| How to Increase Nitrogen in Soil Posted: 12 Jul 2018 05:00 PM PDT When you cultivate a garden, you want to make sure your plants grow in the healthiest conditions possible. There's no nutrient more important to the health of your garden than nitrogen! However, not all soil contains the best amount of nitrogen for plants to grow to their fullest potential. Use the right types of plant or animal waste to provide your soil with more nitrogen, so your garden can flourish the way you want![1] EditBoosting Nitrogen with Fertilizer - Use chemical fertilizer when you need a quick solution. Synthetic fertilizer is fast-acting and easy to apply. If you're in the middle of a growth season and your plants are suffering from nutritional deficiency, consider using chemical fertilizer to revive them. You can buy a wide range of chemical fertilizers at any home improvement center or nursery.[2]
- Keep in mind that chemical fertilizers are not a long-term solution. Over time, synthetic fertilizers diminish soil fertility.
- Buy fertilizer products tailored to your specific plants. When it comes to chemical fertilizers, the formulas make a big difference. If you're trying to boost nitrogen in your vegetable garden, buy fertilizer made specifically for vegetables. If your lawn needs a nitrogen boost, get a fertilizer formulated for grass. Specific formulas will release nutrients in a targeted way that is ideal for that plant type.[3]
- Read the N-P-K numbers on fertilizer labels. All fertilizers are categorized by a 3 number rating system. The first number is nitrogen (N), the second number is phosphorous (P), and the third is potassium (K). These numbers represent the percentage of each nutrient found in the fertilizer. Always check the N-P-K before purchasing a product.[4]
- Choose a nitrogen level that matches your soil's needs. For example, 27-7-14 and 21-3-3 are popular nitrogen-heavy fertilizers that will also deliver a small amount of phosphorous and potassium to the soil. A 21-0-0 fertilizer will deliver only nitrogen to your soil. You can use a balanced blend like 10-10-10 or 15-15-15 if your soil needs all 3 nutrients replenished.[5]
- Go with a quality, slow release fertilizer. Slow release or controlled release fertilizers may cost a little more, but in the long run they are the best choice. With slow release formulas, you will be fertilizing your soil less frequently because they are longer lasting. They're also more effective because they release nutrients slowly and steadily.[6]
- Cheaper products can sometimes shock and burn plants, causing a horde of new problems.
- Since chemical fertilizers can negatively affect the soil over time, less frequent applications can help preserve the health of your soil.
- Slow release fertilizers often come in the form of pellets.
EditUsing Plant Waste - Create compost out of vegetables, coffee grounds, and other food waste. Collecting food waste from your kitchen is the easiest way to enrich your soil with lots of nitrogen. It will take several months for your compost to "ripen" enough for use. Start the composting process in early summer so it will be ready by the following spring planting season.[7]
- Some other ingredients to use include tea bags, old condiments, rotting bread, corn cobs, leftover nut shells, fruit rinds, and much more.
- In the case of shells (from shellfish, nuts, or eggs) and fruit pits, it's best to smash them up with a hammer or another heavy tool before putting them in compost.[8]
- Avoid adding bones, cheese, meat, oils, or animal waste to your compost.
