Gardening — Liquid Kelp, Kelp Meal and Seaweed
When you’re looking for an organic fertilizer for the garden, consider taking
advantage of the beneficial nutrients found in kelp seaweed.
Kelp meal fertilizer is becoming a very popular food source for organically grown plants.
Let’s learn more about using kelp in the garden.
Kelp is often mixed with fish products and used as a fertilizer to encourage healthier
plant growth, promote greater fruit and vegetable yields and to overall enhance the
general appearance of a garden or plant specimen.
Organic kelp fertilizer is valued for its micro-nutrients as well as its macro-nutrients
of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Kelp fertilizer is available in three forms.
These include (1) extracts, such as kelp meal or powder, (2) cold processed (usually a
liquid) and (3) enzymatically digested liquid forms, which are used to super power
nutrient deficient soils.
Benefits of Kelp
It is a completely natural, organic product
It is a source of over 70 vitamins and minerals.
It is a totally natural, organic and sustainable resource that doesn’t harm the environment
when it is harvested.
The rapid growth rate makes kelp makes it renewable and ample
resource for the ocean's species but also for the home gardener.
Foliar spraying of plants.
The nitrate-phosphate-potassium ratio, or NPK, is negligible in readings of
kelp meal nutrients; and for this reason, it is used primarily as a trace
mineral source. Combining with fish meal increases the NPK ratio in kelp
meal nutrients, releasing in about 4 months’ time.
Kelp powder is simply kelp meal ground finely enough to put into a solution
and sprayed onto or injected into irrigation systems. Its NPK ratio is 1-0-4
and is more immediately released. Kelp meal nutrients can also be found in
liquid kelp, which a cold processed liquid with higher levels of growth hormones,
but again its NPK is negligible. Liquid kelp is useful for combating plant stress.
The best way to apply liquid seaweed concentrate is by foliar feeding and
it is also a far more efficient method. Just by applying a fine spray onto the
leaves will give the plant a massive boost. As soon as the concentrate hits
the surface of the leaves, the plant starts to absorb all of the nutrients and
trace elements immediately and the effects are somewhat rapid and this can
be seen from as soon as the second day onwards. Foliar feeding with kelp
extract is so effective that it when compared to soil feeding it can be between
10 to 15 times more efficient.
Liquid seaweed fertilizer is simply what its name suggests: a fertilizer that has been derived
from natural seaweed sources. Seaweed is collected, some of the saltwater rinsed away and
then allowed to decompose or ferment in water until the plant material is broken down into a
liquid or slurry.
Benefits of Seaweed
Increased absorption of nutrients through root stimulation.
Acceleration of chlorophyll production and photosynthesis that will produce greener and
stronger plants.
Higher resistance to stress and greater restoration from times of extreme weather
Kelp meal fertilizer can be purchased at your local garden center or online.
To use kelp meal fertilizer, spread the kelp meal around the base of plants,
shrubs and flowers that you wish to fertilize. This fertilizer can be utilized
as a potting plant medium or mixed directly into the soil.
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