X. LIQUID MANURE

Liquid manure is good a source of quick plant food during the growing season or when your plants look yellow, showing they are short of nitrogen.

How to make liquid manure:

Material and Tools: cattle manure, rabbit manure, or chicken manure from sawdust, a drum or a debe, a strong pole, and rope

1. Put cattle manure or a mixture of rabbit and chicken manure in a strong sack or gunny bag (50 Kg of manure for 1 drum of water). Fill it in such a way that you can tie the rope of the bag securely.
2. Suspend the bag containing the manure in a drum full of clean water. The bag should be tied securely with a rope and suspended on a strong pole that is placed across the top of the drum.
3. Leave it to stand for 14 to 21 days. Cover the drum to prevent excessive evaporation.
4. After 3 days stir the drum by lifting the bag several times using the pole.
5. After 14 days the water will have turned blackish, and most of the plant food in the manure will have turned blackish, and most of the plant food in the manure will have washed into water
6. Remove the bag from the drum by lifting the pole.

Water your crops using the tea, the solution should not be sprayed on the leaves but applied around the stem once a week for a period of 3 weeks. It is effective as top dressing after planting the crop, but it usually ranges from between 250 gm to 500 gm per plant.

Another approach to liquid manure:

Use fresh or dry chicken, cattle or goat manure, but never put the solid manure directly on the garden as it is too strong and may kill your plants or bring pests to the area.

1. Put one liter of manure in a bucket. Cover with water and leave for 3 days for chicken manure and 6 days for cow or goat manure. Strain the liquid and put the solids on a new compost heap.

2. Dilute the liquid manure with 40 cups of water to one cup of liquid manure. Use this to water seedlings. Dilute with 20 cups of water to one cup of manure to water the soil around more mature growing plants once a week. Do NOT pour it directly on the leaves.