Organic Fertilizer
By Dr.Kumar Pati
The types of proprietary organic fertilizers are becoming more numerous and this is an exciting time for organic gardeners.
First off – links to sections you may be looking for: to keep your plants, going as the season progresses, to put down before you plant, for: tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, vegetables, roses, dahlias, flower beds and more… read about seasonal spring and autumn fertilizer for some important stages in growth
Today’s organic fertilizers include: - high humus contend and slow release fertilizers as well as traditional soil amendments.
There’s also a new approach using bio-feeds.
Remember that organic fertilizers need to be applied a few weeks before planting…
Base Fertilizer
To make decent growth all major nutrients are required in sufficient quantity. Regularly cropped land needs fertilizer replenishment. Worked out soils or new ground need special attention. Sometimes soil conditions make one nutrient (e.g. Phosphate) singularly unavailable leading to poor yields.
American gardeners can benefit from: Perfect Balance which includes analysis of your soil followed by a customized fertilizer mix Don’t forget to order two months before planned fertilizer application.
You will apply base fertilizer before planting or growing. There may be several base fertilizer applications over the course of a crop rotation. An annual treatment with manure is always beneficial especially on sandy soils.
The long-lasting source of nutrient re-supply from bulk manures is UK gardeners look out for:
Farmyard Manure now available in bags and relatively clean, easy to store and handle so any gardener can make the most of it. Also:
Dry Palliated Poultry Manure usually sold in tubs. And for a powerful easy to move and use product that goes a long way look for: 6 X Natural Concentrated Fertilizer
If you live near a farm then animal manure straight from horse, cow, pig or poultry can be used after a year of composting.
If you live near a farm then animal manure straight from horse, cow, pig or poultry can be used after a year of composting.
When Plants Need A Special Fertilizer Base – when they grow in the same ground for a long time. E.g. rhubarb, fruit trees, hedges, lawns. Good deep soil preparation is important, including plenty of nutrient and water holding organic matter.
For plants requiring large quantities of nitrogen e.g. rhubarb, prepare ground with hoof and horn or fish meal (if you can get them), in addition to manure.
Before sowing lawns, planting fruit or flower beds consider using seaweed as well. Humus builders are a new class of fertilizer to look out for especially when preparing light sandy soils (seaweed meal produces humus).
Top Dressing
Apply a top dressing fertilizer during the growing season to maintain sufficient plant nutrition for a good crop to the season’s end. It is easy to spread around growing plants and works in easily. It has an even balance of N: P:K: Use to top-up growing –broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, sprout, - also cucumber, marrows, sweet corn etc… and in flower borders, containers, and on summer lawns.
Timing is important, don’t leave organic top dressing too late.
Folia Feeds
Another way to give nutrient top-ups, especially useful when the root system is underdeveloped – soil is too cold for microbes to release nutrients from organic matter – or, with some desperation, as a stop-gap when the ground is being worked out.
Use after planting out flowers and vegetables. Feeding at an early stage makes a huge difference later. An ideal solution is compost tea, make by soaking a sack of manure in water. Alternatively fish emulsion, or fish meal dissolved in water may be useful if you can get it. These contain nitrogen with a dose of phosphate. It is important to ensure P is not lacking and to establish a strong root system early.
Folia feed i.e. by misting or fine spray watering over leaves – is well-used for pots and containers. Apply to containerized fruit or grow-bags; tomatoes, apples; and to garden soft fruit: raspberries etc… As soon as flower buds appear on fruit use feeds with relatively larger quantities of potassium. E.g. comfrey liquid and liquid seaweed extract.
But always remember to get the soil in ‘good heart’ first.
