How to Use Ammonia As a Fertilizer

eHow may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.

Things You'll Need

  • 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon pure ammonia

  • Gallon of distilled water

  • Garden hose sprayer

If you're a home gardener and want to try something new and less expensive to fertilize your lawn and plant beds, there are many different homemade concoctions that gardeners swear by. One of the most popular is to use pure household ammonia as a fertilizer because commercial fertilizers use nitrogen, which is produced by ammonia. By carefully diluting pure ammonia with distilled water, you can easily fertilize your own garden without dishing out extra money on manufactured fertilizers.

Advertisement

How to Use Ammonia As a Fertilizer

Step 1

Purchase pure ammonia, not household cleaners that contain ammonia. The additional chemicals may either do absolutely nothing or can damage the area you're fertilizing; either way, it won't be productive.

Video of the Day

Step 2

Measure out 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon of pure ammonia, depending on the size of the area you are fertilizing. Carefully pour the ammonia into a gallon of distilled water and shake it up to combine.

Step 3

Since you are using liquid fertilizer, the best way to apply it evenly is to use a garden hose sprayer. They are available in the lawn and garden section of your local hardware store.

Advertisement

Step 4

Carefully pour approximately 1 quart of your diluted ammonia mixture into the garden hose sprayer (check the manufacturer's instructions). It's important to use a small amount of fertilizer at a time because too much can destroy plants.

Step 5

Spray your plants or lawn with the garden hose sprayer. Repeat with additional fertilizer by refilling the sprayer until you cover all desired areas.

Tip

You can find pure ammonia in big bottles on the cleaning aisle at the grocery store.

Warning

Always handle pure ammonia with care and do not inhale it.

Advertisement

Video of the Day

resources