14 Organic Fertilizers and How to Use Them

Bone meal, bat guano, gypsum...what ARE all of these organic fertilizers and how do you actually know WHICH to use, and HOW to use them? Enjoy this long-overdue organic fertilizer breakdown video.
SPONSOR: Espoma Organic
Espoma Organic has been organic from the start and makes absolutely epic potting mixes, and organic fertilizers. They make awesome blended fertilizer mixes as well as single-ingredient bags for specific amendment goals: www.espoma.com/where-to-buy/
0:00 - Intro
0:40 - Alfalfa Meal
1:30 - Cottonseed Meal
2:31 - Bat Guano
3:37 - Kelp Meal
4:34 - Rock Phosphate
5:35 - Greensand
6:41 - Gypsum
7:47 - Garden Lime
8:57 - Blood and Bone Meal
10:15 - Cow Manure
11:05 - Chicken Manure
11:59 - Earthworm Castings
12:49 - Fish Emulsion
13:41 - Which to Use?
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[@GardeningInCanada]

As a soil scientist I am watching this in love. Everyone needs to care about their soil ❤️

[@bobrobertsNotUrBob]

as they say, a farmer farms plants, an organic farmer farms the soil. words to live by.

[@angelikaszabo1962]

Hey Ashley! Funny meeting you here! Lol!

[@Greenskies321]

I have a few Aquaponics setups and I use their waste in a compost tea and add to soil after. Best fertilizer method I’ve ever done so far

[@GardeningInCanada]

@@angelikaszabo1962 HAHAAH oh heyyyy

[@GardeningInCanada]

@@Greenskies321 I use my fish tank water for my house plant religiously

[@rachaelescober2736]

These are the ratios and some of the suggestions, if you just want to scroll. Alfalfa meal: 2-0-2 Spring suggestion Cottonseed: 6-2-1 Suggested for the fall, weed suppression Bat Guano: 10-3-1 Fast acting fertilizer, compost tea spray Kelp Meal: Many Trace minerals Rock phosphate: 0-3-0 Green Sand: Iron potassium silicate, helps bind sandy soil and loosen clay soil, and increase soil water hold Garden Gypsum: Need soil clay/salt heavy to be helpful Garden Lime: Raises ph in soil Blood Meal: 12-0-0 Fast acting and acidic Bone Meal: 4-12-0 Suggested for raised containers at the end of grow year Cow Manure: 2-1-3 Trusted source- moderate speed Chicken manure: 3-1-2 Hot, and can cause nutrient burn, compost a little bit. Earth worm casting: .5-.7-.1 Fish emulsion or bury a full fish: 2-4-0 Huzzaaahhh

[@icouldjustscream]

I like sheep poop outside and worm poop inside. I just realized how weird that sounds, but you all are my garden-family so you get it. ♥

[@firstorlast340]

Same. If my sheep were pooping inside I would be very unhappy.

[@mdmust4u]

@@firstorlast340 i dont think he meant it that way

[@firstorlast340]

@@mdmust4u I'll give you a hint. I don't have any sheep.

[@camerongeorge4246]

I thought that said warm poop inside 😂

[@MrFarva85]

Kevin it makes me so happy you and Mark are KZbin garden friends. I appreciate the knowledge and content you share.

[@scroogemcduck1462]

Mark is such a great guy

[@nolanlynch2430]

Yup, Kevin and Marc are awesome!

[@johnliberty3647]

@@scroogemcduck1462 The Steve Irwin of Plants?

[@saltycat662]

I love Mark and his dad jokes lol.

[@sarahdee374]

I'm always suspicious of the motivations when folks review sponsored products. BUT I love all Espoma products, and appreciate Kevin's guidance on use.

[@epicgardening]

This was more of a using their entire product line to educate type of approach I feel!

[@staceymoniz]

I love that you and Mark are cross promoting each other's channels now. Living in Hawai'i I can relate to both of you!