Seasonal Organic Lawn Fertilizers
American gardeners can get great looking lawns with seasonal fertilizers. Regularly cut spring and summer lawns need plenty of nitrogen to keep them lush and green. Don’t forget minor nutrients e.g. magnesium, boron, selenium, copper…
Autumn lawns need to be hardened for winter. Don’t feed nitrogen rich fertilizer. Lush growth in early autumn may lead to infection gaining a hold. (For the same reason you should always collect autumn grass cuttings.) Choose a specially formulated Autumn Lawns Alive Fertilizer
Specially Developed Organic Fertilizers For Flowers, Fruit, Veg, Roses … …
Nowadays many organic fertilizers have been specially developed to suite specific plants (from tomatoes and potatoes to roses and dahlias or particular garden and seasonal needs. They include: Vegetables Alive, Root Crops Alive, Tomatoes Alive, Perennial Flowers Alive, Annuals Alive, Strawberries Alive…,
U.K. gardeners are often secretive about their fertilizers – prize plants tended in the dead of night. But you can turn the ordinary into prize winners with the help of these organic fertilizers designed for special purposes – they include fertilizer for: - Potatoes, Tomatoes, Root Vegetables and Onions, Lawns, etc…
Organic Gardening is a Holistic Approach
Remember, with a pure organic approach you don’t have to worry much about the proportions of nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), that plants use. All these are required for good growth from day one. It is good to know if any are in short supply in the soil. Major nutrient deficiencies still commonly arise from over-cropping and cultivation when nutrients are not being replenished. Minor nutrients and trace elements are also important. For any soil type the best organic fertilizers are manure or garden compost.
The Big 3 Plant Nutrients N:P:K:
Nitrogen (N) is always needed in relatively large amounts to make all plant proteins. Leafy crops such as cabbage, kale, lettuce, chard, rhubarb, and potatoes obviously need more. Fruit and seed crops such as marrow, pumpkin, cucumber, melons, sweet corn, also need plenty of N to make sufficient leaf area to produce high yields.
Large N quantities cause lush sappy growth. It is used on regularly cut spring lawns. Contained in: - animal manure, fish, blood & bone meal, hoof & horn meal.
Phosphorus (P) is important for growth. All plants need it from day 1 to grow good roots to support the plant later. The notion that it is specially needed to grow roots exaggerates its role. Often the response to phosphate fertilizer results from P deficiency or unavailability in soil
The miracle of P nutrition is that unlike N it increases leaf area without reducing transport of sugars to the root. For this reason it is useful alongside K for root crops: e.g. carrots, beet, radish. Contained in: - rock phosphate, bone meal; it is a very immobile nutrient in the soil.
Potassium (K) is involved in plant processes and in cell-sap. It helps the plant absorb and hold onto water. It increases protein synthesis from N. This explains why it is particularly good to enhance fruit development and its use by potato growers – indeed all root crops respond to it. Plants may respond to high K by producing more flowers and fruit rather than leaves.
K causes plants to grow coarse tough vegetation more resistant to disease and winter hardened. This explains its use in autumn lawn feeds.
Contained in: - comfrey leaves, seaweed meal, ash.
Clay content holds far more nutrients than sand content. But soil conditions such as ph can make nutrients unavailable.
Organic fertilizers are useful everywhere – on annual flowers, permanent beds, vegetables, greenhouse, fruit e.g. tomatoes, and around fruit and ornamental trees.
Traditional Organic Fertilizer
These organic fertilizers are by-products of the food and agricultural industries. They have been well- used by generations of gardeners. They are decomposed by soil micro-organism to release nutrients gradually in time with plant growth.
Arthur Bowers
A well known brand.
Fish, Blood and Bone – traditional ingredients mixed to give a good nutritionally balanced fertilizer – Use whenever a general fertilizer is called for …
Cotton Seed Meal – a high nitrogen organic fertilizer. Useful for cal carious soils as it gives an acidic reaction. Otherwise you may need to apply it mixed with lime.
Bone Meal – a valuable show real organic fertilizer especially high in phosphorus and calcium, plus lower amounts of nitrogen – Give an annual dressing around shrubs, perennials and on lawns in autumn …
Hoof and Horn – a high nitrogen fertilizer. Releases nutrients over a longer period and safer for plants then Blood Meal. Apply as a top dressing on hungry leafy plants and soils that need top dressing…
Fish Emulsion – gives excellent results when used as a foliar feed on perennials, vegetables etc… High in nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as trace elements…
Fish Meal – high in nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as trace elements.
