Algae, natural fertilizer for plants

August 22, 2018 36 Comments

What do you think of the idea of ​​collecting the seaweed washed up by the sea? Not only to clean the beach, but to use them in the garden and balcony to take care of ornamental plants, vegetables, herbs and fruit trees.

Seaweeds contain a number of valuable nutrients, trace elements, carbohydrates and natural growth stimulants such as cytokinins, auxins and amino acids and can even be used to strengthen plants in many ways as a natural fertilizer, as a soil improvement material, as a protective in adverse conditions and as a fruit setting biostimulator.

Biological preparations with algae as the main raw material are available in agricultural stores and are widely used for the care of our plants. The specific preparations are available in solid or liquid form, dissolve in water and can be applied to plants by spraying the foliage or watering the root.

Let’s see in detail what uses seaweed has for garden and balcony plants and how we can use them to enjoy healthy green plants with abundant flowering and good fruiting.

What uses do algae have in plant care?

Algae are an excellent natural ecological material, suitable for organic cultivation that helps plants in several ways as detailed below:

1. Seaweed is a natural fertilizer for plants

We use algae on plants as an effective biological fertilizer as they enhance the growth and branching of the root system in the initial stages of cultivation while at the same time offering a multitude of nutrients to the plants.

2. Seaweed improves the soil before planting

We apply algae as an ecological soil improvement material together with other natural materials such as manure, compost, peat to enrich the soil with nutrients as well as improve aeration and drainage.

3. Algae protect plants in difficult conditions

Algae protect the plants when they are suffering from frost, heat, wind while they help to improve the resistance of the plants against attacks by insects and diseases.

4. Algae are an excellent fruit set biostimulator

During flowering, we spray the foliage and flowers of the plants to improve the fruit set of horticultural and fruit trees as well as to improve the quality and taste of the fruits.

5. Algae accelerates seed germination

Before planting the seeds of vegetables and ornamental plants in a nursery, we can keep them for 24 hours in a wet cloth soaked in a solution of seaweed extract to improve and accelerate the germination of the seeds.

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By what process do we use seaweed?

In order to make use of the algae washed up by the sea during the winter and use them for our garden plants, we follow the following procedure:

• We collect the seaweed from the beach that the sea has taken out in early spring.
• We rinse the seaweed several times to remove the salts or leave it in a pile on rainy days to be washed away by the rain.
• Cut the seaweed and keep it for 2-3 months in a compost bin, stirring every week and let it ferment.
• We place the product of the fermentation of the algae as a soil conditioner in the garden before planting along with any leftover compost or manure that we have.
• We incorporate the product of algae fermentation as a biological fertilizer in horticultural, aromatic plants, ornamental plants and fruit trees.
• We dissolve 1 kg of algae fermentation product in 20 liters of water for 48 hours and then we can water or spray our plants with the algae extract solution we have created.

3. And a secret about algae in gardening

In potato crops, if we immerse the potato tubers, i.e. the potato seed, before planting them in a solution of seaweed extract, we achieve stimulation, improvement and acceleration of bud sprouting.

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