[@kimfleming8097]

I'm completely new to gardening, but I am growing vegetables in pots inside my apartment. I am learning so much from your videos. Always a confidence booster! Thanks

[@grannygct]

Thank you, Kevin, for your video on the various organic fertilizers. Every time I go to a nursery, I stand in front of the fertilizers shelf and not knowing which one to buy. Thanks to your video, I can now have some ideas on which one to buy. You just made me a more knowledgeable gardener in this department!!! Love and look forward to all of your videos. Happy Spring!

[@maureengaka12]

Thank you so much Kevin for constantly sharing endless amounts of information to help gardeners worldwide, keeps a lot of us motivated to grow our own food despite the challenges faced along the way!

[@CactusCaffeine]

This is so helpful! I go to a garden center and get overwhelmed with the variety of fertilizers that is available. This is a great start. 👍🏼😃

[@crystalroberts1777]

I took notes. I’m officially a garden nerd 🤣🤭

[@addie899]

I have bunnies and use bunny poop as a fertilizer. Works amazing! Doesn't need to be composted. I just toss in into the garden or bury it under an inch or so of dirt. My plants are super happy & have grown massive!

[@lisamelton8087]

I'll have to try that. I've heard that before. I have a free range rescued house rabbit that's litter box trained (and poops a LOT), so I'll use the "dry" poop to sprinkle on my new garden to grow his veggies. Completing the circle of life ☺🐇.

[@WhitepepperFarmshomestead]

It is mind blowing how much good information is in this one relatively short video. Awesome work!

[@rivkahlafille1031]

Fascinating! I use fish emulsion on everything in my garden, and I've rarely had any plants that didn't respond incredibly well to it, but unlike the rest of these fertilizers, you usually mix it with water then spray it on the leaves themselves. It's stinky but holy cow do I see tired plants start perking up in less than a day! I love love LOVE it!

[@nataliakurz543]

Kevin, this was so timely !!! I just applied a little bone meal and garden tone (I saw on your channel!) before I planted corn. Now I know maybe it wasn’t the smartest with the bone meal.... it’s my first yet gardening, and you have helped and inspired so much! Thank you!

[@KatarinaClaire]

Love this breakdown, Kevin! Super useful to have this quick analysis of the various garden amendments, their pros, cons and applications. This is going to become one of my go-to reference videos!

[@epicgardening]

Glad to hear this!

[@rhondadavis1483]

Mine too! Of course, I save most of Kevin’s (and Mark’s) videos! Thanks so much for all the explanations for the different uses. All of your videos are down to earth and easy to apply.

[@christimezzic8468]

This is my favorite video you’ve made. So informative and takes the guess work out of choosing fertilizers! Absolutely love your knowledge and that you share it!

[@netyote]

Thank you so much for this video! When I walk into a garden center, it can be overwhelming seeing all the different products on the shelves. There are so many options, and the numbers can get all mixed up in my head. Thank you for talking a little bit about each of these, and offering concrete examples of when or how you might want to use them.

[@SilverTopMom]

As a fairly new gardener, I am loving all of this information! Your videos are always so helpful, thank you so much Kevin!!

[@kittiew260]

So happy you posted this!

[@deecooper1567]

GM Kevin☕️☕️. Thank you for breaking all this down for me. I’ve been confused for years about everything that is out there now days... the when & how kinda info is most appropriated. Learn so much from you & Mark . There’s a couple other fav gardeners & I learn many things & techniques from all of you! Have a great day 🥬🍅🧤😻

[@lani1738]

Yasss! Finally a good video about fertilizers 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🥰

[@musaid9835]

I really needed a video like this, only know what two of them were for. Thanks!

[@SomewhatLazy]

I love Self Sufficient Me. I really enjoy it every time one of you mentions the other. Gardener Scott, Next Level Gardening and Gardenerd are also great.

[@sparkasaurusdonna]

YAY! This is exactly the video I needed because I'm getting my garden beds ready to plant this next week (we're going to be close to 35 degrees the next two nights)

[@L3fT0H4nD]

I appreciate you explaining each of these in one video for a good reference. Thanks Kevin!

[@chachadodds5860]

Great video, as always. Thanks, Kevin.