Lasts for an 8 month growing season…
Greensand – mined from old sea bed deposits and is rich in potassium for flowers and fruit and for winter hardiness. Also contains phosphorus, magnesium, iron, silica, lime and trace elements.
Seaweed – Contains growth stimulants, good for seed compost and seed beds, and rooting plants.
Calcified Seaweed – mined from old deposits made from coral. A useful soil amendment for working into soil mixes and in worm farms.
Dried Blood
Make Organic Fertilizer Ingredients
When should You Apply Extra Organic Fertilizers?
1. Early in the season when too cold for sufficient soil organic matter break down and nutrient release apply organic fertilizer as a foliar feed.
2. Early in the growth cycle to enable transplants to establish quickly. Phosphate in foliar feeds balance the effect excess nitrogen has on diverting sugars into leaf growth. (Liquid organic fertilizer sprays of Fish Meal/Emulsion or Seaweed Extract are useful.)
3. As a soil amendment to return specific nutrients removed by earlier plants. (Don’t forget to rotate plants through different beds from year to year.)
4. Occasionally to boost nutrients in a specific growth phase to increase flowers or fruit, as a nutrient top-up, or with lawns to make them greener. (A fertile soil is usually enough – over boosting nutrient levels can lead to loss in flavor and increase risk of pest and disease.)
5. To help establish plants in new soil. e.g. Bone Meal for shrubs, Fish Blood & Bone on newly cultivated land.
6. To help perennials, trees, shrubs and hedges growing in the same spot long term. e.g. Bone Meal.
The quick and ready plant feeds waste valuable nutrients and may harm the soil. The organic fertilizers mentioned here build good soil condition for lasting benefits with no adverse affects.
Nature the best gardener of all-hence-Organic Fertilizers
In this website, we’ll look at and explain how organic fertilizers will help us improve your soil and all plants. Have you ever wondered “what do I need to do to make a better vegetable garden, lawn, and flowers?” My goal here is to bring up some ideas and hints to help those that want to help themselves return to basics and organic fertilizers.
1. How do they work: improving the quality of our soil, matching the nutrients that will improve our plants: (examples) seaweed will green plants, stimulate roots, and act as a chelating agent. Molasses is used to feed microorganisms in the soil. A real part of organic fertilizers.
2. When to use the organic fertilizers: (examples) seaweed applied once a month as a supplement. Molasses (honey) can be used anytime to feed microbes.
3. Many extra items that can help us do our part (examples) hardiness zone map and some approximate dates when that first and last frost will take place. Help you with the weather and is part of the organic fertilizers concept.
4. We also have a glossary for those words we all try to communicate in the gardening and organic fertilizer world. Remedies for those pests, diseases, and weeds that seem to grow better than our garden. And garden tips.
5. And just like a good cook book our site has rate chars, rate comparisons, and rate dilutions in case we have to follow directions on the organic fertilizers bottle.
6. What are some examples of organic fertilizers: seaweed, fish emulsion, hamates, molasses, bone meal, corn gluten meal greensand, lava sand, Epsom salt, compost, mulches, worm castings, chicken manure, bucketful, jarful, etc. Proportions that vary by 10 percent either way will be close enough, but do not attempt to make this formula by weight. An old 5-gallon plastic bucket will allow you to stir up about 14 quarts.
Mix uniformly, in parts by volume:
4 parts seed meal
1/4 part ordinary agricultural lime, best finely ground
1/4 part gypsum (or double the agricultural lime)
1/2 part dolomitic lime
Plus, for best results:
1 part bone meal, rock phosphate or high-phosphate guano
1/2 to 1 part kelp meal ( or 1 part basalt dust)
This recipe is inexpensive when judged by its results. Farm feed and grain dealers are the best sources for large bags of seed meals, which are typically used to feed livestock. The other ingredients usually can be found at garden shops, although they probably will be sold in smaller quantities at higher prices per pound. You may find the best prices by mail order or on the Internet.
