# Planting Fish in your Garden



## Sonnyjim (Sep 17, 2009)

I'm not sure if anybody can answer this for me, but I DO remember reading it in a book somewhere. I searched all over the internet but to no avail. Have any of you ever planted a fish in your garden as natural fertilizer? I know of fermenting the fish and making it into a nitrogen spray but I don't have enough land to do this without it completely stinking up the whole neighbourhood. I will be planting Tomatoes this year and I'm thinking a good 8lb catfish would serve well underneath it. Meat would go to dogfood, bones and guts to the garden. I would plant it about a foot and a half underneath. Any thoughts?????


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## worldengineer (Sep 20, 2010)

I was thinking of this same thing yesterday. Maybe great minds do think alike?
I found a link  here/ that I thought was insightfull.

I hope it will help. I plan on trying this out this spring. Get to fish for fun and because its usefull.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Second hand info here, but years ago my inlaws planted parts of bluegills beneath each corn seed. According to them, the corn did well .............. but it tasted fishy. :dunno:


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## Frugal_Farmers (Dec 13, 2010)

*Blender*

I have an old blender I picked up at a thrift store out in the shed. We use it to chop up fish heads, bones and entrails. Add some water and blend good. We add it to the compost pile. Work it in to the compost and let it rot.

Check the price of fish emultion and you will glad to mix some up yourself.


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## vn6869 (May 5, 2010)

Sorry, but my daughters horse keeps me well stocked with fertilizer


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

vn6869 said:


> Sorry, but my daughters horse keeps me well stocked with fertilizer


don't you have to let it to compost for 1-2 years before using it so that it doesn't 'burn' the plants? 

before posting I did a quick google & found this tidbit-packed page:

Manure Matters: How Manures Measure Up


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## Sonnyjim (Sep 17, 2009)

worldengineer said:


> I was thinking of this same thing yesterday. Maybe great minds do think alike?
> I found a link  here/ that I thought was insightfull.
> 
> I hope it will help. I plan on trying this out this spring. Get to fish for fun and because its usefull.


Thanks worldengineer, it was corn not tomatoes. And I remember it was from either a painting or a book where there was a picture of a native woman planting a fish under some corn. I am going to give this a try with my tomato plants this year and see how it goes. This with some homemade compost should be perfect for the garden. My composter is filled to the brim, have no more room left.


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

vn6869 said:


> Sorry, but my daughters horse keeps me well stocked with fertilizer


Ohhhhh ... I am jealous ...



The_Blob said:


> don't you have to let it to compost for 1-2 years before using it so that it doesn't 'burn' the plants?
> 
> before posting I did a quick google & found this tidbit-packed page:
> 
> Manure Matters: How Manures Measure Up


Yep. Rabbit poo and worm poo are the only poos I know of that you can use green ...

My mom owned a pet shop back in the early 70s ... the water from the aquariums made her houseplants absolutely skyrocket ...


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## elalr (Dec 26, 2010)

we have a livestock tank that we put the fish we catch in until we have enough to clean. every week or so we pump that water onto our garden and replace it with fresh. it was just kind of an experiment to start with. the parts of the garden that it reached was twice as tall and had much better production. the corn stalks were as much as 3 feet taller than those not getting that water. it was all watered with straight water also. we also till in the heads and guts. i remember seeing the picture of the native american putting the fish in the ground with the corn. thats what started our experiment.


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## Frugal_Farmers (Dec 13, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> Ohhhhh ... I am jealous ...
> 
> Yep. Rabbit poo and worm poo are the only poos I know of that you can use green ...
> 
> My mom owned a pet shop back in the early 70s ... the water from the aquariums made her houseplants absolutely skyrocket ...


Badge Rabbit, Check any local stables for a source of free horse poo. We go to a local college with an esquestrian center and we drop off our trailer. We pick it up the next day fully loaded and ready for the composting beds.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Grandpa always put carp in his garden. I can remember his plants always did real well.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Frugal_Farmers said:


> Badge Rabbit, Check any local stables for a source of free horse poo. We go to a local college with an esquestrian center and we drop off our trailer. We pick it up the next day fully loaded and ready for the composting beds.


craigslist has plenty of people willing to give away manure, some will even deliver it for a small fee


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

Frugal_Farmers said:


> Badge Rabbit, Check any local stables for a source of free horse poo. We go to a local college with an esquestrian center and we drop off our trailer. We pick it up the next day fully loaded and ready for the composting beds.


YIKES! That's a lotta poo ... 

There are plenty of places close to get horse manure here ... I just don't have a place to put it without offending the neighbors. It is very frustrating to be surrounded by land owners who are allowed to have livestock (grandfathered in) but not be able to do it yourself.

I can hardly wait to move outta town ... :wave:


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## jungatheart (Feb 2, 2010)

horseman09 said:


> Second hand info here, but years ago my inlaws planted parts of bluegills beneath each corn seed. According to them, the corn did well .............. but it tasted fishy. :dunno:


This story sounds fishy to me.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

It was an old custom to put a fish in the bottom of the hole when you planted a tree or a bush, for fertilizer, to give the plant a boost.

