How To Make Fish Fertilizer (in One Minute!)

Making fish fertilizer is crazy easy. Here's my simple method.

[davidthegood]

Thank you for watching. Composting doesn't have to be a pain!

[hartmnundus]

Prep time: 1 minute
Cook time: 6 months

[jimgreenwood]

After 6 weeks of vigorous bubbling activity the large snapper heads and gummy shark heads have broken up and disappeared. All the bones from the heads and the frames have been digested rapidly due to balancing the nitrogen in the fish with the carbon in saw dust and the weekly addition of sugar to energize the anaerobes. In the fish emulsion without saw dust the rotting heads are still whole. It is worth adding carbon and sugar to speed up the process. A bonus is that with saw dust added the smell is reduced. Give it a try.

[jimgreenwood]

This is what I added to make my fish emulsion: 1/2 a bucket of fish heads, frames and guts, 1/2 a bucket of fine saw dust, handful of compost, handful of wood ash, 1/2 Kg sugar. In a 20 litre screw top barrel filled with bore water and stirred. The lid is air tight and not pressure tight. Weekly add 1/2 a cup of sugar and stir. It is very active with lots of bubbles rising to the surface and a layer of froth on top. When the activity has slowed right down I will leave it to fully mature for several months. Looking forward to using it. Thanks for the inspiration.

[jettyeddie_m]

Nice 😎, I found a bag of Oscar fish food I had from some Oscars I had years ago, I ground it up and threw it all over the garden, plants loved it, old fish food is also good fertilizer

[jimgreenwood]

I am now using the fish emulsion on the garden after 3 months anaerobic digestion. No trace of any bones. Amazing the snapper heads and frames were from fish well over 5 kg. 3 large snapper heads and bones have dissolved completely thanks to adding saw dust (Carbon) and sugar (Energizer).

[jimgreenwood]

The fish is heavy nitrogen C : N 2.5 to 5 : 1 and the saw dust is heavy carbon C : N 500 : 1. With a handful of compost and then weekly stir and add a handful of sugar the fish emulsion is producing lots of bubbles and froth. The fish emulsion without saw dust is otherwise the same mix and has no froth or bubbles. I am sure am sure that they are all anaerobically digesting the fish but when you see bubbles and froth it must be digesting faster.

[terryramsingh]

Do you have the follow up video on this ?

[PopleBackyardFarm]

Awesome! love this simple method. New friend Ruthie

[jimgreenwood]

I have 4 fish emulsions in 20 litre barrels. 2 with snapper heads, frames and guts, 1 with gummy shark heads, frames, guts and skin, and 1 with whiting, flathead and leatherjacket heads, guts and frames. The snapper heads and gummy shark heads were quiet large and amazingly they have been fully digested by the anaerobic Microbial Broths in 6 weeks. By adding saw dust (Carbon) and sugar it only took 6 weeks .

[hughbrackett]

Remarkably similar to early recipes for catsup.

[carolynsteele]

David, you're a funny guy. Everything you say and do delights me, especially your songs. Question: What about just burying fish in a hole a few months before you plant a tomato (melon, squash) plant?

[benissa.]

Add some sugar and skip 3 to 4 months (depends on the weather)

[hawkspiritweaver]

LOL... 3 years ago? Alright David.. you are good. I'm thinking this would be a great addition to the bio-char I'm going to be creating in another week or so

[HoofInDenver]

Silly question but does this work as well with freshwater fish? Are there less minerals?

[ZZFE]

Hi David, so it's anaerobic process? Thats it just add water?

[alexriddles]

I live 1000 miles inland and I think this work great with the freshwater fish available locally. My question is will ocean fish contain enough salt to cause a problem in the soil?

[GatorLife]

Sorry David...I like you singing your theme song much better !!! 👍
Ty4Sharing
Wolf🐺 👍🐊🏈🐊👍

[michaelwillis]

How much fish would u need to do a chemical tote full

[jimgreenwood]

Would you compost fish without adding lots of carbon AKA browns? The answer is no! It would be a foul stinking mess that would upset your neighbors. The same thing with anaerobic fish emulsion. Adding saw dust balances the carbon: nitrogen ratio and this reduces the smell and speeds up the process. It is a much quicker process and produces a lot less smell. I have tested this a couple of times and without adding saw dust the stench is foul. With saw dust it still smells but a milder smell. Also with sawdust and sugar it bubbles vigorously as it digests the flesh, bones, scales and guts. Without saw dust it is a slow inactive brew. Give it a try. You will be surprised.