Applying the fertilizer mix
Once a year, before planting, uniformly spread this mix and finished compost over your growing area. For light feeders, such as carrots, radishes or onions, apply 4 quarts of fertilizer, plus about a quarter inch of compost, per 100 square feet. For heavy feeders, such as corn, potatoes, squash or tomatoes, apply six quarts and half-inch of compost over the same areas. If you’re planting in hills, mix an additional cup of fertilizer into each. Gardeners dealing with heavy clay soils should apply more compost and about 50 percent more fertilizer.
During the growing season, sprinkle small amounts of fertilizer around medium and high-demand vegetables every three to fours weeks, thinly covering the area that the roots will grow into. As a rough guide, side-dress about 4 to 6 additional quarts total per 100 square feet of bed during a crop cycle.
The organic advantage
Organic fertilizers, manures and composts release their nutrient content only as they decompose – as they are slowly broken down by the complex ecology of living creatures in the soil. Complete decomposition of most organic fertilizers takes around two months in warm soil. During that time, they steadily release nutrients.
Non organic synthetic fertilizers, on the other hand, should come with labels warning against overdose. They are so strong that it’s easy for inexperienced gardeners to cross the line between just enough and too much.
Yet, despite their strength, inexpensive blends are incomplete. They supply only nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Unless the manufacturer intentionally adds other essential minerals, the chemical mix won’t supply them. Chemical fertilizers rarely contain calcium or magnesium, which plants need in large amounts along with tiny traces of several other minerals.
Problems of chemical blend
Inexpensive chemical fertilizers dissolve quickly in soil. This usually results in a rapid burst of plant growth, followed five or six weeks later by big sag, requiring yet another application. Should it rain hard, the chemicals dissolved in the soil water will be transported as deeply into the earth as the water penetrates (this is called “leaching”), so deep that the plant’s roots can’t reach them. With one heavy rain or one too-heavy watering, your fertile topsoil becomes infertile. The chemicals also can pollute groundwater. The risk of leaching is especially great in soils that contain little or no clay.
Chemical fertilizers can be made to be “slow-release,” but these sorts cost several times as much as those that dissolve rapidly in water. The seed meals in this organic fertilizer mix are natural slow-release fertilizers, and they usually are less expensive than slow-release chemical products.
Complete organic fertilizer mix
Bone meal, 1 part
Kelp meal, 1/2 part
Dolomite lime, 1/2 part
Soybean meal, 4 parts
Agricultural lime, 1/2 part (or 1/4 part agricultural lime plus 1/4 part gypsum)
At some point in your gardening experience, you may want to use a fertilizer to give your plants an extra boost. Unfortunately, many gardeners rely on chemical fertilizers to grow their trees, grass, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. However, there is an increasing awareness that many of the chemicals we use in our yards can over the long run negatively affect the environment and the health of our loved ones, neighbors, and pets.
Thankfully, there are a number of healthy natural and organic fertilizers available that will help you grow a lush, green garden and lawn without the use of potentially harmful chemical fertilizers. This article is intended as a guide to popular organic fertilizers and how to use them.
THE BASICS OF ORGANIC FERTILIZERS:
Like traditional fertilizers, organic fertilizers show their content with three bold numbers. These numbers represent three different compounds: Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potash, which we can also describe with the letters N-P-K. The three numbers listed on fertilizer labels correspond to the percentage of these materials found in the fertilizer.
In addition to other properties, Nitrogen helps plant foliage to grow strong. Phosphorous helps roots and flowers grow and develop. Potassium (Potash) is important for overall plant health. Please check out this website from the University of Illinois for more information on understanding NPK numbers.
Organic fertilizers are made from a huge variety of naturally occurring elements such as bat guano, blood meal, bone meal, feather meal, and fish meal. See this website managed by the National Organic Program for more information about organic gardening products and standards in the U.S.
BEFORE YOU APPLY ORGANIC FERTILIZERS:
One of the best ways to improve the health of your plants is by adding organic compost to your soil. Compost can help reduce the amount of fertilizer treatments your plants need. If you’re not composting organic garden waste and kitchen scraps now, you should start as soon as you can. The addition of compost to your garden soil will add nutrients, improve drainage, and help your plants’ immune systems. You can learn all about composting at the Compost Guide. Shop for composting products here.
