Using juice pulp in the garden....

So, lately I've been simply dumping my juicing pulp in the compost, being too lazy to make soups or anything with it, and figuring at least the compost pile benefits from it. But yesterday I started thinking...

Here's my plan:
I've made a big batch of juice this morning (broccoli-apple-lettuce-kale-cucumber!) with my vitamix, straining the juice with a nut-milk bag. I put the pulp back in the vitamix, added as much water as the container could hold, and blended it up again, so it's a thick-soup consistency. I'm thinking to next distribute the 'soup' into a half-dozen 5-gallon buckets I have outside and fill the buckets with water, and mix together, and then pour this mixture into my watering can (it's gonna take lots of refilling!) and then water my garden plants with it.

What do you think?

I've been using the rinse-water from vitamix for watering my house plants for a while now, and they seem to be enjoying it. I figure this would be like natural, organic fertilizer for the garden. There might be an issue with smell as the diluted 'soup' breaks down in the soil, but I haven't noticed this with my house plants.

If it works well, this could be something I do once a week, maybe. It'll take a while hand-watering everything with my watering can (don't know how I could make this more efficient!), but any time spent out in the garden is good time, IMO.

So, do you think it's a good idea? Has anyone tried anything like this?

Reckoning that your juicer has extracted all the goodness I would say that it would be a waste of time.

It's still beneficial organic material if you water it in and will eventually feed the soil but it will likely need some time to break down. The extract will be better than plain water by my estimation and you are probably realizing benefits from that. I don't think it will be too "hot", nitrogen wise. Now it may also be a good pest deterrent applied directly when using pulp from any of the brassicas. They have properties that fight nematodes. Personally I let my pulp feed the compost piles microbes first and then make compost tea from the pile. There is plenty left in the pulp for it to be a benefit to the pile so why not a direct application. Not sure how readily available it will be directly poured onto the root zone but it can surely be broken down in good soil with lots of fungal and other microbials and earthworms....worms love pulp. Try it and let us know what differences you notice outdoors too, please.

It would be better to put it in your compost pile, as that would give it the time to break down before being applied to your soil. Adding material that hasn't been broken down to your soil actually takes nitrogen away form the soil for a little while, and letting it compost for a while will have much better results anyway.

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Originally Posted by Living Food

It would be better to put it in your compost pile, as that would give it the time to break down before being applied to your soil. Adding material that hasn't been broken down to your soil actually takes nitrogen away form the soil for a little while, and letting it compost for a while will have much better results anyway.

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This sounds right.

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Originally Posted by MysticTree

Reckoning that your juicer has extracted all the goodness I would say that it would be a waste of time.

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No, even sawdust breaks down into valuable organic material. Nature is amazing!

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Originally Posted by delmar

No, even sawdust breaks down into valuable organic material. Nature is amazing!

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Yes I know it does but I think that the effort involved in this suggested method is excessive for the benefit and so a waste of time. Bung it in the compost bin and deal with distribution in bulk in the form of beautiful compost.

I do think there would still be some viable nutrition in the pulp, as juicing (especially with the vitamix!) doesn't extract 100% of the juice, and even 5% juice left is something! But composting it instead of diluting it and applying it might be a better way - it might be more viable broken down. Of course, I'd have to wait until the compost is ready! I think as a 'fertilizer', as I'm thinking of it as, it would be beneficial, and it's something I can do now instead of waiting.

In any case, I'm going to try it out - I couldn't get far with it today as it just won't stop raining!! Oh well, I can still water the areas that are more sheltered and not quite so soggy!

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your opinions, by the way; I love getting food for thought, as it were! And I'll keep you posted as to how things work out!

if you have access to nettles and or comfrey you can make a liquid feed from soaking these. Just dilute plenty before applying.

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Originally Posted by MysticTree

if you have access to nettles and or comfrey you can make a liquid feed from soaking these. Just dilute plenty before applying.

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Don't have much of those around here - mostly yellow mustard, alfalfa, and salsify (which I've been letting grow and am going to harvest today, weather-depending!). I like the idea of 'compost tea', though, and will find out more about it, too. I'd like to never be tempted to buy awful chemical fertilizer products! Which is one reason I don't mind so much when my raw cat poops in the garden - I figure it's free manure! :P

you can maybe pick some next time you are out in a country area.

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Originally Posted by MysticTree

Yes I know it does but I think that the effort involved in this suggested method is excessive for the benefit and so a waste of time. Bung it in the compost bin and deal with distribution in bulk in the form of beautiful compost.

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In that case, I misunderstood your point. Never mind.

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if you have access to nettles and or comfrey you can make a liquid feed from soaking these. Just dilute plenty before applying.

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I'd like to know exactly how to do that. Can you use other plants as well, and why are those two so special?

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Which is one reason I don't mind so much when my raw cat poops in the garden - I figure it's free manure!

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It's much less dangerous with a cat eating raw food then one eating the factory-produced "food", but it is still much better to age manure of any kind for a year or two to make sure tat there are no parasites or pathogens that could get on your produce, and to prevent the plants from being "burned" by all of the nitrogen.

You can even use your own waste in your garden if you compost it for a sufficient amount of time, and it is much better for the environment then flushing it down a toilet. There is a book that tells you exactly how to safely prepare and use it, called "The Humanure Handbook". You can read the whole thing online (for free) @ http://www.weblife.org/humanure/

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Originally Posted by Living Food

You can even use your own waste in your garden if you compost it for a sufficient amount of time, and it is much better for the environment then flushing it down a toilet. There is a book that tells you exactly how to safely prepare and use it, called "The Humanure Handbook". You can read the whole thing online (for free) @ http://www.weblife.org/humanure/

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Oh, boy... this could open Pandora's Box for us! My boyfriend is always saying it's natural 'to go' in nature (excusing his stealthy excursions behind the shed... why do boys like peeing outside so much, anyway? Maybe 'cuz it's so easy for them...). And as for my cat pooping in the garden, well, she buries it, and tends to do her business scattered around (while still also using her litter box, of course!), so it shouldn't be too much trouble to break down in the soil. But, yes, gotta be careful with poop, and I wouldn't want her to do this if she was eating icky kibble. Hmm, on that thought, human poop should be raw and non-SAD, too.

I'll read the article tonight! Thanks for the link, and the excuse to use the word 'poop' copiously!

We have a composting toilet and so far it is working well. Not had it long enough to pronounce on the end product!