Grow Your Own Fertilizer? Grow Tithonia diversifolia!
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- čas přidán 7. 07. 2024
- About once a month, we do a massive cut back on all of the Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) growing around the farm. Up until recently we had been just cutting the material back and laying it down in the same area, but now that our ground covers are filling in - we are hauling the biomass to other areas of the farm in need.
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I am a Sri Lankan farmer. I have been started to make liquid fritilizer using this plant from last 3 years. Thank you so much for your explanation
Amazing, do you just make it like a tea ?
I've only got a 20 ft. section as a privacy fence, a good 10-12 ft tall now, but I love it, especially those beautiful yellow sunflowers lining my driveway...makes me smile every time...!
Great info Pete, I have found pigeon pea also makes a great chop and drop.
I have been using pigeon pea as well. I need to grow alot more nedt year!!
@@soilbellefarm3710 Pigeon pea works great I love it
I can't wait for your plant sale!
You've been a wonderful teacher and with the plant sale, also a provider. I hope you close your eyes every night knowing that you have, in fact, changed this world so much for the better. A world Gavin will inherit very soon, same as my grand sons, and for this, I thank you.
Thanks so much Amber! I appreciate the support and kind words 🙌
Me too i need me some!!! I live in north west Florida though so hopefully you will have some in the spring. I wonder if anyone know a plant that will grow all year round in zone 8b
I planted a 350 ft row last year, 5 plants @ 18" between 2 plants of timber bamboo @ 10 ft. The sunflower became a self-mulching system alongside the bamboo plants until they matured enough to create their shade and leaf mulch. To overcome the tendency to self-root I found that if I stacked the lower hard part on top of the green tops that gives enough time for the hard part to dry up and not take root. Next I plan to use it as a vermiculture food for worms.
If you let a lot of the flowers dry up over winter I did find a few seeds were viable, but a very small percentage and they are easy to pull out. Please report back on the chemical analysis.
This is fascinating! I did a video on my love of tithonia, but I had no idea how amazing truly are! Thanks so much for the video.
Very cool Pete thank you for sharing.
Love this plant too. I use my ryobi battery chainsaw on the thick stalks,works great. I plant it around all my young fruit trees,chop and drop all summer then let it grow taller around the fruit trees in winter to protect them if we get a freeze.
How well does it protect from freeze?? This is the exact reason I want to start growing it. Thanks
Thank you for sharing!
I'll share this video with my mother in law.
You know I love my tithonia! I got mine from one cutting. Up here in north Florida, (Jax) they do grow slow the first year, but hold on to your butts after that. I have at least 10 clumps.
Didn’t know about that! We have this plant growing in several places here in Brazil. Great video!!!
Awesome! Thanks
Thanks again Pete, for sharing your knowledge. 👍
No problem Nathan! 👊
Great vid Pete & Melissa !!!
Ty4Sharing
Wolf🐺 👌👍👊
Awesome videos! Really enjoying your channel
Thanks Juan!
Great info. Thank you.
Thanks for posting this.
Exceptional video Pete, I love listening to you. I always learn so much from you. I am telling everyone I know to subscribe.
Thanks Manny! 🙏
Here's my favourite Green Manure plants so far:
Gliricidia sepium
Madre de Agua
Bilimbi
Neem
Banana
Lemongrass
Torch Ginger
Turmeric
Please note that we live in the Tropics. Do add your favourites so I can try too. Thanks 😊
Cool!
Thanks for the video Pete! One time I made the mistake of chopping and dropping my Mexican sunflower all over my "yarden" beds and then covered it with a layer of mulch. It sprouted everywhere! Must have like the moist environment the mulch created. I have 3 clumps that I keep in my yard for fertilizer and I chop it down when it gets about 5 feet tall. The stems are easier to cut with my hand pruners when the plants are short. If they get tall, the stems are thick and harder to cut. It's a great plant and the flowers smell like honey!
Yes, I forgot to mention the amazing fragrance 🌻
@@PeteKanarisGreenDreamsFL The butterflies love them!
Can’t wait to see the chop and drop video two thumbs up 👍
This is so interesting. I am learning so much from you. Thank you
Awesome! Thanks
Thank you 😊
Great content. I’m looking forward to being able to order some
Awesome! Thanks
My goodness there is so much to learn
Thank you so much. You help so many people.