When your are looking for organic fertilizers, it’s important to first know what kind of fertilizer your plants may need. You can test your soil with an electronic soil tester, which will give you a good idea of the quality of your soil and what it may be lacking.
Guide To Organic Garden and Lawn Fertilizers:
General Purpose Organic Garden Fertilizers:
The following organic garden fertilizers will work well for general gardening purposes. They can be used to fertilize and condition the soil and will benefit a variety of plants.
Bat Guano
Bat guano is the ultimate 100 percent natural fertilizer. It comes straight from the butts of the bats, into your yard or garden. Farmers and gardeners have used bat guano as a fertilizer for hundreds of years. It wasn’t until recently that inorganic fertilizers have become popular enough for people to forget that there is a natural option that works just as well! The manufacturers of this product state that they follow the high standards of Bat Conservation International, so you can feel good about buying this natural garden and bat-friendly fertilizer. Bat guano has a high humus content and works great as a soil builder and fertilizer. It is rated as a 10-3-1 fertilizer.
Fish Meal Organic Fertilizer
Like bat guano, fish meal is a natural organic fertilizer that was traditionally used by gardeners and farmers before the advent of inorganic fertilizers. Fish meal contains important trace elements, which makes it a complete plant food. Fish meal is rated as a10-5-0 organic fertilizer. Fish meal works quickly and provides plenty of phosphorous and organic nitrogen.
Kelp Meal Fertilizer
Kelp meal fertilizer is made from brown seaweed harvested from cold ocean waters. Once harvested, the kelp is dried and ground up to produce an excellent organic fertilizer. The dried kelp maintains a high content of plant growth hormones, essential minerals and organic material. An added benefit is that kelp meal provides a slow, sustained release of nutrients. Organic kelp fertilizers are fully approved for organic gardening. They work great for flowers, trees, and your lawn.
Garrett Plant Juice
Garret Juice is the invention of Howard Garrett, who is famous for his books, radio show and television spots. Garrett Juice is a highly effective liquid organic fertilizer mix. You can purchase it ready made in exact proportions or make it yourself! It contains compost tea, molasses, vinegar and seaweed. It works as a foliar spray for all plants, ornamentals and food crops. Or, you can add it directly to the soil. It works great on potted plants as well.
SPECIALITY FERTILIZERS
Organic Lawn Fertilizers
Kelp Lawn Starter
This organic kelp fertilizer is made from the giant sea kelp and is specifically designed to help stimulate turf root growth. This is important for newly seeded lawns. It will also give your established lawn a quick boost, and as kelp is a slow release organic fertilizer, it will work over time to keep your grass growing strong and green. This product is not just for lawns. Try it on your flowers, shrubs, trees and vegetable gardens for a healthy, chemical free garden.
Organic Liquid Lawn Fertilizer
For a green, lush and chemical free yard, give your grass a dose of this organic liquid lawn fertilizer. This excellent OMRI listed organic liquid lawn fertilizer is easy to use. It attaches directly to your garden hose to spray on the lawn. It is a great source of macronutrients, micronutrients, minerals, amino acids and peptides. It has a NPK of 2-3-1. With this organic product, the nutrients actually remain as solid amino acids in the soil. This means a slow release of nutrients that are absorbed thoroughly through the roots, minimizing waste. Your plants will absorb about 97 percent of the nutrients from this fertilizer, compared to the 20 percent which is more typical of chemical fertilizers.
Organic Weed and Feed
An organic weed and feed? Can it be? This product is made from palletized corn gluten meal, which is a byproduct when they make corn syrup. Corn gluten meal works as a natural herbicide and pre emergent weed control product for turf grass and organic crops and has the added benefit of fertilizing the soil. If you want to learn more about this great organic gardening product, please visit Dr. Nick Christians’ University of Iowa Corn Gluten research page.
