Who has a fertilizer bin/experiment going?

[Damian Bee]

We all like to play around a little with feeding to see what will give the best results. I am considering again a fertilizer bin/stink bomb in the shady back corner of the yard to enable the pouring of liquid feed over my ever growing addiction. I have done it once before with a bit of this and a dash of that, oh and lets not forget the you know what
It did give OK results as I did not lose a single plant while the stuff lasted. It stank to high heaven when stirred so it was best done on a windy day which left me with the following set of expressions

I have read a article about it in Koreshoffs book which mentioned Soybean meal, wood ash etc and fermenting the stuff like beer for 2-3 months then watering it down to the required dosage.
There are limits as to what we are supposed to do in our backyards regarding safety and public health relating to this kind of practice and it may not fit within those rules but when done responsibly, the effects on your neighbour are usually minimal like acute stomach pain, sporadic vomiting etc (just joking) The main issue is the smell but a good container should do most of the work there providing it is not airtight, we don't need another Coode Island disaster in Melbourne.
There is always a story or two floating about regarding home brewing and the results it has had on the unwary traveler. What have your experiences been and was there anything that really worked out or failed like badly like a car with square wheels? I ask this because if I am going to do it again, I want to get some good results
Cheers

[Joel]

Hi Damian,

Whilst i have not done what you are saying, i have done something sort of simmilar.

I have a half wine barrel with the aquotic plant "Azolla" growing on top. This plant is "nitrogen fixing", meaning that it has the ability to turn atmospheric nitrogen (the most abundant element in the air) into a nitrate - effectively a fertilizer. This stuff grows rapidly! It floats on the surface. In warm weather, i can remove half of the covering every 4 days, and have it fully covered again by next time. I put it into a bin after giving it a bit of a squeeze to get out the excess water. After a month or so, the stuff at the bottom turns into a black stinky liquid with an oil-like consitancy. I dilute it to a weak tea and water on plants. Works well, but this is in ADDITION with another fertilizing regime. Not instead.

Joel

[Scott Roxburgh]

Over the past three years I have been using a mixture that I shape into little cakes and put on the surface of the soil. It consists of dynamic lifter, blood and bone, seasol, woodash, miracle gro, Charlie carp and trace elements. I got the recipe from the satsuki society website and changed it a little. It smells terrible! This year I have just been using teabags filled with soy meal and blood and bone, I think the results are just as good if not better and far less hassle and stink.

I also add Charlie carp liquid ferts every few weeks.