Thanks Gloria!
I bought some cuttings of Mexican Sunflower when you first started shipping them 3ish years ago (along with some other plants in your amazing introductory offer). They were beautiful. We've moved, so we don't have them anymore. Whenever you're ready to ship, I'll be placing an order. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! Thanks for the support 🙏
Me too. Let us know please.
Awesome video. great tips on propagating... I have been very unsuccessful because I was using the green part....now I know to go for the woody part.
Thanks David!
Looking good out there!
Thanks John! 👊
Thanks for sharing tips
That Mexican sunflower I wish I had some awesome I do the same thing with papaya plants they don't carry fruit in north east TX but they look good and good mulch
I love the mexican sunflower. It literally grows 4 feet in a week. Chop and drop king plant. Great work Pete def make a video about the liquid ferts with the sunflower in it
Thanks Mathew!
My mexican sunflower seeds are not sterile. They are very full and tall. One plant takes up 3-4 ft wide and over 10 ft tall.
They give me tons of volunteers each spring. I transplant through out the garden. If it rained more they would over take the garden. Def not sterile.
Absolutely beautiful!! Mine receive full sun in zone 9.
Thank you for the fertilizer info!
Wow! You’re actually getting the seeds to sprout for you as volunteers?! Very neat
Another awesome video Pete thanks for sharing man keep it pump up over there I will keep pounding dirt over here 👍🏼 !!!!
Thanks bro! 👊
Pete Kanaris GreenDreamsFL ❤️👍🏼
That is great information thanks
Very informative
I'm glad I have Mexican sunflower
Haven't even watched the video yet but what a great intro! haha
Thank you!
Great content!
Thank you!
Learn new thing today
Thank for sharing
Awesome!
Great info...
Thanks!
Great info
Thanks!
Grow Grow Grow👊
Thank you
So awesome.
Thanks!
Shout out to ya Pete... your technics & fruit tree planting science got my lil grove looking a food forrest on steroids
Wow Mike! Thanks so much for sharing 🙌
My mom's is about 4 years old an over 20 ft. I've started hundreds from it very useful tree good pollinator also.
Awesome! Such a great plant
Thanks Pete, I've been using comfrey tea for the phosphorous in it. I got some stinging nettle seed to grow next year so I don't have to use diluted urine for the nitrogen. Part of the reason was going to get a banana plant or so was for the potassium ,supposedly they die back in winter then come back the following spring, and if a person has a way to keep them at 50F or above they will fruit. My biodigester is a 5 gallon bucket.
I will see if I can find some of the Mexican sunflower.
I must have dug up and moved my banana 5 times over 7 years. I finally, just this week, see a flower. I'm over joyed. I'm using comfrey and ink berry leaves and the banana leaves too.
@@nancyfahey7518 Good, maybe you'll get some bananas. What part of the country do you live in?
I'm 30 minutes north of Pete. Since watching him I've learned where to plant for protection. Got papaya we're eating too. Its glorious!
Wow 😮
V.useful information
Perfect. I have my first cutting rooted and was wondering how it fits my system. Spring is here, good times.
Sweet!
See these all around my neighborhood in tampa and never knew what they were.
Yup! Most people think they’re a weed.
Could be. I live in Manitoba in the country on 80 acres, on a gravel road. Sometimes the signal is iffy. Keep up the good work yo.
Tithonia's take a lot of room. There are some nice hybrids. I removed one recently (the only one I had), simply because I don't have the space...If I had a farm or nursery of some size, though, I'd grow a bunch ! Great video !
Hey Jeff! Good point. I didn’t even think to mention the space required in the landscape.
You are such a wealth of knowledge! I look at your videos first when I get on CZcams.
Thanks guys! 🙌
Wow I never knew and we get this plant All over the mountains the whole mountains is covered with this plant and it does look beautiful wen it all blooms but People take is as weed out here
Great info thank you
Seriously an amazing plant! Where are you located?
Pete Kanaris GreenDreamsFL
I’m from India
Mischelle Shinglai nice! I hope to visit India one day and film a tour.