Organic Fertilizers for Tomatoes and Other Vegetables
Beet Root Tomato Fertilizer
This is a high quality liquid fertilizer made from sugar beet roots. The NPK rating is 1-1-4. Not only is this organic fertilizer great for tomatoes, it will benefit all of the vegetables and herbs in your garden! This fertilizer works by providing your plants essential nutrients and by stimulating microbial activity in the soil. It mixes easily in a watering can, and is safe to use both indoors and outdoors.
Tomato-tone Tomato Fertilizer
Tomato-tone organic fertilizer is specially designed for growing healthy, natural tomatoes. This is a 4-7-10 slow release fertilizer which will help your tomato plants for an extended period of time. It provides all the 15 essential nutrients that your tomatoes need. You can apply Tomato-tone to both container plants and to tomatoes planted in the garden. Simply work the fertilizer into the first 4 inches of soil. Tomato-tone is perfectly balanced without too much nitrogen, as nitrogen increases foliar growth but not fruit growth.
Organic Vegetable Fertilizer
Using an organic vegetable fertilizer in the garden is a great way to grow delicious vegetables, awesome herbs, and luscious tomatoes. Epsom Garen-Tone is a 4-6-6 fertilizer that is considered a complete plant food. Like the Tomato-Tone fertilizer, you work the fertilizer into the first 4-5 inches of soil. It will slowly release the nutrients into the soil, feeding and strengthening your plants over time.
Liquid Organic Compost Mixture for Gardens, Shrubs, Trees and Grass
This quality organic liquid compost tea fertilizer contains carbon, microbes, and trace minerals. It works as a natural plant growth accelerator and has the same effects as adding large amounts of compost to the soil, but without all the bulk or tilling. This organic fertilizer is safe and effective for just about anything that grows.
Compost Tea Brewing Kit
Compost tea is a concentrated liquid that will increase the number of beneficial organisms in your soil. You can also spray it on your plants to prevent disease. This compost tea brewing kit can help you make batches of this soil builder yourself quickly and easily in your own home.
Organic Rose Fertilizers
Organic Rose Fertilizer
Epsom Rose-Tone is a 6-6-4 organic rose fertilizer that has been used for years by professional gardeners to grow prize winning roses. This fertilizer is a balance of 15 essential nutrients for your roses. As a slow release fertilizer, it won’t burn your plants. Rose-Tone works directly on the soil to stimulate beneficial microbes which help to build healthy roses from the roots up! It can be applied to potted plants, bare root plantings, rose beds, etc.
Liquid Bone Meal
Bloom-A-long isn’t just for roses. It is also excellent for feeding fruits, trees, flowers, vegetables and crops that require extra phosphorus during early bud formation and fruit enlargement. Bloom-A-Long also contains approximately 9 percent calcium, which improves soil, nutrient capacity, and is useful in correcting calcium deficiencies of plants that require extra calcium, like tomatoes.
Other Organic Gardening Products for Safe, Natural Gardens
The following products will add to your organic gardening experience, and make excellent compliments to organic fertilizers. These products include organic plant foods, natural polymers, and com-based products.
Mycorrhizal fungi
Mycorrhizal fungi attach themselves to plant roots and help plants to make use of organic chemicals in the soil. With a Mycorrhizal fungi root builder, you can get these helpful critters to work more efficiently. This means that your organic fertilizer will be that much more effective! This Mycorrhizal Fungi is composed of 3 species: Glomus intraradices, G. Mosseae, and G. Aggregatum.
Horticultural Cornmeal
Horticultural cornmeal helps to strengthen beneficial soil fungi such as Trichoderma. These beneficial soil organisms will help fright off the harmful fungi that can attack your plants. This is especially important for vegetable crops which are often susceptible to fungal diseases. Horticultural cornmeal also helps build up the quality of the soil, which will benefit all the plants in your garden, from grass to tomatoes. You can also use it to safely remove algae from ponds.
Compost Tea Brewing Kit
As we mentioned above, compost tea is a concentrated liquid that will help increase the number of beneficial organisms in your soil. It also works as a foliar treatment on your plants to prevent disease. This is a quality compost tea brewing kit which helps you make this soil builder yourself quickly and easily in your own home.
