How to Make Liquid Bone Meal Fertilizer at Home

Bone meal is an important natural additive used by many gardeners---particularly those growing for a yield of fruits or vegetables. By increasing calcium and providing phosphorous to plants, bone meal drastically improves yields in many cases. Liquid bone meal is made by thoroughly blending finely crushed bone meal into water. The hard part is making the bone meal fine enough for this final step, but if you have the right tools it can be done.

Things You'll Need

• Safety goggles
• Mallet (metal, not rubber)
• Large industrial grade mortar and pestle or stone grinder
• Bones

Instructions

1. Obtain bones either from kitchen scraps or a local slaughterhouse. You don't have to worry about looking for a specific type, although bones that are smaller to begin with will require less effort during the crushing phase.

2. Sterilize the bones thoroughly. Remove as much tissue as possible from the bones. Then, steam them at a temperature of 250 degrees F for 30 minutes. If you don't have a steamer, place the bones in an oven and heat it to 284 degrees F; hold the temperature there for 30 minutes to heat the bones.

3. Find a suitable location for rough crushing. A thoroughly cleaned and sanitized garage floor would work just fine. Wear safety goggles. Set up a small perimeter around your work space to prevent losing pieces of bone.

4. Use the mallet to crush the bones into small pieces. You'll end up with a pile of rough bones, but the result will not be fine enough to suspend in a liquid yet.

5. Transfer your crushed bones into a mortar and pestle or stone grinder. Work the bones down into a fine powder.

6. Concentrate your liquid bone meal fertilizer according to your needs. If soil tests have revealed serious calcium and phosphorous deficiencies, use less water and more bone meal. It may be necessary to stir the mixture over heat to get the bone meal powder to dissolve completely. If your garden only requires maintenance applications of the aforementioned minerals, use more water so that the blend will last throughout the season.

References

• North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings
• LCA Food Database