Fish in a garden bed with tomatoes is not at all an invention or a joke of gardeners. Among the many tricks undertaken by the owners of their personal plots in order to obtain a huge harvest, there is this one. Let's try to figure out whether it is worth stocking up on fish at the time of planting tomato seedlings in the garden and, if this is really worth doing, how to do it with the highest probability of winning. Why put fish in the hole when planting tomatoes? There is an opinion that American Indians They put fish under their plantings. Supposedly this even reflects rock painting. We don’t undertake to say for sure, but we admit this option. At present, when fish products are not cheap, in our country this is done in those places where they are available in sufficient quantities: in Primorye and on Far East fish waste is even used to grow potatoes, Astrakhan region also common this method growing tomatoes. The cheapest types are used.
Why put fish when planting tomatoes? It is clear that fish, with its organic composition, will obviously add some useful components to the soil during its decomposition. Which ones exactly? This is what needs to be determined in more detail. Plants need to receive sufficient amounts of various macro and microelements to grow and develop. Among macro (= many) are especially necessary: Nitrogen – necessary for the process of photosynthesis. The main sources are manure, humus, urea, etc. If the plant receives it in excess, it “fattens”, i.e. The plant develops a large green mass, but the yield is minimal. Potassium – helps fruit ripening. The main source is potash fertilizers and wood ash. Phosphorus – promotes flowering and fruiting of plants. The main source is superphosphates and bone meal. It is known that tomatoes are particularly demanding on the phosphorus content in the soil. On initial stage phosphorus stimulates the development of the root system of plants, later accelerates the process of formation of flower clusters, and at the stage of harvest ripening improves the taste of tomatoes. Just to provide the tomatoes with a sufficient amount of phosphorus in an accessible form, fish is added under the roots of the seedlings. The same result can be achieved using superphosphate. But if there is such a tradition, let’s decide how to do it most correctly. Feeding tomatoes with fish when planting seedlings At the time of planting tomato seedlings Often small fish are used as a fish additive: capelin, sprat, herring. Connoisseurs organic farming They say that it is best to use pre-prepared and frozen heads as a top dressing for tomatoes. At the time of planting seedlings, you need to prepare holes of sufficient depth (at least 60 cm deep), put them in each head, sprinkle it with soil, and then plant the seedlings. If the holes are less deep, there is a risk of an odor that may attract pets. Attracted by the fishy smell, cats and dogs are able to dig up plantings and damage planted plants. It is also recommended to add and eggshells as an additional source of calcium. By autumn, nothing will be found in place of these additives - root system tomatoes will process everything into useful macroelements. Fish feeding of tomatoes throughout the season If at the time of planting the seedlings there was no fish at hand, then this can be done later by digging it deep enough next to the bush. In addition, this method of feeding is recommended to be carried out throughout the growing season. This is especially easy to do if someone in the family likes to fish. Fish remains can be passed through a meat grinder, diluted with water and such liquid fertilizer, without waiting until it begins to smell unpleasant, water the soil between the tomato bushes (not at the root!) There is also an opinion that fish (even just scales can be used) are buried into the soil to repel mole crickets, which destroy young plants by feeding on their roots, but cannot tolerate the smell of rotten fish. The insect avoids such places, and this helps preserve the plants. Other ways to feed vegetable plants with fertilizer based on fish waste Instead of fish directly, you can use fishmeal and other types of fertilizer based on waste. Maxim Zhmakin’s book “All About Fertilizer” provides several options for feeding tomatoes based on fish waste: Bone meal - produced industrially. Stimulates the rapid formation of roots during transplantation. It is important to mix it well with the soil in the hole when planting seedlings, because... phosphorus does not dissolve and does not move in the soil. Application rate - 1-2 tbsp. spoons (or 40 g) / bush. Fish meal is produced in the same way as fish bone meal. Additionally, soft waste is used. It contains more nitrogen (up to 10%). Phosphorus is usually 3%. Apply 1-2 tbsp into each hole immediately before planting the bush. spoons (or 40 g) / bush. Fish emulsion is mainly obtained by processing fish of the herring family - menhaden, which the American Indians used as fertilizer. This type of fish is not valuable for Food Industry and is used for livestock feed and fertilizer production. It is recommended to apply in small doses once a month throughout the growing season. To do this, a small amount of emulsion is dissolved in water and the plants are watered directly under the root. The disadvantage is the characteristic fishy smell, which can attract cats. Here is a study on the usefulness of using fish and derivatives in agricultural technology for growing tomatoes. Scientific basis There was almost no mandatory use of it. But in practice this method is widespread. Amateur vegetable growers often write on forums about the results that pleased them. Therefore, everyone decides for themselves; many questions can only be answered experimentally. At least within the boundaries of your own greenhouse.