[@melissagoodwin2602]

Can you do a video on testing for ph and making adjustments in the soil

[@mwoods4608]

You can do like baking soda and vinegar or something I saw another video on KZbin

[@downtoearthdad7741]

As a chronic over-fertilizer I found the use cases very helpful. Thanks!

[@freakygardener8033]

I love ALL your videos! I also watch a guy that goes by "home grown veg" over in the UK. He collects sea weed each fall, chops it with his mower, and mulchs it over the winter. He said as long as you are NOT collecting for commercial use, just home use, you can take all you want!

[@downunderfulla6001]

Great descriptions of the amendments🍺🍺

[@rai55]

Here on Long Island, natives (ex: Matinecock) used bunker fish as fertilizer, among other things. I’m so excited (& honored) to try this native method, along with local sea leaves, for the first time this year 🐟🌱🙏🏾

[@DivaGardening]

Thank you for information

[@daved5023]

potassium, take wood ash, then strain it with water, take water to allow to dry in the pan. there you have raw potassium. POT ASH is derived from wood ash. or was, now it comes from rock. potassium carbonate.#epicgardening great video kevin

[@dodopson3211]

Is it in a form plants can instantly use or will it need bacterial help? Also cant you just skip the "allow to dry" step and use it to just water your plants?

[@terryeckmeier7027]

This is the perfect companion video to my Grow Bag Garden book.

[@KendraKat82]

Thank you for covering so many of the vegan friendly fertilizer options!!

[@rachael11]

This was interesting. I hadn't really planned on getting a soil test. I was just going to compost and mulch, but it's good to know there are specific amendments I could use if needed.

[@mariafolch8067]

Great topic!! And....thanks for the links under the description. It makes it so much easier to find the specific topic on the video. 👍👍🌾🌱

[@meriphiusfelamorr779]

This is my favorite channel. The information here is helpful and easy to understand. Worms are my favorite method of composting and bringing microbial life to the best quality

[@barbaramix1683]

I have recently tried seed from this grower. Seeds germinate reliably and often faster than stated on the package. I planted these seeds and had to thin them a lot. These are great seeds.

[@mitochondriac5946]

Another great little video by a bloody legend 🪴

[@MatthewFenton-hd6sj]

Thanks for such an informative video. really helps getting ready for summer.

[@janzebuski3559]

I always lean toward Espoma products. Thanks for going thru all the amendments- I really appreciated the explanations & indications for them! Much needed! Another great & timely video!

[@olivergarcia2459]

Thanks Kevin for all of the tips and the details. Hope to see more Fruit Tree videos, mostly a Fig Tree video. Hope you are feeling Great and keep on growing

[@FinznFowl82]

Great video, I like to use "Garden tone" which has a bunch of the good stuff combined. I also make my own fish emulsion by chopping up some fish, throwing it in a bucket of water with about a cup of brown sugar. Let it fester for about 2 months stirring occasionally and when the rotten smell starts to turn more earthy it's ready to use. I've got some left over from last year and just threw some fresh fish in a new bucket to have more ready when I run out.

[@camperspecial9666]

Excellent video especially for those that may be newer to gardening.

[@RebeccaMartinez-nh6je]

I use Cotton Burr Compost. The plants love it.

[@karengrice2303]

Thanks for explaining all of this. I am using worm tea and worm castings and I am making my own compost. My plants seem to be pretty healthy so far, but I am just establishing a new yard so we will see how it goes.

[@TheImperfectGardeners]

really enjoyed learning with you. and yes I did take notes. Thank you

[@Sparkysings2]

Kevin you didn’t bring up horse manure. I just got a big load for free. It is mixed with hay from the stalls. I’ll use it in the bottom of my new raised beds over the logs. Cover with cardboard so I don’t start growing a garden full of hay. Then top with soil, compost with amendments then mulch. I’m planning my own EPIC garden this year!

[@flatsville1]

Good, clear rundown on fertilizers & amendments.

