numberalways represents the nitrogen ratio (NPK).
No matter whatmethod of gardeningyou’re using, these nitrogen sources can be used to boostplant growthall season. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, tips, tricks or what have you. I’d love to hear it!