- Add leftover grass clippings and garden trimmings to your compost. The garden waste you create while manicuring your yard can still be put to good use! Before you sprinkle garden waste into your batch of compost, shred it up into small pieces by hand. Mix the garden waste into the rest of the compost to distribute it evenly.[9]
- Spread the grass clippings across a towel for a few hours to let them dry before dumping them into your compost. Otherwise, the grass may rot in a wet mass and leave behind an unpleasant odor.[10]
- Spread alfalfa meal on top of your soil. Alfalfa meal is very strong; it heats up as it decays, and acts quickly. Because of this, you don't want to add it deep into the soil or it could overload it. Alfalfa meal will provide the soil with plenty of nitrogen, as well as potassium and phosphorus.[11]
- Plant legume seeds, like peas, alfalfa, and beans. Legume plants are naturally much higher in nitrogen than other types of garden vegetables. As your legume plants grow, they will contribute extra nitrogen to the soil, making the soil richer and giving your other plants the nutrients they need.[12]
EditDistributing Animal Waste - Mix feather meal with fertilizer and spread it during autumn. Feather meal is dried and ground chicken feathers. If you don't keep your own chickens, you can obtain feather meal from a local garden center. Measure out around of feather meal for each plant or for every of your garden. Mix it into your fertilizer of choice before spreading it over the soil.[13]
- Work crab meal into your soil before planting your spring crops. Crab meal is made from blue crab organs and shells, and can be obtained from a garden center. Distribute the crab meal (with fertilizer) across damp soil before running a tiller across the area. The crab meal will not only nourish your soil with plenty of nitrogen, but also protect your plants from being eaten by nematodes.[14]
- Turn your tiller to its medium depth setting (if your soil is moist) or its most shallow depth setting (if your soil is hard). Move the tiller in straight lines all throughout your gardening area.[15]
- Let the crab meal rest within the soil for anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks. The nutrients will begin to break down and seep into the soil.[16]
- Soak fish emulsion into your soil. Fish emulsion is ground up fish parts. Look for it at your local garden center. Add the fish emulsion to your soil on a monthly basis; make sure to distribute enough for it to soak into the soil. Alternatively, add it to a large amount of water and sprinkle it over your plants.
- You may want to cover your mouth and nose as you use fish emulsion; it has a very strong, unpleasant smell![17]
- Keep pets away from your fresh fertilizer if you use fish emulsion so they don't dig up your plants.
- Water your garden with blood meal. Blood meal is dried animal blood. You can obtain it from your local garden center. While the idea of using blood meal to nourish your soil may sound gruesome, blood meal is actually rich with nitrogen. Blend the blood meal with water prior to using it, then distribute it with a simple watering can.[18]
- Alternatively, you can sprinkle it in a hole in the soil before you plant your next crop.
EditFertilizing with Animal Manure - Pick manure produced from poultry or livestock. Sheep, chickens, rabbits, cows, pigs, horses, and ducks are all excellent sources of nitrogen-rich manure. The manure of these animals will nourish your soil with nitrogen and many other nutrients, including zinc and phosphorus.[19]
- You can also buy aged manure from your local garden center.
- Use only 6 month old (or older) manure. It isn't necessarily the disease potential that makes extremely fresh manure unsafe to use (though that's a contributing factor). New manure contains far too much nitrogen for your dirt to absorb. Too much nitrogen can keep seeds from sprouting after planting, as the excess nitrogen will burn them up at the roots.[20]
- Put on gloves prior to handling animal manure. Manure can easily spread disease. Protect yourself from any negative effects by wearing the right gear. After distributing the manure, scrub your hands and nails under warm water with antibacterial soap.[21]
- Add manure-based compost a minimum of 60 days before you plant. Wait a minimum of 60 days so that your soil can absorb the nutrients in the manure. This will also reduce any potential health effects from eating produce that made contact with the manure. Either add it in dried form to a compost, or spread fresher manure directly over your soil. If you decide to turn the manure into compost, be sure to mix it well with the rest of your ingredients.[22]
- To really revitalize your soil and prepare it for the next planting season, distribute manure-based compost across your garden during the autumn months. The nutrients will soak into the soil over winter.[23]
- You can also buy nitrogen fertilizer from your local hardware store or gardening center.