Once upon a time in the USSR, frozen sprat cost 10 kopecks per kilogram, and there were no fertilizers on the market for summer residents at all. Because of its cheapness, our grandmothers used fish as fertilizer for garden plants. How to do this and does it really have any beneficial effect?
It turns out that those who are interested in fishing do not have to spend money on buying fertilizers for crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers or bell peppers. Fish entrails, heads and scales can be an invaluable source of phosphorus necessary for plant development. Even at the seedling stage, if you wash and clean the fish, then you need to do this not with tap water, but with specially settled water, which every gardener probably has at home for watering seedlings. This water is very useful for seedlings. She stops reaching up. Due to the abundant supply of phosphorus to the roots, they become stronger and, consequently, the growing stem becomes stronger.
Try before planting tomatoes in open ground bury one or two sprat in each hole and the result will surprise you. The plant will develop much faster, the stem will be thicker, and the side shoots will not be so brittle. And the most important thing is that for all nightshades these are larger and juicier fruits. In general, the yield will be significantly higher due to the earlier development of the plant as a whole. For our early cold weather, this is an important advantage.
Fish fertilizer has another advantage - it not only strengthens the plant, it makes the soil more fertile. The nitrogen contained in fish waste gradually decomposes in the soil over 6-8 months, making it more loose and oily.
You need to bury the fish to a depth of at least 8-10 cm. This is due to the fact that, firstly, at such a depth, nitrogen will not evaporate from the soil, and secondly, there is less chance that tailed fish lovers will smell the delicacy and dig up your garden ( meaning cats). And it is also very important that the roots of the plant and the fish fertilizer do not come into contact with each other, otherwise they may “burn” slightly. Therefore, it is necessary to make an earthen layer between them.
Fish feeding can be applied not only during planting. Fish waste infused in water is called fish emulsion. You can water the plants with it until the very end of fruiting.
I myself put fish when planting tomatoes in the ground. I grow the roots of tomatoes up to half the entire height of the plant in advance. Then I lay the plant with a root of 30-40 cm horizontally and slightly tilt it with its root to the south.
At the bottom of the trench before planting tomatoes, I place either fish peelings and heads, or small fish such as bleak - along the entire root of the plant.
I sprinkle a little soil and compost on top, put tomatoes and make a small earthen mound over them. I bury the tomatoes at 2/3 of the height of the plant.
When I harvest the tomatoes, or rather, with difficulty tearing the roots out of the ground, there are no traces of fish under them - no scales, no bones, nothing. Perhaps the roots of tomatoes secrete substances that help digest organic matter, or attract bacteria for these purposes. In any case, the tomatoes grow healthy and require almost no fertilizing.
According to “British scientists”, tomatoes are predatory carnivorous plants.
Plants have sticky hairs that catch tomatoes small insects, which fall into the soil, where they are absorbed by the roots.
From time to time I feed the tomatoes with the following: I dilute the liquid remaining after defrosting fish or meat several times warm water and water it at the root.
There are about a thousand carnivorous plant species on earth, including potatoes. I have never added fish under potatoes when planting, but after analyzing the situation, next spring I'll definitely do this.
Now I want to say a few words about the dangers and benefits of using rotten fish and other organic matter in agriculture. I think there is only one harm - plantings dug up by cats and other animals.
In general, I love animals and I think that you can come to an agreement with them, after all, they are only interested in fresh fish. A small portion on a plate next to the garden bed satisfies their appetite.
And to protect the beds, this is what I do: I cover the plantings for a day or two, but if the areas are large, you can spray the garden with a decoction or tincture of citrus peels or put them along with the fish.
You might think that fish would create a terrible smell in the area? No. If you place the fish at a sufficient depth (20-30 cm), there will be no smell, and the roots of the plants will eventually take what they need.
In general, all organic fertilizers do not have a very pleasant “aroma”. However, no one is bothered by the stench from the infusion of rotten grass, beautifully called “green kvass,” which spreads over tens of meters and cannot be washed off from hands. What about manure? And at the same time, stale fish is also called poison?! By the way, slightly rotten fish is served in Sweden, and, mind you, not in the suicide club, but in restaurants...
How and what kind of organic matter to use in the garden is up to everyone to decide for themselves. The end result is important. And the best proof the right decision- a sugary and meaty tomato grown in the north of the Leningrad region.
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Some readers claim that planting potatoes with fish is harmful, as they release cadaverous poison, which the vegetables absorb. But so far no one has proven or told this. Let’s assume that the poison is released, but in tiny doses, and does no harm.
And now another question. IN Lately A common method is to treat potatoes before planting with a well-known commercial preparation to kill the Colorado potato beetle. The manufacturers of this poison claim that it has no effect on humans. Have any of the summer residents conducted research on this topic?
