In spring, the plants develop particularly intensively and need additional nutrients to form healthy leaves, shoots and flowers. Sheep’s wool is particularly suitable for this purpose. Did you know that it is one of the few natural slow-release fertilizers? We explain how to use it naturally.
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Sheep’s wool as fertilizer: advantages and disadvantages at a glance
Sheep’s wool offers numerous advantages, but also has some disadvantages. Therefore, it cannot be used as fertilizer everywhere in the garden. To give you a better idea, we offer you a detailed list:
1. Sheep’s wool is nutrient-rich and contains important macronutrients that promote plant growth. These are nitrogen and potassium, but smaller amounts of sulfur, phosphates and magnesium are also included. The natural material is therefore particularly suitable for heavy feeders such as geraniums, dahlias, petunias, tulips and chrysanthemums. Aubergines, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and kale can also benefit from natural fertilizer in the kitchen garden. However, it is not advisable to use it for weak eaters such as herbs and salads.
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2. Sheep’s wool contains keratin – a substance that decomposes over 8 to 12 months. Nitrogen is released. Therefore, sheep’s wool is considered a long-term fertilizer that gradually supplies the soil with important nutrients. There are also studies that prove the effect of sheep’s wool.
3. Sheep’s wool can store water under certain circumstances. Sheep’s wool itself does not have any water-storing properties because it contains natural oils that transport water. However, the more time the wool spends in the ground, the more it is decomposed by microorganisms. The oils are further processed and the material can absorb water. The sooner you work the sheep’s wool into the soil, the better. This ensures that the soil is moist during the hot periods in summer and the irrigation water does not evaporate as quickly. The situation is different with wool pellets – they are already processed and have water-storing properties right from the start.
4. The sheep’s wool can loosen the soil as it swells when it gets wet. Therefore it is ideal for clay soil.
5. The natural material is very cheap, you can often even get sheep’s wool for free.
However, the natural material also has significant disadvantages. These include, among other things, its high pH value and the low amounts of some nutrients. Therefore, you should be very careful when fertilizing and find out exactly which nutrients the specific plant type needs.
Use sheep’s wool correctly as fertilizer
Foto: Shutterstock / Alexander Knyazhinsky
Sheep’s wool should also be dosed correctly so that it can achieve the best possible effect. For greenhouse you should:
Heavy feeders – incorporate around 200 g per square meter (additional fertilization may be necessary) Medium feeders – incorporate around 100 g per square meter (no additional fertilization necessary) Light feeders – incorporate 75 g per square meter (no additional fertilization necessary) Tomatoes – 200 g per tub Chili peppers – 100 g per bucket for potatoes, 100 g / per bucket for strawberries – 25 g / per bucket
When dosing sheep’s wool pellets, you can measure the required amount. 1 tablespoon is about 10 g, a handful is about 40 g, 1 coffee cup is about 140 g.
The fertilizer pellets or sheep’s wool are worked into the root area of the plants. If you wish, you can add a little more compost, so heavy eaters in particular are well taken care of. It is also worth testing the soil pH levels every six weeks and adjusting the pH if necessary.