Fish mix, or fish emulsion, is a type of organic fertilizer. There are a number of other fertilizers on the market like kelp mix and others, which are probably very similar in nature and quality as fish mix.
In several previous posts I mentioned using fertilizer in your garden is generally not a good idea. The only time you should use fertilizer is if you know for some reason you have a specific problem that needs to be addressed, for example you have had your soil tested. It happens often that someone asks me about a problem in their garden, that in the end turns out to be because they used fresh manure or too much fertilizer.
Often gardeners wind up using fertilizer in their gardens because they buy and use it once. For example, they are growing tomatoes and come across a box of tomato fertilizer on the shelf of the garden center. After this, they have no idea if the fertilizer helped or not, but figure they should just keep using it because after all it can’t hurt, right? It’s really easy after a few years of adding fertilizer because you are afraid not to, to find yourself with too much fertilizer in your garden that you can’t easily get rid of.
It’s not the purpose of this post to recommend that you go out and use fish mix! If your garden doesn’t need it, it won’t help in any way and it’s best avoided. I generally take the view that it’s best to avoid all unnecessary inputs into your garden.
In the last few weeks I’ve been using fish mix in my garden, because I did a soil test a few months ago that showed my soil was low on nitrogen and I noticed several plants were showing signs of nitrogen deficiency. I view this as a temporary measure until I have a chance to use other methods to improve my nitrogen levels.
Not Too Strong
One of the nice things about this kind of fertilizer is it’s not too strong. It’s very unlikely to burn the roots of your plants or cause much other damage, as long as you use moderation and common sense. As most of you are familiar with, chemical fertilizer often comes with an NPK rating like 10-5-10, that tells you what the composition of the fertilizer is. In the case of fish mix, it has an NPK rating of about 1-1-1.
Because it’s not too strong, it’s reasonably well suited to just being used at will. It’s not very critical what time of the year you apply it, and as long as you don’t use it more than about once a week you probably won’t over-fertilize your plants. Again, with common sense, in all it’s a pretty foolproof fertilizer.
Stronger fertilizers typically have to be applied according to specific label instructions, at specific times of the year.
Foliar Feeding
It’s most commonly applied to the garden with a spray bottle, after being diluted significantly with water. In this way, you can walk around the garden and spray some on those plants you want to fertilize. You can also use an ordinary watering can instead of a spray bottle. I normally use a ratio of a few tablespoons fish mix per liter of water.
Many plants can absorb food through their leaves, for example tomatoes and related plants, garlic and onions. Other plants as well. Plants that do this can absorb fish mix through their leaves very quickly, often within minutes, and it can be a very effective way to fertilize them,
Caveats
It’s suitable for outdoor use only!
This product is liquefied fish, and nothing else. Probably not the nicest parts of the fish at that. It stinks, and it’s very difficult to get the smell off your hands or clothing. You will have the attention of your cats when you are done working in the garden.
This product attracts flies.
Don’t use it too close to harvest, because it can give your fruits and vegetables a fishy taste.
It’s kind of expensive. For 5 liters I paid about €35. Although 5 liters will probably last more than a year, maybe even two years, and I have a big garden.
I’ve read about using fish emulsion, but I’ve never tried it. I currently use compost tea to fertilize my garden and I’ve had great success with that.
I’ve been wondering about that latelly. As you know I’m a very inexperienced veg gardener and when I read everywhere that you should fertilise your vegetables every week (specially tomatoes and courgettes) I start thinking that I’m doing everything wrong. The only fertilizer I used was composted sheep’s manure and compost I introduced into the soil prior to planting, and I was starting to think this was not enough for the big feeders like tomatoes and squashes so I gave tyhem some more compost and manure last week. The plants look great, but what do you think, should I keep with adding some more compost and manure every now and then or just keep on doing it when I prepare the soil?
Funny you should write of fish emulsion, I’ve just gotten a bottle w/ plans to try foliar feeding. I fed this potion to the vegetable plants I raised inside. They were beautiful, are still beautiful & I’m hearing good reports from those who bought plants from me (add sign of relief here. I can’t hide at the market). I fed the plants several times, planting outside was a little late due to weather. When the seedlings had ‘real leaves’ I started with half the recommendation for houseplants, so I did 1/2 tablespoon per gallon of water. Later 1 Tablespoon per gallon. It was sloppy so come to think of it–I guess I have tried foliar feeding!
