Chicken droppings as fertilizer for tomatoes and cucumbers
Chicken droppings are widely used to fertilize garden crops. The owners of chicken coops can only be envied - they have free access to the most valuable fertilizer.
In terms of its composition, chicken manure is much better than various complex fertilizers, since it has a high concentration:
• magnesium;
• phosphorus;
• potassium;
• nitrogen.
A feature of this fertilizer is that the manure has a positive effect on the soil for the next 3 years after its application.
Chicken manure for fertilization is used in the following forms:
1. Liquid fertilizer. The solution is prepared in a ratio of 1:20 (litter: water) and insisted for 10 days. This fertilizer is watered only between the rows, it cannot be applied under the roots so as not to burn them.
2. Compost. To make compost, in the fall, the droppings should be laid out on a grass bed (you can also use the harvested tops) and mix with the ground. In the spring, you can already fertilize the garden with compost - mix it with straw and spread it between the rows.
Fertilizing crops with chicken droppings in the form of an infusion is recommended after watering the beds or after a good rain. It should be borne in mind that it is impossible to bring in pure litter.
Top dressing tomato
Chicken droppings should be fertilized during the following periods:
• before planting tomatoes - as dry compost (you can use granulated chicken manure);
• during the growing season - in the form of infusion.
It is advisable to do top dressing with liquid infusion twice. The first time - after three weeks have passed after planting the seedlings, and the second - after a month. To prepare an infusion for liquid feeding, fresh chicken manure is poured with water in a ratio of 1:20 and water the soil between the tomato bushes. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the liquid does not get on the bushes themselves, and if this does happen, wash off the solution from the leaves with clean water.
When introducing droppings, you must carefully monitor the growth of the tomato so as not to overdo it. If, after fertilization, the bush began to intensively increase the green mass, the leaves and stems increased in thickness, you need to stop feeding, otherwise it threatens to reduce the yield. It is recommended to apply the next portion of fertilizers only after at least 10 days, and even then only organic species. And in order to correct the situation and bring the metabolism back to normal, it is good to use an infusion of water with ash.
Feeding cucumbers
To increase the yield of cucumbers, they are fed with various types of fertilizers twice during the season. As soon as 3 leaves have formed on the bush, the cucumbers need to be fed with liquid fertilizer from chicken manure and water at the rate of 1:10.
For the second top dressing (before flowering), a solution is used with the addition of sodium sulfate (it is necessary that the liquid resembles weak tea in color). Water the soil with the solution before the cucumbers bloom - this will reduce the number of barren flowers in the ovary. Processing is also carried out only between plants.