Pete Kanaris GreenDreamsFL wow that sounds exciting do include Manipur in your list
When you coming to Guatemala for a Perma trip? Me and my buddies have multiple perma farms to show you around. I been farming for over 15 years here and we would love to host you...
Hey Alex! Maybe next year. I’ve been wanting to see lake Atitlan and check out the permaculture scene. Please drop me an email: admin@greendreamsfl.com
when youre ready to ship them out I will be ordering some!
Awesome! We’re are almost there
Sterile seeds? That's probably why the Mexican Sunflower I bought in spring in the seed packet from Botanical Interests didn't grow into this lol. I was trying to chop n drop like you!
I have been SO interested in learning this full system... I've always wondered how people have enough compost to even feed their garden that feeds their family. I want to do this without robbing Peter to pay Paul. . . meaning, I want something that takes atmospheric and solar energy with the help of microbes and doesn't mine an area of soil completely out of something.
They used a methane digester? That's really cool, I want to do HomeBioGas for us to cook on so having plenty to toss in there for cooking gas and liquid fertilizer would be awesome.
I ALWAYS remember that you use a silica content plant to put over it so it breaks down slower, but I always forget to look up how to spell thackahatchie grass and if it grows in Texas. While we will eventually move to Costa Rica or Kenya, we are in Texas now. I wonder if this Tithonia Diversifola plant would grow here? ..... Says zone 8-11... we are on border of 7B and 8A so maybe against the house to the south?
Love the new JADAM/Syntropic direction for the channel, digging deeper into this stuff for people who love to watch and want to also do it
I'll be excited one day to have a system where i have a methane digester, compost tea maker that feeds from worm bin, compost piles, chop n drop on site, and just all kinds of things that I've learned but with enough material to comfortably feed them all and keep the systems going. I think sourcing enough material on site is obviously key, but the how to and advice on that is crucial.
Do you think whenever we move in Texas to our new place that you would be able to do online consulting just as questions come up for a fee? I love your videos and it would be great if I could email you or call you up to share my roadblock and see what you recommend to overcome it
azola makes a great fertilizer!
Yes, that too!
Easy to take cuttings, just poke in dirt. Great video.
Thanks!
Awesome videos man! I own a nursery in Clearwater, I only grow rare & exotic palms, but would still love to meet you and pick your brain. You are really making me gain interest in rare fruits, one of my neighbors has a fruiting jack fruit tree. I know you are probably a very busy man, but if you do get some time to head into south Pinellas, let me know!
I’ve got lots of Soursop Trees growing from seeds I saved from the fruits. Some about 4 feet tall now.
Killin it
Thanks dude! Coming to feature you soon homie 👊
wow
I see these all the time, I'm going to try to take some cuttings😁😁
Awesome! Old woody growth is key.
@@PeteKanarisGreenDreamsFLWill remember that! Why do you use the grass with it as a chip n drop? I'm spending too much on fish emulsion fertilizing just to get a bit of production out of my 130 sq ft garden here in St. Pete
The grasses give the carbon/nitrogen ratio slowing the breakdown process.
brother nice keep it up😍😘
Thank you!
I love them as a fence. It requires no permit and can be much taller than what city/county regulations allow. Google can't even see my house :D
Too funny! 🤣
@@PeteKanarisGreenDreamsFL , IKR? I can't show you the screen shot, because these comments don't allow photos, but I post it almost every time someone in a garden group asks what shrubs make a good fence.
Pete have you ever tried putting Mexican sunflower through a chipper and use it that way?
Frederico Franceschin I was thinking the same thing.
I've done so many times. Wait for the stalks to dry out a bit.
We were wondering the same thing. Ours have gotten so out of control. They are very invasive. If a branch touches the ground it roots like crazy. We would love to be able to chip it and dump it under all our trees as mulch and it not become more flowers! 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
@@jlbutters2 You could chop it up and just let it rot in a bucket of water to extract the nutrients for about 2 weeks, dilute it, and then water your plants with that! 😁
great info! thanks for sharing. Question: would lemon grass work the same as fakahatchee grass?
