If you have beef or dairy cattle on your farm, you might wonder if cow dung cake is suitable for fertilizer.
You may even wonder how to use cow dung cake as fertilizer.
Let’s look into whether or not it makes good fertilizer and how to use it for fertile soil for gardens and farms.
Cow dung cakes are great as fertilizer. It’s best to allow it to fully “rot” or decompose. Dried or fresh cow dung is not a good fertilizer. When appropriately used, cow dung cakes promote healthy and fertile soil and allow worms and healthy bacteria to thrive in the soil.
Cow dung, when used at the right time in the right way, makes an excellent organic and all-natural fertilizer.
Let’s look into whether or not cow dung cakes make good fertilizer and how to use it in your garden for thriving plants.
Is Cow Dung A Good Fertilizer?
Cow manure has been used for traditional cow dung compost and fertilizer for generations and generations.
If you have access to cow dung in your area, it makes for an excellent manure and fertilizer alternative to store-bought options packed with pesticides and chemicals.
Cow dung manure contains lots of humus, bacteria, and fertilizer to help plants grow.
Farmers mix soil in cow dung to create a fantastic foundation for their crops to grow.
If you mainly keep your plants in a container with garden soil, traditional cow dung compost will also help improve the soil quality for your potted plants.
It is essential to take cow dung cakes and process them correctly.
Fresh cow dung is not great for plants or as a fertilizer.
Dehydrated cow dung turns into a sort of cow dung powder and is also not great as a fertilizer.
Processing cow dung cake compost with adequate moisture and time will give you the best form of thoroughly decomposed cow dung for your plants and garden.
When To Use Cow Dung Cakes As Fertilizer
It’s crucial to use dung on plants at the right time.
Fresh cow dung is not good for the garden or soil as it hasn’t had the adequate time to properly decompose into a suitable form for the soil.
If you just let the fresh cow dung dry out into powder, it also is not good for the soil.
It is much harder for the earth to absorb the powder, and many of the valuable nutrients, bacteria, and humus are no longer present in the dried form.
The best time to use cow cakes is when it has been allowed proper time to decompose.
Moist dung will decompose correctly into a suitable form for the garden.
The fully decomposed or “well-rotten” type of cow dung will deliver the most nutrients, beneficial bacteria, and humus to your garden.
This form of dung for plants will help them thrive and grow healthy and strong.
If you have dried-out cow cakes, there are still some uses for them.
Dry dung fuel is great for fires and burns piles.
Many people in the past used dry animal dung fuel to keep fires going when wood and other combustibles were at a minimum.
How To Use Cow Dung Fertilizer
Knowing the benefits of cow dung fertilizer likely makes you very excited to use it in your garden or farm.
It is very easy to use cow dung fertilizer once it has been adequately processed naturally with time and moisture.
Let’s dive into how to use cow dung fertilizer for a healthy and thriving garden.
- Find a bucket, pot, or large container to keep your cow dung in while it decomposes.
- Put the cow dung in the buckets and submerge it in water.
- Keep submerged cow dung cakes covered in the container for 24-48 hours.
- After 24-48 hours, drain the excess water into a separate container. This liquid makes for an excellent liquid fertilizer to use on potted plants or those in the ground already.
- Crush the cow dung cakes into a fine powder.
- Mix equal parts soil and cow dung into the bucket.
- Add water to mix soil and cow dung.
- Leave the mixture covered for 25-30 days. Check the mixture and crush the dung and soil every 4-5 days.
- After 25-30 days, your fertilizer is ready to use. It works for all seasons and will keep for up to a year in the container.
Benefits Of Cow Dung Fertilizer
Cow dung fertilizer is one of the best things to put in your garden to improve soil health and provide vital nutrients for growing plants.
There are many benefits to this type of fertilizer.
Let’s take a look.
Inexpensive
Cow dung is free for those who have cattle on their property.
Even if you don’t have cows yourself, chances are there are some farmers in your area with more cow dung than they know what to do with.
Usually, this means you’ll get the cow dung for free or very inexpensively.
When you look at the costs of store-bought fertilizer, cow dung is a great way to save money and still get quality material for your farm.
Sustainable
Cow dung is as natural as it gets.
Considering you only need water and soil to process it for use in the garden, it is very organic, natural, and sustainable.
Many fertilizers contain harmful pesticides and chemicals in their ingredients.
While this may help plants grow, it often results in pollution of waterways and soil pollution.
This negatively affects wildlife and the overall quality of the soil.
Using sustainable products like cow dung fertilizer helps ensure you support the environment.
Organic and Chemical Free
Organic is always best when it comes to growing food and taking care of our planet.
Cow dung doesn’t contain chemicals or harmful ingredients.
Cows will poop no matter what, and the dung will be absorbed back into the soil.
Processing it a little with water and soil allows you to reap the benefits of your garden’s rich nutrients, healthy bacteria, and humus.
Time Tested
Cow dung has been used in many cultures for many generations to improve soil quality and produce healthy and thriving crops.
It works and continues to be used in many places around the world.
It is time-tested for its effectiveness and will help you have a wonderful garden of happy and healthy plants.
