So save some money (up to $12 for 32 oz. of organic plant food) and use these low- or no-

cost ingredients to make your own slow-release fertilizer. Your plants and pocketbook will 

thank you.  (For more ways to save money in your garden, check out this article on how to 



Nutrients Plants Need

Plants needs a well-balanced diet of:

  • Nitrogen: Promotes leaf growth.

  • Phosphorous: Stimulates root growth.

  • Potassium: Aids flower and fruit development.

Plants also need “micro-nutrients” in small amounts, including calcium, sulfur, magnesium, 

zinc, and iron.


First, Test Your Soil

Test your soil to determine which nutrients it lacks. You don’t want to add, say, a nitrogen-

rich fertilizer if nitrogen already is abundant.

A professional soil test costs less than $20 and will tell you everything you need to know

about what’s in your soil. Contact your local extension agent to find a soil-testing laboratory

near you. 



Fish-Emulsion Fertilizer

Why: Fish guts, bones, and heads are good sources of nitrogen, potassium,

phosphorous, and amino acids.


How: During the year, collect and freeze fish parts, leftover tuna, and sardines so you’ll 

have enough to make gallons of fish emulsion in spring.

Add 1 part fish to 2 parts water in an airtight container, and place it a sunny spot far from 

your house (because it’ll stink). Stir every two days as the soup cooks; in about two 

weeks, apply to your garden soil at 3 gal./100 sq. ft. Leafy greens, beets, Brussel 

sprouts, and broccoli love it.


Peeing On Your Veggies

Why: Sounds gross, but human urine is rich in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphate, a well-

balanced meal for plants. Rose gardeners know their flowers love it. Fresh urine from a 

healthy person is sterile, so you can feed it to veggies, too.


How: Pee straight from the source is highly concentrated and can burn plants, much the 

way dog pee turns grass brown. Make sure you dilute it 1 part pee/10 parts water. Then 

soak plant roots. Good for leafy greens, cabbages, cucumbers, and roses.


Soak Your Plants in Epsom Salts

Why: Epsom salts consist of magnesium — critical for seed germination and chlorophyll 

production — and sulfur — key for protein production and plant growth. A dose of an 

Epsom salts solution increases fruit and flower production in roses, tomatoes, potatoes, 

peppers, and houseplants.


How: Combine 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts to 1 gallon of water. Spray foliage with the 

solution for best results.


Save Your Wood Ash

Why: Wood ash not only adds calcium (good for root growth) and potassium (promotes 

seed and fruit formation) to soil, but it also raises the pH of highly acidic soil, making it 

friendlier to neutral pH-loving plants, such as most vegetables. (Don’t use it in blueberry 

gardens, which like acidic soil.)


How: Apply wood ash straight from the fireplace to your garden: Dig in 5 lbs./100 sq. ft.


Adding Crumbled Eggshells

Why: Eggshells are rich in calcium. A calcium deficiency in tomatoes will cause blossom 

rot, that ugly brown patch on the bottom of the fruit.


How: Place crumbled eggshells in the bottom of your planting hole, or dig them into the soil 

around the base of your tomato plant.


Bonus: If slugs plague your garden, place crumbled eggshells around the bottom of 

plants. The shards will cut the slimy pests.