How to Use Blood Meal Fertilizer in the Garden
Blood meal is a fantastic organic fertilizer high in nitrogen. Learn how to use it most effectively in your garden in this complete guide by Epic Gardening Founder Kevin Espiritu.

Contents
When it comes to organic fertilizers for vegetable gardens or ornamental ones, there are many options. Blood meal and bone meal are two effective fertilizers incredibly high in essential nutrients and proteins.
Blood meal is a unique mix that offers high amounts of nitrogen, crucial for healthy leaf and stem growth. Let’s explore what it is, and how it differs from bone meal.
What is Blood Meal?
Blood meal is a dried, inert powder made from animal blood. It is used as a nitrogen amendment for garden soil. The fertilizer is a slaughterhouse by-product, typically made from cow’s blood, but it can also come from hogs.
Blood meal fertilizer is extremely high in nitrogen. It contains about 13.25% nitrogen content, 1.0% of phosphorous, and 0.6% of potassium. Apart from its impressive nutrient profile, it is a non-synthetic, high-protein animal feed.
Use blood meal in your garden if your plants are deficient in nitrogen. Common symptoms include yellowish or pale green leaves and weak plant growth. The leaves of the plant are known as chlorotic as they can’t make their own chlorophyll.
Apart from fertilizer, this product is frequently used to deter certain types of animal pests. If your plant is vulnerable to deer, moles, or squirrels, using blood will keep them away due to its unpleasant smell.
However, if used excessively, it adds too much nitrogen to the soil, which may nitrogen-burn plants or kill the plants. Therefore, it’s essential to use these fertilizers in moderation.
Is Blood Meal a Good Fertilizer?

Blood meal is an excellent organic fertilizer. However, it’s not balanced. It exclusively provides high nitrogen levels, which can hamper fruiting and flowering. It’s also a slow-release fertilizer, which is not a quick fix if you want to see growth in a few weeks. However, if you want a consistent, steady supply of nitrogen, your plants will love it.
Blood meal is an extremely affordable and organic source of essential nutrients that promotes healthier soil. You only need a little at a time, so whatever amount you buy will probably last you for a long time.
Benefits
There are many known benefits of using blood meal. It is an affordable, organic option that serves as a quick nutrient-booster of nitrogen.
Rich Source of Nitrogen

Blood meal provides a rich, consistent source of nitrogen to the soil and the plants. High nitrogen levels can increase the acidity of the soil, which is excellent for crops like squash, peppers, radishes, and onions.
If you have a vegetable garden, your soil will need nitrogen rapidly to nourish the roots. Therefore using blood meal and bone meal together can be highly effective.
Improve Soil Quality

Another great benefit is that it helps balance and heal the soil. During the growing season, your gardening bed can quickly run out of essential nutrients as the plants need it. Once you add blood meal, the soil returns to its natural balance and continues to nourish the roots.
A Lush Garden

Gardeners notice a visible difference in the greenery of their plants. High in nutrients, blood meal fertilizer helps produce incredibly lush, deep-green foliage. It is ideal for adding a long-lasting depth of color to your green space.
Blood meal is even better for vegetable gardens with greens like kale, Brussels sprouts, and lettuce. These veggies are nitrogen-hungry and require this nutrient for plant growth.
Balances out Nitrogen to Carbon Ratio

If you’re using compost piles for soil enrichment, add blood meal to equalize the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. The brown material in the compost, like wilted, dried leaves, paper, or straw, all contain carbon. Using blood meal ensures a balanced dose of nutrients to the soil and plants.
How to Use Blood Meal
Before adding blood meal, identify the qualities of your existing soil. By analyzing your soil with a good soil test kit, you can find out the nutrient content and pH level. A good baseline application rate is one cup for every twenty square feet.
This fertilizer is best applied in spring to ensure the proper growth of vegetables and flowers. You only need to add a little to reap its benefits.
There are two ways to add blood meal. You can mix it directly into the top inches of the soil or dilute it with water before adding it. Make sure to read the package instructions to find out which one is recommended by that particular company.
If you think the soil needs more, feel free to increase the amount. But it’s always better to not overdo it. Remember, excess nitrogen can burn plants at their roots.
Bone Meal vs. Blood Meal

Gardeners often find themselves confused between blood meal and bone meal. Both come from animals, so they’re safe and organic. However, they provide different nutrient contents to the soil and the plants.
Bone meal is a finely ground mixture of steamed animal bones and is extremely rich in calcium and phosphorus. It’s used as an organic fertilizer for flowering plants like bulbs and roses as it helps in vibrant, lush, and plentiful growth.
Bone meal is also a slow-release fertilizer, but it is used for increasing phosphorus in the soil. There’s very little chance of burning or killing off the plants from over-application. However, if you’re looking for a quick boost of growth from an organic fertilizer, you might be a little disappointed.
As it’s quite high in phosphorus, bone meal is used for healthy root development. All you need is a tablespoon for every two square feet.
Blood meal, too, provides a necessary amount of nitrogen, without which plants can’t grow. Nitrogen is a fundamental component for plant cell growth and helps in producing lush foliage.
Blood meal is especially useful if you’re using the same gardening bed year after year. Most plants tend to deplete the soil of essential nutrients. Therefore, in the long term, blood meal application is an effective way to maintain proper nutrient content.
Both blood and bone meal act as potent nutrient amendments. Together, they work even better.
Substitutes

Feather meal is a great substitute for blood meal. It is also a source of slow-release nitrogen perfect for heavy feeders like corn, cole crops, and leafy green vegetables. You can also use fish fertilizers, alfalfa meal, or vegan-friendly options if you prefer organic fertilizers without animal products.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is blood meal made of?
Blood meal is dried blood that is powdered and produced for fertilizing plants. It’s often a byproduct of meat-packing and consists of cow blood.
Is blood meal safe to use?
As long as the blood is derived from healthy animals, blood meal is mostly safe. Try not to use fertilizer companies that source from places suspected of poor animal welfare or lax food processing laws. There could be pathogens in the meal that may seep into the soil, so make sure you’re only using a product that’s high-quality and organic.
How much blood meal to add to soil?
It depends on the space you’re working in. For side dressings and new transplants, a teaspoon or two mixed into the top few inches of the soil, or spread evenly in the planting hole works. For larger areas, apply at 2 to 3 lbs per 100 square feet.
Does blood meal repel deer?
It does deter deer, due to its unpleasant smell.