Garden Molasses
Garden molasses stimulates soil microorganisms and is a perfect compliment to organic fertilizers. It also works as a foliar treatment (applied directly to the leaves of your plants), providing your plants trace minerals such as sulfur, potash, and iron.
“Solid Water” Polymer
This environmentally safe polymer will reduce the amount of water your plants need by retaining the
Why Organic Fertilizers Are Safer to Use Than Inorganic Fertilizers
Where do pelargonium get their food? What items or elements are contained in their meals? Some are obtained from water and air like carbon (including human exhalation), hydrogen, and oxygen. Others, which are sucked up from the soil or provided by fertilizers, include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and some trace elements.
Fertilizers are of two types: organic and inorganic. Organic fertilizers are mainly taken from plant and animal sources inorganic fertilizers, on the other hand, are mainly from petroleum or natural gas and are manufactured for commercial purposes. The difference in the way each type is derived or produced provides an outright clue as to which type of fertilizer is safer to use. The advantages of using inorganic fertilizers must be discussed here for the benefit of aspiring gardeners.
But to really appreciate the benefits that organic fertilizers bring, the dangers of using inorganic fertilizers must first be understood. Let me enumerate a few of the most common ones.
1.As inorganic fertilizers are both powerful and take effect too quickly, they can burn and totally destroy plants when applied excessively.
2.excessive use of inorganic fertilizers can also kill earthworms and microorganisms in the soil that help in the plants’ growth.
3.The nitrates contained in some inorganic fertilizers can actually pollute groundwater that we use for drinking.
4.Some inorganic fertilizers may contain wastes that went through a recycling process. As such, they may have in them lead or other heavy-metal residues which can be taken in by growing plants and which, in turn, we eventually consume as food.
applied excessively or too liberally, inorganic fertilizers can be washed and transported by rain into water sources (such as rivers and lakes) and end up polluting them. If this happens, it may result to an increase in growth of several aquatic plants which can then substantially lessen the supply of oxygen in water and kill fish. This consequently, increases pollution.
Vandyl sulphate
Potassium
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Copper
INORGANIC FERTILIZERS
There are numerous inorganic fertilizer sources on the market these days, too many to list, so I won’t even try. The goal of this document is to help you understand the components of these fertilizers so you can make an informed decision when purchasing and applying them.
When you look at a bag of fertilizer, you will see 3 numbers. This is called the fertilizer’s “analysis” and represents the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that is available from the bag of fertilizer. (Technically, it represents the percentage of N, P202 and K20 that is available, but for our purposes, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium will do.) Using the fertilizer “5-10-5” as an example, the bag with this analysis will contain 5% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 5% potassium.
Now, you are probably thinking that 5 plus 10 plus 5 only adds to 20%, what’s in the other 80% of the bag. Depending on the brand of fertilizer, the rest of the bag may contain some minor nutrients and filler material. The filler material allows us to apply the nutrients evenly across the area we want to fertilize. Without the filler material, we would over apply nutrients in some part of the area and under apply in others. The filler material allows for a uniform application of the nutrients.
Understanding the fertilizer analysis is essential to purchasing and applying the right kind of fertilizer. Your choice of analysis should be based on the type of plants you are growing and the results from your soil test report.
ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FERTILIZERS
What is a fertilizer?
A fertilizer is any material, organic or inorganic, natural or synthetic, that supplies plants with the necessary nutrients for plant growth and optimum yield. Organic fertilizers are natural materials of either plant or animal origin, including livestock manure, green manures, crop residues, household waste, compost, and woodland litter. Inorganic (or mineral) fertilizers are fertilizers mined from mineral deposits with little processing (e.g., urea). Inorganic fertilizers vary in appearance depending on the process of manufacture. The particles can be of many different sizes and shapes (crystals, pellets, granules, or duct) and the fertilizer grads can include straight fertilizers (containing one nutrient element only), compound fertilizers (containing two or more nutrients usually combined in a homogeneous mixture by chemical interaction) and fertilizer blends (formed by physically blending mineral fertilizers to obtain desired nutrient ratios).