Here in Brazil we call it Margaridão. The seeds are not sterilly here. You might lack pollinators or something... The bees Love their flower here (wich by the way smeels so good, like honey). The seeds have some sort of dormancy, but they do sprount here... Keep up the good work Man! Cheers
Interesting! Thanks for sharing. I find the flowers have a Choclate like scent. The bees cover these flowers here too. Now I’m wondering why my seeds aren’t viable.
@@PeteKanarisGreenDreamsFL maybe that helps www.cambridge.org/core/journals/experimental-agriculture/article/seed-treatment-methods-and-duration-effects-on-germination-of-wild-sunflower/9F06AE84D35969F35E57029C9CE993F8#
I don't even know if you are interested in germinating the seeds Hahaha the veg reproduction in so easy with that guy
Pete wants to sell some stuff
I have this plant in my back yard and it's about 15' high, I have been wondering for years what kind of sun flower this was, thank you thank you thank you. For awhile it would get so big I cut it back every year, I use stump killer on it twice you can not kill this plant and I'm glad now I love cutting the flowers and putting them in a vase. : ) peace
That’s pretty funny! Glad to help out.
@@PeteKanarisGreenDreamsFL I have been out all afternoon cutting back and placeing branches around my G.S.Lillys and others I'm so happy thanks so much for the info. : 0 peace
I just bought some seeds on Amazon that say they are Tithonia Diversifolia and am seeing little sprouts from them. I wonder if it isn't the same plant? Or are people figuring out how to get seeds that will germinate? Either way, I'm looking forward to being able to order from GreenDreams. I'm over in Dade City and super pleased to have you all as a resource being so close by!
I live on the gulf coast of Texas and would really like to buy some plants from you to add to my comfrey, compost, etc. we have over 30 fruit trees, jacoticaba, bananas, papaya, berries and lots of perennial veggies all on 1/3 acre. I have not found perennial peanut here, so i could buy both from you, that would be awesome! I have been watching, learning from you since you stopped selling your "kits" this is my first comment since then ... you inspire !!!
PS made tea AND jam from hibiscus last fall and will begin harvesting calyxes soon. YUM
Awesome! The store will be reopened again very soon. Rosella is a summer time favorite for us. We appreciate the support 🙏
Just watched the Paul Fink tours again, and wondered if you can bring seeds/trees back to the usa? If so, what are the rules or restrictions? This is what I want to do on a much smaller scale at my home.
Again Pete, thanks for all you do!
I would love to get in touch with you. I have much of the same growing in New Orleans and am looking for like minded growers.
@@zacharygeorge3017 are you on facebook? if so, friend me and we can talk on messenger, if not respond here
Thanks, Pete! Loved the video - as usual. When you have cuttings available, where can I purchase them? Thanks!
The online store will be open within the next two weeks.
I'll be on the lookout, thanks!
I've been making mexican sunflower as a liquid fertilizer for a quite while now. add a little worm castings a little molasses. it's the perfect fertilizer and it's cheap.
That’s awesome! This stuff is gold
I use them to shade my kale garden from the summer heat. But yes they get way too big.
I grow mine from seed? Grows well in the desert to if you water it doesn't like it under 10 deg Celcius stops growing thanks for the pro Tip Pete biomass is a premium out here in the outback going to try some in my bio ferment with the comfrey
Really? Where do you get the seed?
Can't remember which seller but it was ebay
New subscriber here, really a great informative video Pete. Thank-you. You said the Mexican sunflower cannot be grown from seeds? I bought and grew mine from seeds, however, I do not know the botanical name of mine. Wikipedia only mentions Tithonia diversifolia, so I'm lost as to what I have. Do you know anything that might be different, mine from yours? Also, I might need to treat mine as an annual since I live in Western N.C. My garden is a large annual veggie garden with a would-be orchard and grapevine and the like. My entire crops are zero chemical and only natural biomass as fertilizer.
You probably grew Tithonia rotundifolia, which does produce seed (and is an annual). Were the flowers orange? The flowers of Tithonia diversifolia, that Pete is using, are yellow.
Hey Pete quick question how wo hi ld this plant do in zone 8. I live in northeast Texas. I thought it was a perenial but most of what I see online says it's an annual.
The ones available online are annual. You could plant it yearly it just won’t be perennial in your zone. It just gets too cold
Hey Peter, do you have any recommended favorite sources for learning about permaculture? Maybe do a video on that?? 👌 thnx man absolutely lovin' it
Good idea! Yes, I can help with that.