Speaking of getting manure and composting, we put notices up on local bulletin boards looking for old hay and straw. After winter there are a lot of farmers and ranchers with old hay or straw that maybe got wet or damp, or for any other reason isn't useful. It's always free, we just have to go get it.

We compost some of it, with manure, and use any that isn't moldy, as thick mulch in the garden, which then gets tilled in in the fall. It reduces watering needs and keeps the plant roots at a steady temperature, avoiding extremes of heat and cold.

The reason we're careful about spreading moldy hay is because there could be bad health effects of breathing the mold spores while we're spreading it.


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## worldengineer (Sep 20, 2010)

I love rabbit poop. It works great, and we never had it burn the plants. We actually use much less fertilizer than before, though sevendust is still a miracle.

Southern States (the store) have lots of info on plants, from organic gardening, to properly fertilizing plants. Should you ever venture into one, pick a few up. Free, already printed information on plants. They have/had a bout 20 different topics on different plants and techniques. Also pick up the ''seed catalog'' it has info on best times to plant, mature dates, and best harvests.


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

*Planting fish in the garden?*

Well ok.. but are they Heirloom Open pollinated ? none of that Monsanto crap .. won't reproduce...
How often do ya have to water em?.. don't the dirt get in their lil gills?..



Actually I've done this with some fish that freezer burned.. planted a birth tree for my son and put the fish in the hole under the tree ball.. it grew so I guess it did ok..

But if I had an 8 lb catfish I'd eat it ...then put it in the ground ...later..


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

When I saw the title to this thread (Planting fish in your garden), I have to admit I was just a little relieved to know that I wasn't the only one who tried it.

It was a complete failure! 5 years straight I planted little blue gills in my garden. I limed, I fertized -- lots and lots of water, but not a single one of those little bastards sprouted. :nuts:eep:


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

horseman09 said:


> When I saw the title to this thread (Planting fish in your garden), I have to admit I was just a little relieved to know that I wasn't the only one who tried it.
> 
> It was a complete failure! 5 years straight I planted little blue gills in my garden. I limed, I fertized -- lots and lots of water, but not a single one of those little bastards sprouted. :nuts:eep:


Well of course not you cretin.."EVERYBODY" knows Bluegill have to be planted in the dark of the moon..on a Thursday... and naked...not the fish damn it!! YOU!!... ask NaeKid he know about that chit... some of you just make me wanna bash a troll.... good thing your name is Horseman and not fishman..


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

HozayBuck said:


> Well of course not you cretin.."EVERYBODY" knows Bluegill have to be planted in the dark of the moon..on a Thursday... and naked...not the fish damn it!! YOU!!... ask NaeKid he know about that chit... some of you just make me wanna bash a troll.... good thing your name is Horseman and not fishman..


Ahhhh Geeze! NOW you tell me. I planted them on the dark of the moon, I was naked, but it was on a Saturday not Thursday. I can't wait 'till spring. Plant on Thursday. Plant on Thursday. Plant on Thursday.


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## worldengineer (Sep 20, 2010)

HozayBuck said:


> Well ok.. but are they Heirloom Open pollinated ? none of that Monsanto crap .. won't reproduce...


That Monsanto crap will reproduce. I've seen it happen in my garden before. With tomatoes, squash, and I think their was a melon or two in it. Corn does it to. Although it was the end of the season I never got the chance to "grow" anything on them.

No their weren't Heirloom. Corn definately wasn't.


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## pdx210 (Jan 8, 2010)

plant a fish heads under your plants works well


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## efbjr (Oct 20, 2008)

*Exotic poo...*



The_Blob said:


> craigslist has plenty of people willing to give away manure, some will even deliver it for a small fee


When the circus comes to town, people line up to haul away the droppings from the animals (How much 'poo' can an elephant generate in a day? ) for their gardens. 

Remember what Barnum said the "no one ever went broke underestimating the..." 

Enjoy your tomatoes! :flower:


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## GatorDude (Apr 23, 2009)

Don't do it!  My folks did tried burying fish in the garden one year when I was just a wee toddler. They read that the settlers at colonial Jamestown did that to fertilize their feilds. However, the Jamestown colonists apparently didn't bring dogs. Our scotty/mutt terrier dug up the fish within a couple of days and rolled around in them.  He stunk up himself and whole neighborhood really bad. I wouldn't try to buried fish thing unless you've got a fenced off garden. If our dog could do it, I'm sure other critters might try to dig the fish up as well.


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## Derek (Jan 24, 2011)

If you are trying to get more nitrogen in the soil Chicken and horse manure once cooled are great sources of nitrogen. Also, Nitrogen fixing bacteria, "rhizomes" that live on pea roots. I would suggest if burying fish, the deeper the better!


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