THE UNIQUNESS OF GUANO

History shows that guano is the most distinguished natural fertilizer known to mankind. The Inca civilization of South America used guano so extensively that the penalty for harming the animals that produced it was death. It has been used effectively in agriculture for hundreds of years. Pound for pound, barn yard manure or commercial fertilizer do not compare to guano for balanced plant food nutrients.

Guano has the nitrogen for green growth. Phosphorus for roots and flowering. And the potassium for strong stems. Besides these three major nutrients, guano contains all the minor and trace elements for plants overall health. There are no fillers in guano. Everything in guano, even beneficial microbes, are useful and necessary for the soil, the roots and foliage of plant life.

Bat guano is natures most highly refined organic fertilizer. Guano starts out as plant life. Insects eat from the plants then fly into the air and are eaten by the bats. The bat droppings fall to the cave floor. Then the millions of guano beetle attacked the bat droppings and use it as their food. And while the beetles are feeding on the bat droppings, billions of beneficial, decomposing microbes are also attacking and feeding on the bat droppings.

The guano you purchase to fertilizer your plants is really no longer bat poop but a highly refined, nontoxic, not bad smelling fine powder, processed by nature into her choicest plant food.

The processing by the beetles and decomposing microbes rendered the bat guano free of toxins and dangerous pathogens to humans other then opportunistic pathogens that are normally found everywhere in dust. Bat guano is an excellent inoculant to activate compost piles.

The N.P.K. of guano will average 10-3-1 but will very throughout the cave with the freshest being highest in nitrogen and the oldest being higher in non-volatile minerals especially phosphorus.

Bat guano can be safely used in-doors as well as outside. Use on vegetables, herbs, flowers, all ornamentals, fruit and nut trees. Hydroponic growers have also used guano successfully by metering out small amounts into their solution. Guano is also an excellent inoculant to activate compost piles.

Use 1 to 2 teaspoons per 6 inch of pot diameter. May repeat in 4 to 6 weeks. In the flower or vegetable garden use 1 to 3 quarts per 100 sq. ft. or 100 ft. of row. However, guano is a slow release fertilizer and will not burn even if used double the recommended amount. But,it is always better to use smaller amounts more often than large amounts less often especially in sandy soils. Homeowners have reported using guano one time on the lawn and could still see the good effects three and four years later.

On lawns, water in well. Where the soil is bare and in pots, work it in shallow being careful not to damage roots. Indoor slow growing plants or plants in low light require 1/4 to 1/2 less fertilizer than fast growing plants.

Bat guano can be used year around in any soil. It helps bind loose soil and mellow up tight soils. It will even help control soil-borne diseases.

Growing plants is more of an art than a science. It is the art most practiced in the whole world. Gardening is the only hobby that you can have your cake and eat it too. Using nature's finest fertilizer enhances the art and makes the hobby more enjoyable, fascinating and productive.

Malcolm Beck

Garden-Ville

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SLIDE SHOW

description of slide and pictures.

slide; A big vacuum truck we used to suck the guano from the big room, very expensive to operate, $900.00 per day, the truck cost $150,000, we dropped a 6 inch pipe down the shaft and vacuumed the floor.

Picture #1; In the front part of the cave we used a Fox venturi educator using a high volume-high pressure air compressor to blow through the venturi and create a vacuum to suck in guano, notice the four inch pipe opening that the hopper,(held up by the employee), screws on.

Picture #2; Employees shoveling guano into hopper on top of venturi.

Pictures #3 & 4; Same as #2 but different angle.

Pictures #5 & #6; Big vacuum cleaner bags into which guano is blown from the venturi with 6 inch auger taking it from bottom of bags to bagging site. The farm tractor operates the auger and a blower used to suck dust from bagging site.

Picture #7; Guano filling into bag from auger shoot, vacuum pipe from blower operated by farm tractor not in view.

Malcolm Beck