Ps/I tried to scare off the deer with the toss of a stick. They tried to eat it. I think they would have bounded back to me for a game of fetch had I not resorted to screeching! Yikes- they like me they really like me.
Mrs. Greenhands: I guess compost tea is very similar, and probably better in that it’s something you can make yourself and don’t have to buy.
Gintoino: I think if you ask 10 gardeners this question you will get 10 different answers. I’ll give my answer, but I hope other people say what they think too.
I don’t usually think of needing to fertilize plants in my garden, only if something has gone wrong like right now I have a shortage of nitrogen. It’s much more common that gardeners have problems with too much fertilizer than not enough.
I also don’t think of compost as a fertilizer, but rather more of a soil conditioner. Compost is not very rich in nutrients like NPK, and it releases them very slowly. Compost improves the quality of your soil, but it’s probably only after a few months that you will notice any difference. Unless I am saving it for some reason, I try to add compost to my garden as soon as it is ready, rather than thinking of it as a fertilizer.
You already told me in an email that you compost your manure first, and if this is the case then the same thing is true with it because it is just compost. If the manure is fresh, then it is a fertilizer. Since I don’t use fresh manure, it’s probably better to find out from others how they do this. I don’t suggest using fresh manure.
There’s no doubt, if you don’t use fertilizer your plants will be smaller than someone who does use fertilizer. Perhaps this is particularly hard to accept for someone who is used to growing flowers, and used to being concerned with how the plants look. There are also a lot of people around who use fertilizer on their vegetables and will tell you it’s necessary. Sometimes it’s really hard to resist doing something you think is harmless, and it seems like everyone else is doing. Your garden will be healthier in the long run if you don’t use fertilizer. Fertilizers are much more useful for farmers than for home gardeners.
This is also a little bit of the difference between the US and Europe. In Europe many ‘organic’ gardeners always look for ‘organic’ fertilizers to use in the garden.
In the US most organic gardeners don’t accept that any fertilizer is organic, with the possible exceptions of what they make in their garden like compost tea, nettle tea, comfrey tea, and so on. Fish, Kelp and similar fertilizers are also sometimes considered organic. Manure from a commercial farmer is almost never considered organic.
There are lots of fertilizers you can buy that claim they are organic, but a lot of gardeners don’t recognize them as truly organic.
Tomato plants for example are particularly sensitive to getting too much fertilizer. If you give them too much fertilizer, the plants will get big and green but hardly set any tomatoes. If you use any fertilizer at all, it’s better to use it at most twice. Once at the very beginning, and once in August after most of the fruit has set. It’s much better to use a lot of compost at the beginning, and then no further fertilizer. Tomatoes can also easily pick up the flavor of fish mix. I rarely use any fertilizer at all on my tomatoes.
It’s hard to give specific advice without knowing more about your garden, but unless you have a clear need to add fertilizer I would suggest not using any. If you really feel like you have to use something, consider using fish mix or something similar, or making your own ‘tea’ and using that.
Cynthia: Good point. Very dilute fish emulsion can be used for seedlings raised inside. I used it a few years ago, but stopped. I found it just made the plants grow unnecessarily fast, which left me scrambling to pot them up, and even though it was in a well ventilated part of the house it still smelled like fish (and was a distraction to our cats). I might try it again sometime. It probably depends on what you use as a potting medium, and how much fertilizer it already contains.
Thank you for you reply patrick. I basically agree with you, and to be honest I have no wish to had fertilizer to my vegetables (I’ve never fertilized my garden) but when I read everwhere that you have to fertilize, I start to wonder if I really have to fertilize. Good to know that is not the case, I’ll keep on using compost and nothing else.
Thanks for your comment. The potting medium was not supposed to have fertilizer but who knows for sure…it is so hard to avoid additives. I would not be surprised if corn syrup was added!
I don’t feel the plants grew too rapidly. They were needing a pick -me- up at the end. This is my first year with lights but after they were big I felt driven to ferry them in and out of the natural light which probably added some stress…it was stress on me I know as I had hundreds of plants! Crazy.
