Country Lore: Super Kelp Fertilizer

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PHOTO: DANIEL POLOHA/FOTOLIA
Although it grows in the ocean, kelp makes excellent fertilizer for terrestrial plants.

I’ve never gardened any other way than organically. When we first moved to this farm, our garden was nothing more than a sun-baked brick of clay. I worked hard and things got better, though there were still problems: blossom end rot on the tomatoes and flea beetles on everything else.

In 2008, I planted my tomatoes by first dusting the tomato planting hole with 1 tablespoon of kelp fertilizer and sprinkling the kelp fertilizer on the ground around the plants. It was the first year I didn’t have blossom end rot and the weather was no different than previous seasons. In 2009, I used kelp even more aggressively as a garden fertilizer with equally remarkable results.

Kelp is a type of seaweed containing about 70 minerals that can easily be used by plants and animals. If kelp is not available at your local nursery, you can buy it from a health food store, or do as I do and buy it in 50-pound bags from the local farm and feed store.

Donna Brown
Alton, Missouri

  • Published on Feb 19, 2010
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