EditSources and Citations
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| How to Tie Dye with Bleach Posted: 12 Jul 2018 09:00 AM PDT Tie dyeing is a fun way to give new life to clothes, but darker colors don't always take dye very well. If you're looking for a way to update your dark clothes, try tie dyeing with bleach! You'll get a cool white design that stands out well against dark or bright colors. EditFinding a Garment and Work Area - Work outside or in a well-ventilated area. The fumes from bleach are extremely strong and they can be dangerous, so make sure you set up your project in an area with plenty of fresh air. If you can, try to work outside. If that's not an option, choose a large room and open a window or turn on a fan.[1]
- Protect your hands with heavy rubber gloves. Bleach is a strong chemical. Even when it's diluted it can cause chemical burns on your skin. Be sure to wear heavy rubber gloves (like the kind used for cleaning) to protect your skin while you're tie dyeing your clothes with bleach. You can get these wherever cleaning supplies are sold.[2]
- Choose cotton clothing in a dark color. Black is the best color for tie dyeing with bleach because you will get the best contrast, but you can use any color as long as it's dark enough to produce an effect. Experiment with different colors to find what you like![3]
- Avoid garments made from delicate or synthetic fabrics. Bleach won't affect synthetic materials like polyester because they are designed to be colorfast. In addition, bleach can damage more delicate fabrics such as silk.[4]
- Lay down old towels or a drop cloth. If you're working inside, you'll need to protect your work surface from bleach, so cover it with a drop cloth or old towels that can get messed up. If you're using an absorbent material like a towel, be sure it doesn't get soaked or the bleach will seep through and ruin whatever's beneath it.[5]
- If you're working outside, you'll want to have something laid on the ground to protect your garment from getting dirty during the tie dyeing process.
EditCreating Cool Designs - Twist your garment to create a pattern and secure it with rubber bands. Space the rubber bands several inches apart. The parts of your garment that are rubber-banded will stay the original color, while the exposed fabric will turn white when you bleach it.[6]
- You can get creative with your designs or you can just bunch up the fabric and put rubber bands on it to get a random and totally unique look.
- Twirl the garment to create a spiral pattern. To create a traditional spiral tie-dye pattern, hold your garment with 2 fingers and twirl it so it twists tightly. Keep twirling until the entire garment is twisted into a tight knot. Secure the twirl with several rubber bands, then apply your bleach mixture.[7]
- Create several patterns on the same garment with knots. If you want to create a haphazard tie-dye, try using rubber bands to create several tight, small knots on the garment. Bunch these all together and secure with more rubber bands, then apply the bleach.
- Relocate the rubber bands and re-spray for a multi-hue effect. If you want to create a layered look, twist up your garment and apply rubber bands, then apply bleach to your fabric and let it sit for about 5-6 minutes. Take all of the rubber bands off your garment, twist your garment again, put the rubber bands back on, and re-spray the garment with the bleach mixture. Leave the second batch on for the 8-10 minutes, then rinse.[8]
- Create an ombre effect on your garment by dipping it in a bleach mixture. After you've tie-dyed your garment, you can make a cool faded effect by dip-dyeing the fabric. In a large bucket, dilute another mixture of 1/2 bleach and 1/2 water. Dip the bottom few inches of your garment in the bucket and leave it for 5-10 minutes to create an ombre effect.[9]
EditApplying the Bleach - Fill a spray or squeeze bottle with a mixture of 1/2 bleach and 1/2 water. You can get a bottle for your project at almost any store which sells cleaning supplies. You can use either a spray bottle or a squeeze bottle. A squeeze bottle may produce a slightly more precise effect than a spray bottle, but the results will be similar with either one.[10]
- Apply the bleach mixture to the exposed fabric of the garment. Spray or squeeze the bleach mixture from your bottle onto your garment. You can vary the amount of bleach that you use depending on how intense you want the color change to be. A heavier application of bleach will cause the fabric to lighten more, and you can create different looks by applying the bleach only to some areas and not to others.[11]
- Allow the bleach to sit on the fabric for 8-10 minutes. You should be able to see the bleach changing the color of the garment within about 2 minutes, but it will take 8-10 minutes for the bleach to really seep into the fabric. If you leave it on much longer the bleach could damage your garment.[12]
- Wash the garment in a mild detergent when the time is up. You want to wash your garment right away to stop the chemical bleaching process. You can either put your clothing in the washing machine with a mild detergent or you can hand wash it in your sink or bathtub.[13]
- If you hand wash your garment, make sure to leave on your gloves until you've finished rinsing it so you don't come into contact with any bleach.
