How to make a organic fertilizer using oilcake and bone meal

We can get the organic fertilizer at the gardening shop easily in Japan. But in many countries around the world, they cannot have the same or the similar fertilizer in Japan. In these days, many hobbyists around the world ask me what is the organic fertilizer in Japan or how to make it. So, I'll introduce how to make the fertilizer here. It is very easy to make. If you get the materials, you may try to make it by yourself. It is very effective to grow orchids. As it is very strong and effective , we use it in the growing period only from the early spring to the early summer. But when we make it, it smell so much. Be careful to make it in the crowded housing. I guess, your neighborhood will complain exactly to you. The complain might be stronger than the smell.

The organic fertilizer sold in Japan as a solid type. It contains oilcake and bone meal mainly. And it is fermented completely. We have various type of shape but the materials is same.

(1)　Materials

1)　oilcake（Powder on sell ）	2)　Bone meal （Fish's bone is not enough）

The flower of rape seed. We get oil from the seed. And the sake of the seed after taking oil is the oilcake. We can get it in powder as above.

(2)　How to make it.

	In a vessel, we put oilcake and bone meal at the rate from 7 : 3 ~ 5 : 5 . The latter have phosphate in rich. Add appropriate volume of water and mix well to make the powder to paste.

Extend the paste on paper in the shade. The thick of the cake should be a few cm. Keep it for a week at least. Usually we keep it for a month until the fermentation should be completed.

Never get wet with rain. When it will be rain, you have to move. After a few days, the fermentation must be started by bacteria in the cake. So the temperature of the cake must be going up by fermentation to be over 40 C. 　By the high　temperature, bacteria will be dead, the fermentation will be decreased and the temperature going down. After that, the fermentation begin once again. The fermentation will be finished after 4 or 5 times of cycles. It will takes about one month usually. We have to keep it for a few weeks at least. This period is very important. If you finish at the fermentation incomplete , the cake will not be fermented enough but will be rot. Rotted material will not be good for growing orchids. I want to say not to hurry up. Don't use the crude mixed paste on the pot. Because it will be hot in a few days, the roots or plants will be damaged.

After finish the fermentation, you make the cake to be in a good shape and size as you like. This fertilizer must be effective in strong for a long time so you had better use it only the period of growing from spring to summer. You put the tip of thumb for 4 inches pot. And you put it on the compost and never in the compost. The latter will be too strong for plants. When you water to the plants, the materials in the cake must be soluble for plants.

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