(I should not have used the word ‘several’ to describe the feedings. It was more like ‘a few’. I tend to use these words– a few, a couple, several (etc.) without really considering their meaning).
The plants are producing fruit, nothing is freakishly profuse of green.
However, last year I planted what was said to be a Guatemalan pumpkin seed directly in the ground, no amendments added, that grew to be about 100 feet long BY the START of JUNE! I destroyed it. Something was scary happening. Had I let it go..The Guinness folks could have been called. I thought it would be nurturing insects that I did not wish to encourage but there were none wanting this Dr. Frankenstein creation. Squash bugs, Cucumber beetles and the like are the only real problem for me, yet not a one on this monster plant. I attended last year The Harvest Festival at Tom Jefferson’s Monticello and a few? a couple? gardeners from elsewhere had heard of a similar occurrence. By the way..a nice thing to attend is this festival. All interested persons can read of it online.
I hope that smell of fish you noticed was the fish emulsion and not a fish gene showing itself. We were noticing that rotting tomatoes smelled so fishy and one of my kid’s said maybe it’s Dad or Mom is a fish.
What an enjoyable world is the world of gardening..such a variety of people w/ a common love. Good luck everyone!
ps/ Sorry to write off the subject. I guess in my mind all is related. Have fun.
Hi Patrick. Do not fill a large watering can with the diluted fish mix and then try to lift it up and pour it over the leaves of a small lemon tree unless you want to pour a couple of litres of it out of the back of the watering can down the inside of your shirt! I don’t think I have ever been the same since…!!
1/10 diluted human or other urine is free & safe & rich enough in NPK to fertilize most crops. Use fresh, then it won’t smell at all!
Gosh – sounds like I might have gone a bit overboard on the fertiliser. Perhaps time to cut back! Thanks
Cynthia: Just like you said, “What an enjoyable world is the world of gardening..such a variety of people w/ a common love.” I totally agree.
Kate: Yuck!
Lieven: I have not tried it myself, but I have heard from a number of places this is an acceptable way to fertilize fruits and vegetables. I might not want to put it in a spray bottle for foliar feeding, but who knows…
What I want to know is if it’s not from a human, how do you collect it? Do you run around with a bottle and try to catch some?
Spotty B: Consider cutting way down, then phasing it out completely. Instead use compost and plant beans or peas to fix nitrogen. Be sure to rotate your plants every year. You might have a few problems the first year or two, but your garden will be healthier in the long run.
Great points of view.
I sometimes do like Lieven, urinate in a bottle and dilute. I water it on the soil, not the leaves, to avoid the thought of eating…..
I started spraying diluted skimmed milk on my garlics this year, to slow down the garlic rust. Now I realize it’s also a foliar feed, fairly cheap, no smells and the surplus we drink.
I also use bonewell chopped roughly and steeped in water a few days, as a kind of instand fertilizer, if I realise there is a need for nitrogen. I think most gardenweeds can be used for this purpose. I left for a longer time it can become quite smelly too.
An informative and clearly illustrated post. Thanks a LOT. It is enjoyable and educational.
I liked your words “it’s best to avoid all unnecessary inputs into your garden.” I was about to embrace it right after reading it, yet I guess that going to an extreme with this view could have some negative effects, for instance I guess it could be the reason behind the nitrogen deficiency that your soil test has revealed a few months back. I guess moderation in everything is good. As for inputs, I guess adding compost, in moderation still, would be essential.
Hi Ashraf Al Shafaki,
Normally you can get enough nitrogen in your garden from sometimes growing beans, peas or similar plants. Fava (broad) beans are very good at fixing nitrogen into the soil.
I have a new garden, and whatever nitrogen deficiency there is comes from the person who had the garden before.
I don’t normally consider compost as an ‘input’, because it’s usually recycled material from your own garden. It’s just reusing waste garden material.
Some people disagree with me, but I think you can never have too much compost, as long as it all comes from your own garden originally. In moderation, I think it’s also okay to use compost from somewhere else too. And yes, at least some compost is essential for a healthy garden.
Thanks for you good work, keep it up.
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