[@chriswhitley3283]

I didn’t know that Epsom had expanded their line to all this. Very interesting. One of the things I like to do is mix all these together in some compost, then spread it over the garden. Then keep some for planting. The good thing about organics are they will adjust themselves to what the plants need as opposed to chemical fertilizers that will burn up your plants if you add to much. And with chemical fertilizer you better get used to reading those numbers and buying separate fertilizer for different plants.

[@holg3070]

Thank you thank you so much for clarifying this info. Your awesome!

[@hettygreen1488]

I appreciate you and these videos. Thank you.

[@BlackDogDesigns]

Thank you Kevin, great content👩🏼‍🌾

[@rdarrett3635]

This is what I needed to know. 👍🏾

[@sumaraahmad5567]

Thanks for making this comprehensive and easy to understand 💯

[@kimjapinga6550]

Thanks so much for this video. I didn’t really appreciate what the differences were for each fertilizer. This will be a great reference video.

[@rosannaburgess714]

Greetings! Thanks so much for your much needed help.

[@patriciacole8773]

I’m loving alfalfa pellets meant for horses as a side dressing fertilizer for all my plants. They thrive. And inexpensive.

[@richardkeener8988]

Kevin such a great video! It would have been nice for new gardeners to understand what the NPK actually reflects upon whether growing foilage or root growth or overall plant health! Thanks love your videos!

[@davidmjohnston169]

This video is very helpful thank you! I just bought some of espomas fertilizer and this video really answered what i was supposed to do with it.

[@clarencewilliamsiii4807]

Let’s go with the content!!!!! Nice info, thanks bud

[@tinam9844]

This was amazing information, thank you for sharing the knowledge. This will help me with my new raised beds I will be doing this year and years after.

[@nutritionfacts727]

Thank you so much foe this video!! Love love love explanation

[@Epiphalactic]

To anyone wondering,. Fish meal, blood meal, bone meal, alfalfa meal, kelp meal and most all organic products can be made yourself for a fraction of the cost of you're willing to put in a little effort. Things like oyster shell flour is usually sold in 5 lb boxes for 20 bucks. But you can buy a whole bag of oyster shell for chickens for about 15, and grind it yourself with an old blender or food processor. Alfalfa is sold in 50 lb bricks at feed shops and that same blender will work it to a meal quickly. Dehydrated and blended fish makes fish meal. Blood can be slowly simmered until it is a paste, spread on parchment paper and baked at a low temp till dry, then blended. Bones can be steamed in a pressure cooker then slow baked and ground for bone meal. Kelp can be harvested, dried, and powdered. Crab meal can be made by drying and blending crab shells. Chicken manure can be collected, dried and powdered for a quick acting nitrogen (let sit out for a month or so before collecting) about the only thing I wouldn't recommend making yourself is bat guano, as many bags carry heavy disease (as we found out) and can cause issues, so best leaving that stuff to those that know what to get. But if you live near a beach and have lots of seagulls and such that poop in a certian spot, it can be dried and powdered for seabird guano with relative ease. Lots of these things are fractions of the cost of amendments sold for gardening and are THE EXACT SAME THING. Happy gardening!

[@ceecee8757]

Ain’t nobody got time fo'dat!! 😂😂😂

[@BubblewrapHighway]

These videos are so great. Thanks for sharing all the knowledge and enthusiasm! 🌱🌾🌿

[@lenderzconstable]

I had no idea there were so many fertilizers. I just discovered the concept of fertilizer too. I just have some plants like two plumerias and a succulent combo that I want to maintain well. The amount of info out there on gardening is intimidating.

[@sarahk6545]

I’ve been using some locally made fertilizers this year - rotted horse manure, crushed crab shells and seaweed. All seems to be going well so far!

[@hilow8331]

seaweeeeeed! :P dont forget to save your shrimp shells after your dinner feast... high in chitin! happy gardening.

[@mariapaula3590]

I use bat guano and my plants love it. You can see the benefits right away

[@ahnaahna7278]

Thks so very much. I have been using organic fertilizer for first time for my Vega/herbs. I used the Holly Tone organic on some shrubs that I had to greatly prune 3 years ago, and they grew back looking vital and great. Thks for affirming the Organics. Ahna Georgia/USA

[@plants4thewin]

Thank you for mentioning worm castings for those on a budget...great video as usual

[@enriquearredondo696]

You Sir, are the best. Thank you.

