Free, Homemade Liquid Fertilizer

Make these easy liquid fertilizers from grass clippings, manure and urine — then sit back and watch your seedlings and plants thrive!

By Barbara Pleasant
Updated on May 7, 2024
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Adobe Stock/Iryna
Close up of woman's hands in gloves pours liquid mineral fertilizer in watering can with water in backyard. Cultivation and caring for outdoor potted plants. Hobbies and leisure, urban jungle concept.

Learn how to make your own homemade liquid fertilizer and how to fertilize plants to give them the quick boost of nutrients they need. Many organic gardeners keep a bottle of liquid fish fertilizer on hand to feed young seedlings, plants growing in containers, and any garden crop that needs a nutrient boost. But liquid, fish-based fertilizers are often pricey, plus we’re supporting an unsustainable fishing industry by buying them. So, what’s a good alternative?

MOTHER EARTH NEWS commissioned Will Brinton — who holds a doctorate in Environmental Science and is president of Woods End Laboratories in Mt. Vernon, Maine — to develop some water-based, homemade liquid fertilizer recipes using free, natural ingredients, such as grass clippings, seaweed, chicken manure, and human urine. His results are summarized on our chart of Homemade Fertilizer Tea Recipes.

Why and When to Use Homemade Liquid Fertilizer

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