- Hang your garment to air-dry or place it in the dryer. Once your garment is thoroughly rinsed, you can either air-dry it or put it in the dryer, depending on how you normally prefer to dry your clothes. After it's dry, it's ready to wear, so put it on and enjoy your new style!
EditThings You'll Need - Bleach
- Water
- Heavy rubber gloves
- Rubber bands
- Spray bottle/squeeze bottle
- Old towels or drop cloth
- Clean colored T-shirt
- Mild laundry detergent
EditSources and Citations EditQuick Summary
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| How to Check Your Hard Disk Space Posted: 12 Jul 2018 01:00 AM PDT This wikiHow teaches you how to see how much storage space remains on your computer or smartphone. This process is different than checking memory usage, which typically refers to a computer's RAM (random access memory). EditOn Windows - Open Start . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
- You can also press to open Start.
- Open Settings . Click the gear-shaped icon in the lower-left side of the Start menu.
- Click . It's a computer-shaped icon on the Settings page.
- If Settings opens to a page other than the main Settings page, click the "Back" button in the top-left corner of the window until the "Back" button disappears.
- Click the tab. This option is in the upper-left side of the Display page.
- Review your hard drive's space usage. Below the "Local storage" heading at the top of the page, you'll see an image of your hard drive with "Number used" and a "Number free" categories below it. The "Number used" section tells you how much of your computer's hard drive is being used, while the "Number free" section tells you how much free space remains.
- Open your hard disk. Click the hard disk icon below the "Local storage" heading. This will open a comprehensive list that shows you how much space specific file types, programs, and so on are taking up, which will help you target areas for clean-up if you want to free up some hard drive space.
- Open the Apple menu . Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
- Click . It's at the top of the drop-down menu. Doing so opens a new window.
- Click the tab. This option is at the top of the "About This Mac" window.
- Review your Mac's hard drive space. In the upper-right side of the window, you'll see the amount of storage remaining out of the total available storage on your computer (e.g., "15 GB free of 249 GB").
- You can see a color-coded breakdown of which programs are taking up the most space on this page as well.
- If you hover over a color-coded section, you can see exactly how much space the section's pertaining files (e.g., "Apps") are taking up.
EditOn iPhone - Open your iPhone's Settings. This app is grey with gears on it. You'll likely find it on the Home Screen.
- Tap General. It's near the top of the Settings page.
- Tap . This option is near the bottom of the screen.
- Review your iPhone's used and available storage. In the top-right side of the screen, you'll see "Number GB of Number GB Used" (e.g., "45 GB of 128 GB Used"). The first number pertains to the amount of space on your iPhone that's being used, while the second number pertains to your iPhone hard drive's total space.
- Subtracting the "Used" number from the total number will tell you how much available space your iPhone currently has.
- You can scroll down to see exactly how much hard drive space each app is currently using.
EditOn Android - Open your Android's Settings . This gear-shaped app is typically found in the App Drawer.
- You can also swipe down from the top of the screen and then tap the gear-shaped icon in the drop-down menu.
- Tap . It's in the "Device" section of the Settings menu.
- On a Samsung, you'll instead tap Apps.
- Review your Android's storage space. At the top of the screen, you should see "X GB Used of Y GB" (e.g., "8.50 GB Used of 32 GB"). You can also view a breakdown of how much space each item on your Android is using on this page.
- On a Samsung, you must first swipe right to the SD card tab.
- Your item's available hard drive space will always be less than was advertised. This is because a portion of the hard drive is used for the operating system and required files.
- If you're trying to clear space on your computer, note that you cannot change your hard disk space simply by dragging files into your trash; you must empty the trash to make more space.
- If your hard drive is full, you'll need to delete files or programs before you can add more to the hard drive.
- Traditional hard drives will always run slower than optimal speed if they're over halfway full. Solid State Drives don't have this problem.
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