[@bjb0808]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much.

[@PopleBackyardFarm]

Excellent Epic Garden

[@WormholeGarden]

This was hugely enlightening as to the nature of organic fertilizer!

[@mackb1799]

This is beyond helpful

[@blackbarn_farm8706]

You are so helpful!! 🙏 Thank you!

[@reverie6903]

Omg yess I needed this!!!💕🌱

[@kimberlyd317]

Love love love this video! Thanks for taking the time to talk about so many options! I will definitely be referring to this more than once!

[@tinamtani]

So helpful! Thank you 😊

[@gemmamorson7998]

This was bloody great! Thanks. I literally just wrote a post on NPK and plant deficiency for my Patreon.

[@tammym110]

Excellent presentation. Thank you for explaining all of this

[@funnylaugh.1069]

Love your videos!!

[@jenniferdawson2536]

FASCINATING!

[@alisonokuda5000]

Kevin! This video is so helpful. Thank you!

[@PompomYourkey]

keep up the great content!

[@gabriellescarpato651]

I needed this info so bad!! Fertilizer can be a little overwhelming. Thanks Kevin!!

[@patriciaduffield2319]

Love this presentation. Many of the products I use already, I am in the right path for a newbie

[@Kevs2tuff]

Great info brother! Thankyou!

[@heavymechanic2]

Back in the 90's I was introduced to fish/kelp fertilizer and have done many experiments with vegetable production. Read many books on soil and the life that happens with rotting materials. The book: Teaming With Microbes was quite interesting and opened my eyes to the secrets of growing food utilized across the pond throughout Europe.. A few years ago I was looking for bags of Oyster Shell chicken scratch (sold out) and Alfalfa livestock feed and could only find the cubes loaded with salt and other additives; just purchased alfalfa pellets with minimal additives from a farm store. I use Espoma tomato formula for the added microbes to go to work on composted manure and homemade compost from grass clippings/leaves/wood chips and people are amazed at the volume of produce coming out of my garden in heavy clay soil.

[@norcalknight6101]

Thanks for this video 👍

[@giseleg929]

Just purchased the worm castings from your website. Looking forward to putting it to use in my little balcony garden!

[@epicgardening]

Awesome! You're gonna love it!

[@rhondadavis1483]

I started my own worm bed bc of all of your instructions. So excited, and my grandkids love them as well😂

[@TheHeartfeltHoney]

Right on time video! Thanks for sharing

[@evelynrobles378]

So I have a small freshwater aquarium at home, I’ve heard it might do good for a garden if you take the used tank water when doing a water change as it contains beneficial bacteria and nutrients. Considering it’s a planted aquarium I am already adding micronutrients and the like to it, along with the fish poop and fish food that increases nitrogen, and the beneficial bacteria that helps convert breakdown nitrogen into nitrite for plants to use.

[@delwyntatton2742]

A Great review thank you Kevin

[@callikohl7603]

This helps me so much. I have access to both cow and chicken. Now I know how to use it. Thank you.

[@cielrobinson]

2 days ago planted my potatoes with bone meal:potash at a 6:1 ratio, 1tbsp per potato. i don't know what i'm doing, but i hope it works! cats broke into the bone meal after less than 3 minutes with it on the counter

[@mikeemmons1079]

I got one for you dude! A scientist/hobbiest plant nerd in Canada has discovered that hot weather seeds like eggplant and peppers germinate super fast in an "Instant Pot" set to make yogurt. If you have one of those, you have a video.

[@melissasullivan1658]

I’d be curious about this as a video actually, only in a ‘but wouldn’t it basically boil it alive’ curiosity.

[@mikeemmons1079]

@@melissasullivan1658 I know, right? I am gonna see if I can find one in a thrift shop.

[@ghmichel72]

Definitely took notes, I’ve learned a lot from this video ✊🏾