When I started this blog, I wrote a post on Panchagavya and its benefits for plants. I didn’t think that it was going to get so popular. There has been so many requests for Panchagavya. I decided to make an exclusive post out for Panchagavya and its benefits.
First things first. What is Panchagavya ?
Pancha means five and gavya means substance obtained from Cow. When you mix the 5 products from cow such as Milk, Curd, Cow dung, Cow’s Urine and Ghee(Clarified Butter) in a proper ratio and allow it to ferment, the resulting product you get is called Panchagavya. The Origins of Panchagavya and its recipe can be traced back to Vrikshayurveda. Vrikshayurveda is a medical science for Plants. It means Ayurveda for Plants.
Panchagavya is considered to be an effective organic manure and also acts as a pest repellent. 3% solution is found to be effective in most of the studies done on Panchagavya. That said, one can always experiment with different ratios for different plants.
Preparation of Panchagavya is simple. It does take lot of time though. Looking at the requests I was getting I thought I will prepare it at home. But living in an apartment and going in hunt of fresh cow dung and cow’s urine seemed almost next to impossible. When I almost gave up trying I got to meet Vishwanath, an organic grower of Sapota (Chikku) and vegetables. He started preparing Panchagavya for his farm a while back and has been using the same for all his plants.
There was a cow in his farm whose products were used in the preparation of Panchagavya(PG). When I discussed with him about making PG available, he readily agreed and was also kind enough to share photographs of the whole preparation of this wonder manure.
Panchagavya is known to contain millions of microbes and adds life to soil. Let me take you all through the steps of making Panchagavya.
Traditional Panchagavya used only 5 ingredients from Cow. There has been many modifications to it and more additives has been added to enrich the liquid. Here goes the pictorial guide.
Finest Panchagavya starts with the simple thing you see in many places. Cow dung. It is important to use dung of a local breed cow that is free ranging.
Fresh cow dung
Cow’s urine is added to the cow dung.
Cow's Urine being added
Ghee is one of the 5 ingredients and that is added in the pic below.
Ghee is added
Here goes curd.
Curd getting added
and Milk too.
Milk is added
Ripe banana and jaggery provide the substrate for microbes.
Ripe bananas
Tender coconut water is added according to the recipe.
Tender coconut
Jaggery
Daily stirring is very essential. It aerates the the container and keeps it from deteriorating. The container when all its ingredients are added, it is closed with a insect proof net and kept in shade. It takes two weeks for it to be ready.
Its all done! Now the wait begins
Daily stirring
After two weeks, It is ready for usage. 30 ml of it is mixed with 1 litre of water and can be sprayed on leaves or applied to the soil. If you are using a sprayer it is good to filter out the sediments and then spray.
Here is a chemical composition of Panchagavya in its concentrated form.
| Chemical composition | ||
| pH | : | 5.45 |
| EC dSm2 | : | 10.22 |
| Total N (ppm) | : | 229 |
| Total P (ppm) | : | 209 |
| Total K (ppm) | : | 232 |
| Sodium | : | 90 |
| Calcium | : | 25 |
| IAA (ppm) | : | 8.5 |
| GA (ppm) | : | 3.5 |
| Microbial Load | ||
| Fungi | : | 38800/ml |
| Bacteria | : | 1880000/ml |
| Lactobacillus | : | 2260000/ml |
| Total anaerobes | : | 10000/ml |
| Acid formers | : | 360/ml |
| Methanogen | : | 250/ml |
To buy Panchagavya, please send an email to Vishwanath (panchagavya108@gmail.com) or send me a note.
The price of Panchagavya is Rs 100/- per litre.
For convenience, I have some limited stock in my place in Bannerghatta Rd, Bangalore. For large quantities, please send a mail to Vishwanath.BTW, Vishwanath is a grower of Organic Sapotas. Do contact him for supply of pesticide free chikkus.
See you all in next post!
Until then, Happy gardening.
GG
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Hi GG
Definitely I am interested in PG but I have few questions if you can answer.
1. What should be the dosage of application in a 10 inches container?
2.No. of application in a month.
3.Do we have to increase or decrease the no. of applications depending upon the stage of plant like, foliage/flower/fruit stage.
4.If we see any deficiency in plant should we increase the no. of application or we have to give additional supplements of particular mineral.
5. How should we store PG like temp. light factors and for how long can we store it.
I know there are too many questions but I am sure the answers will satisfy inquisitiveness of many fellow gardeners.
Happy gardening
Green enthu
Hello GreenEnthu,
Excellent questions. I should have made these points part of the post itself. I will update it soon.
1. For a 10 inch container, you can water it with 3% solution like you would with regular water. . Foliar spray is also helpful. Do it in the early morning.
