Blood meal is a highly nutritious product obtained by processing the blood of slaughtered animals. Adequate heat treatment preserves digestibility and nutritional value, and the flour is characterized by an extremely high content of the essential amino acid LYZINE.
Blood meal may not sound like something you’d want in your garden, but it’s actually a very useful garden product. It is available at garden centers and home improvement stores. Most gardeners use it as a fertilizer, but it can also be used to repel pests, such as squirrels and rabbits. On the other hand, it can attract other creatures that you might not want as visitors to your garden.
What exactly is blood meal?
“Blood” in blood meal refers to blood, which is a by-product of the slaughter that takes place in meat processing plants. Most often it is cow’s blood, but it can be the blood of any slaughtered animal. The blood is then dried and turned into a powder, which is then packaged for sale as blood meal.
The origin of the “flour” in blood meal may be less obvious to most people, as it refers to a rarely used definition of “flour”: meal, the unsifted powder ground from the edible seed of any grain (such as cornmeal, for example). Except that with blood meal, the dried blood is not in the form of grains, but is ground into a powder.
Benefits of blood meal
As a fertilizer, the main advantage of blood meal lies in its high nitrogen content. If you look at the NPK sequence on the package of blood meal, you will notice that it is either nitrogen alone and nothing else, or mostly nitrogen with very little phosphorus and potassium. For this reason, blood meal is particularly good for feeding plants that lack nitrogen.
As a pest repellent, bloodmeal’s main advantage comes from its odor, which some animals find very repulsive. For example, it will repel deer, rabbits and moles. If you notice that your garden vegetables are nibbling on something, lightly sprinkle blood flour on the leaves and at the base of the plant.
Blood meal has other advantages:
- If you want to test the effectiveness of blood meal for soil enrichment or pest repellence, it is easy to do, as it usually comes in small, inexpensive packages.
- Blood meal is organic (which means it is not a chemical fertilizer).
- It will acidify your soil, which is great if you have acid-loving plants.
- It is a fertilizer with slow absorption (1 to 4 months).
Disadvantages of using blood meal
Just because it’s “organic” doesn’t mean you can use as much blood meal as you want without causing unwanted consequences. Blood meal is a concentrated form of nitrogen, and overuse can lead to other problems. Although nitrogen is great for nurturing leaves, too much can interfere with flowering. Nitrogen saturation is sometimes the cause of weaker flowering, when plants do not produce as many flowers as you would like. Excessive amounts of nitrogen can even burn plants or, worse, kill them. To avoid such problems, follow the instructions for use on the blood meal package.
Blood meal has other disadvantages. For large gardens, it would be expensive to buy multiple small packages. In this case, it is better to buy a larger package.
In addition, not all plants like the acidic soil created by the use of blood meal. The distinct smell can also attract carnivores to your garden, such as the neighbor’s dogs.
When to use blood meal
Use blood meal in the spring, as soon as you see plant growth. Reapply every 2 to 3 months thereafter until the growing season is over. Use 1/2 kg to 1 kg per 10 square meters. The use of 1 kg is considered “heavy feeding”; until you are well acquainted with this product, use only 1/2 kg per 10 square meters.
Since the use of blood meal is not without risks, it is best to use it as a fertilizer only when necessary. Yellow leaves are often an indicator of nitrogen deficiency. These weak leaves cannot absorb nutrients through photosynthesis, so in that case the application of blood meal is a good solution for revitalizing the plant.
Alternatives to blood meal
There are other byproducts of animal processing that are used as fertilizer, including:
Fish fertilizers: made from whatever is left over from fish processing plants, including bones, scales and skin. They have a high content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Feather meal: consists of bird feathers ground in poultry processing plants. It is similar to blood meal in that it provides almost exclusively nitrogen.
How to add phosphorus to the soil: 8 different ways to improve soil quality
Bone meal vs. blood meal
Blood meal and bone meal (a product consisting of animal bones, collected from slaughterhouses, steamed and then ground) sound quite similar and indeed have some similarities. Blood meal and bone meal come from animals; they are used as organic fertilizer with slow absorption; they are sold in a powdery-looking form. Both can destroy plants when used in excess and can attract dogs.
However, their differences are what will influence your decision on which one to buy.
Blood meal
- It supplies plants with nitrogen
- Supports healthy leaf growth
- It is applied to bulbs that bloom in the spring, as soon as growth is noticed
Bone meal
- It supplies plants with calcium and phosphorus
- Supports flowering and healthy root development
- It is applied to bulbs that bloom in the spring and are planted in the fall
Source: The Spruce
Source: www.agromedia.rs
