Also, can’t you imagine summer without tasty and fragrant tomatoes? If you want the tomatoes you grow at home or in the garden to be strong, resistant and bear fruit well, they need enough sun, water and nutrients. Do you know what to fertilize tomatoes with? If you prefer homemade fertilizers to purchased fertilizers, you can try oatmeal fertilizer. Read on for three ways you can use the oatmeal you might be eating with yogurt and fruit for a healthy, nutritious breakfast as fertilizer.
Oatmeal not only adds nutritional value to our diet, but also helps tomatoes grow as a fertilizer.
| Video: Diary/Jiří Štraub
Homemade fertilizers are popular because they tend to be effective, ecological and also very cheap. You will find oatmeal fertilizer enthusiastically described in many videos on social media. You can prepare it quickly and easily, because most people usually have flakes in their pantry. Also, you have already transplanted the small tomato seedlings into larger pots at this time so that they can develop and get stronger.
You will then be able to transplant the strong and resistant seedlings into the soil outside in the flower bed in mid-May, when there is no longer a threat of ground frosts. Tomatoes are demanding on nutrients, so the seedlings must not only be watered, but also fertilized.
How to fertilize tomatoes with flakes
Oatmeal as a fertilizer is not a new discovery of YouTubers. Our ancestors were convinced centuries ago that this cereal works as an excellent fertilizer.
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“Using oatmeal in gardens is not really a new trend. It has been around for over a century. At the beginning of the 20th century, people heated water and poured flakes into it. They left them in warm water for about five minutes before they had time to thicken and start to cook. Then they strained the juice through a cloth and poured it on houseplants and garden plants as fertilizer,” said gardener Dennis Sons on the Homes & Gardens website. The plants then had large leaves and thrived well.
Tomato seedlings need not only enough water, but also nutrients. Oatmeal fertilizer is one of the options.Source: Shutterstock
Oats are not only ideal for people’s healthy eating. It also contains many nutrients needed for healthy plants, including the three main ones – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Tomato seedlings, if you supply them with oatmeal to the soil in which they grow, will reward you for the nutrients with lush growth.
Nutrients in Oatmeal:
- phosphorus – supports the growth of the root system and plays a key role in the flowering period of tomatoes
- nitrogen – is necessary for the formation of leaves and the growth of other green parts of plants
- potassium, zinc, calcium and magnesium – are vital for overall healthy plant growth
- fiber – nourishes the soil and restores bacteria in it that decompose organic matter
Flakes used as mulch
You can simply sprinkle oatmeal on the surface around the tomato seedlings. Don’t forget to water them. You can also use the flakes as mulch and mix them into the topsoil. Vitamins and minerals will be released into the soil gradually. It will support the growth of the root system and the development of the necessary soil bacteria. Oatmeal in the soil will also be appreciated by earthworms, which in turn will aerate the soil and thus contribute to a better tomato harvest.
In order to be able to enjoy a rich harvest of tomatoes in the summer, we must properly fertilize them.Source: Shutterstock
Mixing the flakes into the top layer of the soil or sprinkling them as a type of mulch is also recommended by herbalist Daniela Rey on the Homes & Gardens website.
“As the oatmeal breaks down, it releases nutrients into the soil. As a slow-release fertilizer that can last for several months,” the herbalist describes, adding that the flakes are primarily a rich source of nitrogen, which helps plants grow large green leaves.
“Oats also contain a unique type of fiber that nourishes and restores healthy bacteria in the soil. These bacteria help break down organic matter in the soil and make it available to plants,” added Daniela Rey.
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It is also a great way to grind or blend oatmeal into a fine powder, which you then sprinkle on the soil around the tomatoes. In this form, you can prepare the flake powder for stock.
Flake topping
You can also use the flakes in liquid form, thanks to which it penetrates the plants faster. “You can prepare the flake dressing easily. It is suitable not only for tomatoes, but also for cabbage,” he stated along with the iReceptář procedure:
- Blend 3 tablespoons of oatmeal.
- Add to them 1 liter of water and stir.
- Leave the mixture stand for several hours and then strain it.
- Liquid fertilizer dilute with standing water in a ratio of 1:1 and use as a topping.
- The fertilizer prepared in this way is intended for quick consumption and should not be stored for later use.
Lindsey Hyland, founder of Urban Organic Yield, touts oatmeal as a good fertilizer for some vegetables, but warns that not all plants in your garden will appreciate it.
“It is particularly beneficial for tomatoes and other vegetables that need more nitrogen in the soil, such as cabbage, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and spinach. However, flakes should be avoided when fertilizing flowering plants or other more delicate varieties. This could lead to poor growth or diseases caused by excess moisture near the roots,” warns Lindsey Hyland.
Flakes as a repellent
Oatmeal sprinkled around the plants deters pests such as slugs, for which they are an unpleasant barrier. But do not overdo it with the amount, so as not to attract rodents looking for food.
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“Oatmeal can also help in the fight against pests such as aphids, mites, mealybug larvae and some types of caterpillars. To use oatmeal as a pest control method, mix it with water until it forms a thick paste and spread it over affected plants and surrounding soil,” advised Lindsey Hyland.
They see flakes as a bad idea
Not everyone is excited about the idea of using oatmeal as a fertilizer.
“Oats will provide very few nutrients to your plants, and any raw oats added can affect drainage and cause rot and mold to grow,” says the Den Garden website. According to him, the nutritional value of oats is in its raw form, which is unusable for plants.
“It has to break down first before the nutrients are available, at which point the nutrients will be lower. Compost, on the other hand, is already broken down and all the nutrients are available to the plant,” he prefers compost over using oatmeal as fertilizer.
Architectural Digest is also skeptical about the nutritional benefits of oats for plants.
“It’s not a benefit,” says Christopher Satch, founder of horticultural consultancy NYC Plant Help and professor at the New York Botanical Garden, on the website. Vladan Nikolic, a plant care expert who runs the blog Mr. House Plant.
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According to both Satch and Nikolic, oatmeal lacks the breadth of nutritional value that a standard fertilizer would contain.
“Take calcium, for example, an essential plant nutrient. A cup of oats contains about 0.05% calcium. Standard fertilizer on the market contains 2% calcium, which is 40 times more than oats,” explains Christopher Satch.
“Even if oat fertilizer contains minerals, if you only use it to fertilize your plants, your plants will lack all the other nutrients that are not contained in the oatmeal fertilizer,” adds Vladan Nikolic, adding that plants need 16 minerals for good growth and development.
You can find more great tips for your garden in the menu of articles below.
Tags: healthy breakfast great tomato fertilizer enthusiasm warnings experts
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