2. Normal dosage is once is 15 days. During flowering and fruitset increase it to once is 10 days.
3. PG has trace elements in it.However, should a mineral deficiency occur, it is good to supplement it with a particular mineral.
4. When stored in a cool place and with daily stirring, it can be kept upto 6 months. Seal the container with net to prevent flies from entering and laying eggs. This is very important. Little carelessness here will result in a liquid with lots of maggots.
5. In case, due to evaporation, PG becomes thick, dilute it with water or cow’s urine.
Hope I answered all the questions.
GG
Hi GG, I’m interested in 1litre of PG, but would be able to pick it up only in May. If it would be possible to pick it from you, that would be most convenient. Otherwise I’ll contact Mr. Vishwanath.
Also interested in the answers to greenenthu’s questions.
Thanks for the info on how PG is made.
Nice post! My grandpa would use Ganjala (cow urine) at his farm to keep pest at bay. Unfortunately, we rely on chemicals to a larger extent. I am bookmarking this page for reference. Would help if the stocks are available on regular basis.
Thanks,
Asha Ram
Hi Asha,
Nice to hear the use of Cow urine. Thanks for bookmarking and yes we do plan to stock PG all the time
.
GG
Hi GG
Thanks for PG and other seeds. The Plants that we have bought are good & healthy. We speak to them every morning
, will take to hometown tomorrow.
Need to know where we get bonemeal for Roseplants.
Thank you ,
Good Day !
vidya
Bone meal is available with me. You can check it out in NT pet.
Hi GG
Very nice , i am interested to buy ,any outlet in Chennai?
I am into container/Balcony gardening with 50pots , want to know if this foliar application will leave any smell for long (as our balcony is in Bedroom ).
hi,
Does PG do the Job of fertilizing as well as pesticide?
Or you still have to use 19-19-19 NPK?
I am really looking to use only organic or natural stuff if possible…..
Thanks in Advance
Wg
PG will supplement the fertilizer by adding more microbes to it. For containers, if you get good quality compost, you don’t have to add 19 all.
Dear GG,
I would be keen to try 1 L of PG. Can it be delivered outside Bangalore (Delhi)? I would pay for necessary postage/courier charges.
Thanks for taking the initiative and sharing benefits of PG!
-Tejinder
Hi GG,
I am interested in buying half a liter of PG. I live on Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore. Please let me know when and where can I get it from you since you said you have a limited stock.
Thanks and Regards,
SB
You can drop by my place and pick it up . http://tinyurl.com/geekgardener
Hi GG,
Thanks for the recipe – this is great. Do you mind if I share this info on my blog – wwww.techie2aggie.blogspot.com with due credit, of course.
I have also subscribed to your blog, good job on all the info. Feel free to subscribe to my blog if you are interested.
One query I had regardng Panchkavya was can we spray this on young saplings as well?
Thanks,
KJ
Thanks. I will get back to you about the sharing part.
Yes you can spray PG on saplings.
Hey GG:
First off – let me be the first one to congratulate you on your NEXT blog (i know i am cheating) – it would be your 100th!!!! Dude, you rock. I stumbled upon your blog yesterday, (and i was so blown away with your passion) that today i went thru all your 99 blog reportings! (from where you were pleased with your first pix of the flowers that you cast away – to such technical finesse!!! – all in the span of 3 (?) years – (with little cute interludes like your wedding invite to fellow bloggers & your Ganesha loving Mom seeing Him in the Capsicum)
God Bless you Dude! You are something else! And may i confess that i am an unadulterated fan of yours – Forever!!!
ajay
Thanks Ajay for the very nice words. All this was possible only because of the motivation and appreciation provided by readers and enthusiasts like you.
GG
is it worth to use milk, buttermilk, ghee, fruits to make a manure or growth promoter for plants when these human food items are in short supply in the country.
why cannot we think of a product which can be dreived from a useless so called waste or pollution.
Hi GGDA,
Thanks for your point. This is a preparation that’s been used since centuries and is known to work. Besides this there are several preparations that use leaves of weeds, cow urine etc. Would you like to volunteer?
GG
Hi GG
Please confirm if you have the stock of Panchgavya available with you.
If yes then can i collect the same from your place in the weekend.
Regards
Amit
Hi GG,
I have this problem of mealy bugs (white wooly ones) and black ones (all the leaves of my plants are covered by them). I used panchgavya I got from you a few times; but still these bugs are all over my plants (rains only seem to make it worse). Is PG effective for these bugs? What’s the proper way to use it? Should i use neem oil instead?
Thanks a ton!
Sam
Hi sam,
I have had mixed results with PG. The problem with mealy bugs is, that spray never sticks on them. Try neem oil and if that doesn’t work. Use spirit, water in 50;50 ratio and spray. it will work
gg
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