SPECIFIC PROPERTIES OF ORGANIC FERTILIZERS
Organic nutrient sources are highly heterogeneous and vary in quality and quantity. The quality aspect is important in determining the nutrient release potential of the organic fertilizer. Microorganisms that decompose organic fertilizers use the carbon in such materials as an energy source for growth. Required in even bigger quantities by microorganisms for growth and reproduction is nitrogen (N). Commonly available materials are often particularly low in N content. For organic fertilizers with low N contents (such as cereal straw and most smallholder farmyard manures), microorganisms themselves will consume much of the available N for their own growth. Consequently, insignificant amounts of N will be released for the crop. Thus, on their own, poor quality materials have limited potential to enhance productivity. The effectiveness of such materials can be improved by combining them with mineral N fertilizers such as ammonium-nitrate or urea. Mineral fertilizers may be used more efficiently by crops growing on soils with adequate amounts of soil organic matter supplied by organic fertilizers.
What are the differences between organic and inorganic fertilizers in terms of their use?
Organic fertilizers: Soil fertility on smallholder farms is almost entirely dependant on locally available resources. Cattle manure, cereal and legume Stover, and woodland litter are the commonly used organic fertilizers, but these are rarely applied in sufficient quantities to impact on crop yields. The use of high quality organic fertilizers is rarely practiced, although through research and extension activities in Africa, some farmers now include legume green manures or legume-based fallows in crop sequences. The main advantage of using organic fertilizers is that, compared to mineral fertilizers, they are usually available on or near the farm at very little or not cost other than labor costs of handling, transportation, or opportunity costs of land used for their production.
Inorganic (mineral) fertilizers:
Mineral fertilizers need to be applied to crop at least two times within a growing season (split application), either basally at planting or top-dressed during vegetative growth. The amount of inorganic fertilizer used in most smallholder farming systems falls far below standard extension recommendations, due to poor purchasing power, risk aversion due to poor and unreliable rainfall, and lack of significant returns. When available, fertilizer use is not overly labor intensive, thus allowing time for other tasks (or for earning income elsewhere).
What are the differences between organic and inorganic fertilizers in terms of application?
The method and timing of fertilizer application is an essential component of good farming. For organic materials, decomposition rate and timing of application influence the release of nutrients to the crop. Organic fertilizer application methods include broadcasting, banding, and spot application (or side-dressing). Broadcasting requires less labor and helps to evenly cover the field surface before incorporation into soil through plowing or hand-hoeing. Incorporation generally increases the fertility status of the whole plow layer. If the quantity of organic fertilizer is limited, it may be banded along furrows or spot applied, but the seed needs to be placed away from the fertilizer. Side-dressed organic fertilizers are not likely to have much immediate effect due to delayed nutrients release.
Mineral fertilizers can be applied by hand or with application equipment. When hand applied, it is essential to distribute the fertilizers uniformly and at the recommended rates to avoid over-or under-fertilization. Application equipment needs proper adjustment to ensure uniform spreading. Broadcast fertilizer should be incorporated after application to enhance effectiveness or to avoid evaporation losses of N. With banding or sport application, take care that no fertilizer is placed too close to either the seed or the germinating plant, to avoid damage to the seedling or roots.
What are the differences in terms of their effective?
Continued use of organic fertilizers results in increased soil organic mater, reduced erosion, better water infiltration and aeration, higher soil biological activity as the materials decompose in soil, and increased yields after the year of application (residual effects). Proper handling of organic fertilizers enhances their quality and effectiveness. For example, with the exception of green manures, there is significant crop response if organic fertilizers are combined with N-based mineral fertilizers or other N-rich organic materials. Mineral fertilizers on the other hand immediately supply nutrient needed by crops. Basal fertilizers contain elements required for good crop establishment and early growth while top-dressing can be done through split applications depending on visible hunger signs and/or moisture availability. In risky environments, spot application of small amounts of N fertilizers improves fertilizer effectiveness. The best response to fertilizer use is obtained if the soil has a high inherent fertility level (high organic matter status). Building inherent fertility requires practices such as retaining crop residues on the field.
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