Good Soil Mix and Organic Fertilizers That Don’t Burn Herbs

Herbs and all other plants take nitrogen in two forms - nitrate N and ammonium N. Herbs do not care where the nutrients come from, source can be either the chemical fertilizers or from the organic compost. For herb plants, nitrogen is all they desire. It is the one of the important component of NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium ) requirements of plant.

Soil mix that I use for pot contains 1 part of perlite, 2 parts of coco peat, 1 part of compost, 1 part of garden soil. To this , I add  1 teaspoon of potash, bonemeal and 1 cup of cow dung manure. I do adjust the consistency, if it is too loamy or hard, I add more cocopeat. For herbs, you don’t really need fertilizers. I have successfully grown basil in garden soil. Although when I added cow dung manure, I could see the difference in the size of foliage.

Herbs growing in organically rich soil do not require fertilizer. One needs to be cautious, not to overdose one’s soil bed with too much of fertilizers. Even natural fertilizers can kill the herbs, if you exceed the normal quantity and schedule. Be wary of the season too, the amount and the temperature of your location. Don’t feed strong fertilizers in summer. If you are using container gardening for herbs, feed one small mug of liquid fertilizer (homemade) once in 20 to 30 days to a big planter box of 10 inches.

Follow the instructions if it is bought from a store and dilute it even more than what is instructed. Please do not add chemical fertilizers. You are going to ingest the harvest. I cannot stress enough that the manure should be organic. Fertilizing once in a month with compost or aged cow dung manure is more than sufficient. If it is in solid form , mix it well with the soil away from the root system.

Using organic fertilizers may not convert into a sudden outburst of growth but you let the Nature do its work leisurely and cautiously. And Mother Nature works best when it is slow and steady, releasing nutrients recursively in the soil which will not invite unwanted pests and toxins. Natural fertilizers contain organic matter that protects soil’s eco-system.

Once you feed organic manure to the billions of micro-organisms under the few inches of earth, they continue to grow in the soil thus releasing a never-ending source of nutrients balancing the structure of soil with PH value and fertility. So, you see, starving these zillions of micro-organisms is not really a good idea.

Compost tea, coffee and fish emulsion is best if you cannot compost your own kitchen waste into fertilizer. Tea gives an immediate boost to the plants and the herbs love it. The ideal way is to spread  the manure on the soil and mix it within 2 to 4 inches without damaging the root system.

Fish emulsion is a balanced fertilizer and does volumes for the plants and soil. Seaweed extract or kelp is another good fertilizer. Before putting in your herb garden, please dilute and dilute even further as per the instructions given.