To feed garden plants, along with mineral fertilizers, organic ones are usually used: mullein, manure, chicken droppings (aka chicken, chicken manure). The latter is more valuable in composition. To feed tomatoes, chicken droppings are diluted, soaked and applied dry. The effect is felt for 2-3 years, and the result is visible after 2 weeks. Almost all garden plants can be fertilized with bird droppings: vegetables, berry bushes, fruit trees. Now we will consider in detail how to fertilize tomatoes with chicken droppings for a good harvest.
Application of chicken manure before and after planting seedlings
A good trick is to fertilize the soil with a chicken before planting seedlings in open ground. The manure (at the rate of 3.5 kg per 1 m²) is spread evenly over the bed and the soil is dug up to deepen the fertilizer and mix it with the ground. Apply 6 liters of liquid fertilizer per 1 m2.
Important ! It is unacceptable to feed tomatoes with undiluted fresh bird droppings. Also, when planting seedlings, you cannot put top dressing in the hole prepared for the plant.
In early spring, tomatoes are supported with 4 or 6 kg of pure chicken per 1 m2, which are mixed with peat or diluted with water.
Liquid chicken manure to feed tomatoes is prepared from dry or fresh chicken: 1.5 kg for every 10 liters of water. The plant is watered with fertilizer immediately after preparation, 0.7-1 l of nutrient mixture for each bush.
Advice ! To prevent tomato burns with chicken droppings, liquid fertilizers are applied after abundant watering of the bush with water or rain.
Fertilizer from fresh manure
One of the simplest recipes for liquid fertilizer: collect 1 liter of fresh or already dried chicken manure, pour 20 liters of water. Leave the resulting mixture to air out in the garden, away from the house. The fertilizer will be ready in 10 days. It is applied by watering the rows.
Infusion
Some farmers prefer to water tomato bushes with an infusion of chicken droppings. It is prepared:
- dissolving dry or liquid chicken in water in equal parts;
- keeping in a warm place for several days.
So that the specific smell of fermentation and urea from manure does not spread, the container is closed with a lid.
The fermented infusion is further diluted before use (1 part concentrate to 10 parts water).
The infusion is stored for a long time, so it is convenient to prepare it in reserve.
During the cultivation of tomatoes, it is recommended to use the infusion twice: 20 days after planting seedlings and after the next 30-35 days.
Compost
Since it is not recommended to apply fresh chicken manure due to possible plant burns, gardeners use the following recipe:
- sawdust is poured in an even layer on a prepared separate place for compost;
- bird manure is laid out in a layer of up to 20 cm on top;
- sawdust is sprinkled again;
- lay out the chicken once again;
- a layer of straw and earth is sprinkled on top.
After the interaction of the layers for a month and a half, the resulting compost is ready for use.
For next year’s harvest, fertilizers are prepared in compost pits. The chicken is mixed with soil and placed in a prepared pit, at the bottom of which there is already a grass floor from the tops of the removed crop. In the following year, the rotted chicken is mixed with sawdust, straw, and peat and used as top dressing for tomatoes in open ground and in greenhouse beds.
Advice ! To reduce the unpleasant smell coming from the compost pit, it is sprinkled with a layer of soil or straw or a mixture of them.
It is also convenient to add bird droppings in autumn when digging up the soil – dry chicken is scattered on the ground, and the layer is leveled with a rake for uniform fertilizer application. Experienced farmers pre-wet the manure with water.
Is it possible to feed chicken tomatoes in a greenhouse?
For planting tomatoes, it is advisable not to use a fresh chicken, but one that has been fermented. Thanks to it, the beds come out with the warming effect and help tomatoes planted in the greenhouse to withstand spring frosts.
How to properly prepare a warm bed in a greenhouse:
- This is done in the fall.
- A layer of soil is removed from the tomato beds and natural insulation is spread: straw, sawdust, spruce legs or needles.
- 8-12 cm of fresh manure is laid on top and covered with removed greenhouse soil.
- Watered.
- Cover with polyethylene film.
Tomatoes can be planted on such beds earlier than usual.
Advantages and disadvantages
Chicken droppings are characterized by a rich elemental composition, availability, and low price. Its advantages also include:
- absence of toxic substances;
- long-term, up to 3 years, improved soil composition;
- acceleration of fruit ripening;
- ability to reduce soil acidity;
- ease of use;
- increasing the resistance of plants to diseases.
Tomatoes need nitrogen for good growth and fruiting. But if it is above the wall in the soil, the fruit ovary stops, and the plant gains green mass, “gets fat.” In the case of excessive introduction of chicken, which is signaled by tomato bushes that are rapidly growing, without flowering and ovaries, it is necessary to abandon feeding. Otherwise, you can be left without a harvest.
There are also several “minus” aspects of feeding with chickens – plants get burns and get sick due to a high concentration of droppings. Disease-causing microorganisms are often found in manure, and tomato bushes can get sick after feeding. Weed seeds fall into the soil with the droppings, and we have to devote more time to weeding.
Summer residents, farmers, and vegetable growers who care about their health tend to use natural, organic fertilizers. Bird droppings with a rich composition have become one of the popular natural fertilizers – they are easy to use, affordable, and effective. But if it is used incorrectly, the yield decreases, tomato bushes get burns and get sick. To avoid negative consequences, fertilizers must be applied correctly.