Dealing with fertilizer is often challenging. You will experience numerous issues to do with fertilizer when tending to your home garden. To start with, fertilizer is quite expensive. Second, it is quite challenging to get the right fertilizer for your garden. Third, you will find that different plant species may require special fertilizers, and mixing fertilizers comes with its challenges.
So what is the best solution for all these problems? It is very simple. In this article, we will show you how to use coconut meat as fertilizer. It is an affordable option as you can make this fertilizer at home. Besides, it is easy to make it. The ingredients required are easily available. Besides, this DIY fertilizer is organic such that you do not have to worry about any negative effects on your garden or the general environment.
What is Coconut Meat?
Simply put, coconut meat refers to coconut pulp. It is the leftover product you get from coconut milk. If you make coconut milk at home, the leftover product is the coconut milk. It is what you will use to make coconut meat fertilizer.
Coconut meat is shredded. That way, you can take scoops of the meat by hand. Since water is used when making coconut milk, the coconut meat leftover is wet. You should dry it completely before reusing it to make fertilizer for your home garden.
DIY Tips for Making Coconut Meat as Fertilizer
Supplies Required
There are certain supplies you will need to make coconut meat fertilizer including:
- Coconut meat- make enough coconut pulp/meat for the garden area you need to apply the fertilizer.
- Fermentation catalyst- You will need to get a fermentation catalyst to ferment the coconut pulp. You can get one from a local gardening shop.
- Container- For mixing the coconut meat. Ensure it is large enough to fit in the amount of fertilizer you want to make.
- Water (1 litre).
- Sugar (2 tablespoons).
Step 1- Make the fermentation liquid
First, you will need to make the fermentation liquid for fermenting the coconut meat. You will soak the pulp in the fermentation liquid to ferment it. To make the fermentation solution, add 1 litre of water into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar. Next, add the fermentation catalyst. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
Keep the amount of fermentation catalyst low to ensure the fertilizer is highly organic. Using excessive chemicals will make the resultant fertilizer less organic. Thus, minimize the catalyst amount to ensure your garden plants get a high percentage of a natural fertilizer. The catalyst often comes in liquid form. Use about two to four bottle caps of the catalyst.
Step 2- Start the fermentation process
Upon making the fermentation solution, start fermenting the coconut meat. To do this, add the coconut milk into the container containing the fermentation solution. Mix them well until the pulp is completely covered by the fermentation solution.
Upon mixing them, pour then into another container. The container should be clean. Also, the container should have an airtight lid for better fermentation. Choose a good room to store the contents, preferably a room you rarely use such as the warehouse or garage. Allow the mixture to sit for about 2 to 3 weeks to ferment.
Using Coconut Meat as Fertilizer
Once 2 to 3 weeks are over, open the lid. You can now start applying the coconut fertilizer on your garden plants.
Since the coconut meat fertilizer tends to be a little moist, you can wear a pair of gloves when scooping it. Spread the fertilizer on the garden soil, especially near the base of the plants for existing plants or around the areas where you will want to grow your plants.
Applying it where the plants will grow will allow for faster growth and faster flowering. In case you are applying it on fruit trees, they will produce bigger and healthier plants.
Application Frequency
It is recommended to apply coconut meat fertilizer once every 2 weeks. Do this until the coconut meat dries out. Besides, you can apply any leftover fertilizer on plants that were not on your list of first priority. Thus, don’t throw it away.
Benefits of Using Coconut Meat as Fertilizer
When fertilizing plants, it’s advisable to use organic fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers often have harmful effects on your health, garden, and the general environment. Fortunately, you can utilize natural fertilizers for your garden. Coconut meat is beneficial in that it makes a highly effective organic fertilizer.
Generally, plants need three essential nutrients to develop and grow healthy, including nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. While chemical fertilizers bought it gardening stores contain all these essential nutrients, they come in hazardous chemical forms. You can avoid these chemicals by making your own organic fertilizer using coconut pulp. It contains a natural form of these essential nutrients. Besides, you can easily make coconut meat at home
Other Uses of Coconut Meat Fertilizer
If you have leftover coconut pulp fertilizer, you don’t have to get rid of it as there are other ways you can utilize it. You can utilize it for several other gardening activities. Most importantly, you can use it as a medium for planting.
Coconut meat is contains important nutrients that benefit plants such as coarse fat and crude protein. They work as soil booster. In this case, apply the fertilizer on the bottom of a planter. Ensure you spread the fertilizer evenly. Then top the container with soil.
Alternatively, you can mix the fertilizer with the soil you are going to use in your planters. Doing so will boost the soil fertility by enhancing its nutrient content. Consequently, your plants will grow fast and healthy.
Alternatively, you can use leftover coconut meat to make coconut flour. In this case, you will need to dry the pulp in your oven. Once dried, grind it into fine flour. Keep it in a container that has an airtight lid. Use the flour for various recipes such as cakes. Note that fresh coconut meat will offer better results.
Conclusion
As you can see, it is possible to make fertilizer out of coconut meat/pulp. We have shown you how to use coconut meat as fertilizer using simple DIY steps. Also, there are several ways you can utilize leftover coconut meat. Besides, you will get coconut milk when making coconut meat. You can use coconut milk for several purposes. Try making this fertilizer to benefit your garden plants.