I have published many articles about planting potatoes with fish, and many have criticized me for this method. And with this landing I achieved the following successes:
Completely got rid of the wireworm;
doubled the yield;
moles avoid the area.
Hence the conclusion: wireworms and moles do not respect the smell of fish, and the fish itself turns into fertilizer, which increases productivity.
In the Altai Republic we have a testing center of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “SAS Torno-Alaiskaya”, which is located in the village of Mayme and is involved in testing feed and soil. I turned to this center for help in identifying harmful substances, in particular cadaveric poison, in my potatoes grown with fish.The samples shown in the photo are: No. 1 – potatoes grown with fish; No. 2 – potatoes grown without fish. The tubers are taken of the same size, of the same variety, the plots are located nearby. From the test report it is clear what the difference is in the tested samples. But the most important thing is that no poisons were found there!
The protocol is attached. So, dear readers, study this document carefully and decide for yourself whether to plant potatoes with fish or not.
Answer
Ivan Danilov Altai
Chasing for big harvest tomatoes, gardeners are coming up with unexpected feeding options. For example, when growing and planting tomatoes, fish or fish waste is used.
Some simply bury it in the ground, others cook it liquid fertilizer. Both options are not entirely common, but effective. The product is organic. It contains phosphorus, which tomatoes need at all stages of the growing season.
Why do tomatoes need fish?
In the Astrakhan region, tomato lovers do not question why tomatoes need fish. They know very well about its benefits. Fishing is popular there, there is always a lot of fish, they always fed it with tomatoes. When fish rots, substances are released into the soil that benefit plants:
- ammonia;
- hydrogen sulfide;
- phosphorus;
- manganese.
On a note!
Scientists have proven that a large concentration of hydrogen sulfide kills a plant, and small doses stimulate the growth of vegetative mass.
There is no point in listing all microelements. Meat and bones contain almost the entire periodic table. When tissues decompose, they all go into the soil, restore its fertility, and nourish the tomatoes. That's why the fish is put in. At the beginning of the growing season, it supplies the tomatoes with phosphorus.
It stimulates the development of:
- the root system is formed faster;
- root nutrition improves;
- flower clusters appear faster.
What fish is suitable for tomatoes?
Phosphorus is found in any fish, so you can use any inexpensive varieties. To plant tomatoes, gardeners buy herring, sprat, and capelin. Any river fish is suitable for tomatoes. Fresh catch is an ideal fertilizer for tomatoes.
Not to carry additional expenses, in winter they accumulate fish waste. Fish heads are frozen. They are thawed the day before planting and used in the same way as a fresh product. Small fish are used whole, and large fish are divided into several parts.
How to properly bury fish when landing
Seedlings are transplanted into the ground when warm weather sets in, in heated soil. The holes are placed according to the pattern corresponding to the variety:
- 30 x 50 cm – super determinate, determinate;
- 40 x 60 cm – medium height;
- 45 x 60 cm – tall.
The holes are made with a reserve, deeper than usual. Whole or cut into pieces fish (fish heads, waste) and eggshells are placed on the bottom. Sprinkle them with a mixture of garden soil and humus and water them.
Transfer tomato seedlings into the holes. The roots are covered with earth. Water and mulch the hole with humus. In summer, fish fertilizer will feed the tomatoes. By autumn it will completely rot and become part of the soil.
Fish feeding of tomatoes
During the active growing season, tomatoes are fed with organic matter every week. To do this, mullein or grass is infused in a barrel and fish waste (tails, heads, bones) is saved. Once every 3 weeks, prepare liquid fertilizer:
- fish waste is twisted in a meat grinder;
- pour them into a bucket;
- pour in settled water, stir;
- leave for 1 hour;
- mix and start feeding.
Add 0.5 l to 5 liters of water organic fertilizer, water the ground between the bushes.
Advice!
The smell of rotten fish scares away the mole cricket, so it is buried in the ridge to protect the roots of the tomato from the pest.
Other fish fertilizers
At fishing enterprises, production waste is used to prepare organic fertilizers:
- bone meal;
- fishmeal;
- fish emulsion.
Amateur gardeners use them for summer feeding and apply them when planting.
| Fertilizer | Mode of application | Quantity | Effect of use |
| Bone Meal | Apply to the soil during planting | 1-2 tbsp. l per 1 hole | Stimulates the formation of the seedling root system |
| Fish flour | Apply to the soil during planting | 1-2 tbsp. l per 1 hole | Stimulates the growth of roots and vegetative mass |
| Fish emulsion | Root feeding once a month | A small amount of liquid is added to the water for irrigation. | Increases drought resistance, promotes the formation of ovaries, improves the quality of fruits |
Even skeptics can try this method. It's not complicated. It is not necessary to bury waste under every bush. To begin with, it is enough to feed 1-2 bushes and evaluate the result. On next summer use the method again if the experimental bushes have a good harvest.