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Liquid Fish Emulsion Fertilizers: Effective, Organic, and Sustainable

Fish emulsion is a type of organic liquid fertilizer made from fish waste. While fish emulsion can be produced from many different types of fish (including wild caught salmon), a small fish called Menhaden is the most common source of this liquid fertilizer. An oily, bony fish with little edible meat, Menhaden comes from the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

The process of making liquid fertilizer starts with cooking the fish and pressing out the oils and liquids. The solids are made into fishmeal, animal feed, and other products. The oil, which is literally worth its weight in gold, is skimmed off. The liquid is boiled down until it thickens, making fish emulsion.

To hinder fermentation and extend its shelf-life, phosphoric acid is added to the emulsion. The percentage of phosphoric acid in the solution should be under 1% to meet the USDA criteria for organic products.

Standard composition of organic fish emulsion fertilizers is about 5% Nitrogen, 2% Phosphorous, and 2% Potassium. It also contains micronutrients that are vital for promoting plant growth.

Depending on their proximity to the sea or fish waste sources, many organic growers are daring enough to make their own fish fertilizer emulsions to cut down costs.

Fish emulsions stand out from the other natural- based fertilizers because of its speedy delivery of nutrients to plants. This makes them a great assistant for farmers and gardeners during seed planting and transplanting. Fish emulsions first need to be mixed with water before it can be applied on the soil or sprayed to the plant leaves.

Instructions must be followed in using fish emulsions as fertilizers because over-application can burn the roots of the plant. And be prepared for the strong odor but it wanes in a day or so. Since it is organic, the fertilizer must be used at once it has been diluted and it cannot be exposed to heat.

Once again, we need to repeat that organic growers need not worry that fish emulsion fertilizer is depleting our oceans of the important Menhaden fish or other fish that people need for food. Fish emulsion if primarily made from fish waste of the established animal feed and fish oil industries, which would have been dumped in landfills if not used. The organic label in fish emulsion fertilizers not only means natural, it also means environmentally safe.

Article Source: GardenGap.com

About the Author

Tina Hull specializes in helping small farms transition to organic methods and is a respected authority in organic fertilizer. To learn more, check out her website about liquid fertilizer.