What is the Best Fish Fertilizer? Hydrolysate vs Emulsion

Fish emulsion is by far more popular at nurseries and garden centers. But making your own fish hydrolysate is cheap, easy, and gives you the best fish fertilizer your garden can get!

[@bigoof9486]

Hi like the content you have on your channel. Just a couple of notes about the subject. Do not recommend using the water from the hose, unless you know the source of it. If it is hooked up from the city it will be poor for the fermentation. City water is treated with chlorine and will kill the microbial bacteria needed to do the breakdown of the fish. I would recommend using rainwater or well water. For the hydrolysate, to speed up the process you lactase bacillus. A strain of bacteria you can obtain yourself. It is typically used in bokashi composting, if you want to look for a way to make it. Adding molasses or sugar also will help speed up the process as itll give the bacteria sugar to multiply and consume faster. None of it is crucial and will end up with the same results. But the chlorine in the water is very important.

[@OutdoorScienceDad]

I wish we got enough rain here to last the whole year. I collect rain water but it is never enough. The best I can normally do is leave municipal water out overnight for some of the chorine to dissipate. Did I not add black strap molasses this time? I normally do... Thank you for the comment and tips. I will put them to use.

[@judahslioncub5840]

Adding vermicompost in the bucket as inoculant should work well with pump for Oxygen?

[@OutdoorScienceDad]

I love vermicomposting, I am sure it would benefit any other compost you add it to. Especially if you make your own castings.

[@steverichardson8655]

Thanks for the video, I am a fishermen as well and have been freezing my fish carcasses and burying them in my raised beds, I usually go about a foot deep and I add some bokashi bran and bio-char to the hole as well, and so far haven't had any problems with critters digging them up. My thought is that I'm improving my soil with organic matter and I'm eventually getting a little phosphorus from the bones breaking down as well. Besides the nutrients not being readily available for a plant to use do you see any reason to not to use my method? Also is there a risk of coming in contact with bad bacteria with hydrolysate either through consumption of something like a leafy green that's been sprayed with it or getting some in a cut on your hand, etc? I'm asking because the process to make fish emulsion sounds a bit like pasteurization to me? No?

[@OutdoorScienceDad]

I see no problem with your method. Like you said, it just might take a bit of time for everything to become available to the soil and plants. In my own experience, I've never gotten sick nor any kind of infection from this method. I think of it as a fermentation. Of course I clean my hands well after use but that is because of the smell, but maybe it helps prevent infection too. I agree that emulsion is similar to pasteurization due to the heat involved. That has its own pros and cons though. Heat denatures proteins and destroys enzymes and kills microbes. But then it's probably safer? Maybe. Great questions and observations. Thanks for watching and commenting.