Hi Pete, any issues adding too much nitrogen to the fruit trees with this method? I’ve got a Celeste fig that has several fruits but has recently gone through a huge green growth spurt and the fruits have stagnated . I’ve also got a Barbados cherry that hasn’t set fruit and I’m wondering if I’ve got too much nitrogen from all the chop and drop of Mexican sunflower.
Forgot to say I really appreciate all the videos!!! You rock!
Great info would love to buy the plant from you since I'm unable to find it CA Bay Area
I’m working on a stamp for California:)
In Paraguay we called it "Jaguareté po" (hand of the jaguar in guarani). In Brasil "Hand of God"
Baker Creek sells a Mexican sunflower seed I’m going to try and grow I wonder if it’s the same thing.
What are your thoughts on running it through a chipper, and making a mulch out of it? I figure that might solve the rooting problems with chop-n-drop in certain areas.
Old wood would be great for a chipper but most of the new growth is very wet. I think it would probably clog. Not sure on that one.
I use a chipper on my old and fresh cuttings. Yes, it does clogged the chipper, but easy to clear out. I use the chips as mulch in my beds. I'm considering experimenting using it instead of perlite in potting mixtures too.
I totally removed your other comment by mistake! I’ll have to try it. Thanks for sharing
The stems are really tough. Do you throw them down too? I’ve been stripping the leaves and throwing away the stems.
👍
Do you have any information about these being a plant inhibitor?
I keep my machete razor sharp, and I have a nice 8 inch scar to the bone to prove it while wearing shorts. I now wear some heavy pants. Just a thought for you. Thanks for the info for my garden
Awesome Brett! Yeah I need to sharpen up that machete.
If you live in South West Florida and want some Mexican Sunflower cuttings I would be willing to provide some. I also have a bunch of Cassava and Chaya. If you have plants and or cuttings to trade that would be awesome!
what about beauty berry for fertilizer? before it sets berries of course?
Do you know if Tithonia rotundifolia is also a nitrogen fixer? I can't find any information about this. Since I don't live in an area like Florida (I'm in Iowa, zone 5b), I want to grow the tithonia that can be grown from seed. This is the first year I'm growing it.
I just found you, and I love your channel! I live in Michgan, but I need something to grow on a 4’ wide slope (probably about 1 1/2’ steep) in the back of my yard with a privacy fence. I have some herbs and ground cover, but it turns to mud, and I need something organic to keep the soil in and keep my 15 lb dog from getting behind my small fence and barking and getting filthy! Would this be a good plant to use to fill in the area instead of weeds and junk I tried to plant? In theory, my idea works, but my son and I both have Lyme and I’d like to get rid off the stuff ticks and fess hide plus where the soul erodes. Stones are an option, but my yard is big, and I’m extremely tiny! Thank you!
Pete Is that plant grow in Zone 8b? That would be good to plant at the back of my property. Thanks 🙏
Hello! Maybe as an annual. It does back but recovers here after a cold winter.
can they be pruned to be bonsais?
Great video, were can I buy some of this plant?
Thanks! We sell these on our online store. Greendreamsfl.com
pete I hav a knife that I know u want and I posted a vid of tha plants in my backyard and that wasa big moon last nite and I lov tha shadows that my plants make on tha ground at nite wif a lil breeze kikin pound dirt homie
How do you make the liquid fertilizer??
any to help??
I have 3 different color Mexican sunflowers, is there a difference in Nitrogen quantities. Is there one color that works better as a fertilizer.
Not sure. There hasn’t been any research done on the other varieties
Hello Pete
I came across one of your CZcams videos on Mexican sunflower. Do you sell any cuttings and ship. If so, I would like to buy some cuttings of the Mexican sunflower, cherimoya and mulberry.
Great information... thank you
Hello! Yes, we sell all kinds of live plants on our online store. GreenDreamsfl.com
Great!!! Thank you much!
Will Tithonia speciosa which makes fertile seed also serve to enrich the soil as good as tithonia diversifolia ?
also I am in east Texas would the tithonia diversifolia come back from the roots after a winter?It gets down to about 15 degrees or sometimes lower.