Hello dear Hiveans! Today I would like to introduce you to an organic fertilizer for plants which I use myself and have positive experiences with!
I'm talking about horn shavings. Because of the strange smell it is best to apply the fertilizer outside on the balcony or in the garden and not for houseplants. However, if you would like to fertilize your houseplants with it, you can also use a self-made brew, which I will explain below!
The advantage of horn shavings and other organic fertilizers is that it is more difficult to over-fertilize the plants. Another advantage over chemical fertilizers is that it is better for soil organisms and also strengthens soil life.
Horn shavings are a long-term fertilizer which is usually only used once or twice a year. Since it still takes time for it to take effect, it makes sense to use the fertilizer early in the season. The fertilizer will then slowly decompose throughout the year and release nutrients to the plants!
The main ingredient in this type of fertilizer is nitrogen. But there are others in smaller amounts, such as phosphorus, potassium, and calcium. The PH value of this fertilizer is relatively neutral, around 7. Horn shavings are suitable for pretty much all plants. Incidentally, this fertilizer is obtained from the horn and claws of cattle, which is crushed in a mill.
The most common way of application is to work the fertilizer into the soil. Just loosen the soil a bit and mix the fertilizer underneath.
Hint: By the way, if you want to speed up the effect time, you should use horn meal instead of horn shavings.
It is also possible to simply take some soil, preferably not pre-fertilized soil but growing soil, and then mix the fertilizer in between. The dosage is about 30g horn shavings per square meter. Then you only have to put this mixture of earth and horn shavings in the pot and water it.
Now I would like to go into another type of use, namely as a brew. This brew can then also be used for houseplants, as the smell is not as intense as when it is worked into the soil. To do this, follow these instructions:
1.Add the horn shavings, put 5 liters of warm water into a bowl, then stir.
2.Then leave this mixture for about 5-14 days and stir once a day. If water should evaporate, just add more warm water.
3.After the 5-14 days, strain the mixture so you only have the pure liquid.
This self-produced fertilizer can now be used, it is said that it should be mixed with pure water in an approximate ratio of 1:10. Then you can water the plants with it.
I hope you like my post and find it informative.