Home
6 Fashion Tips for Gardeners
Clothes and skin cream are far removed from potting out your begonias, or digging a trench for a line of potatoes. But the clothes you wear are important for your protection...read more on organic gardening
Grow Your Own SIMPLE Tea Garden
Materials Needed 1 decorative clay or metal planter 1 package of clay pellets (approx. 30 pellets) 3 packets of organic tea leaves seeds (YOUR CHOICE) Grow-rich or...read more on organic gardening
Organic Fertilizer Manufacturer in the Agriculture Industry
With today's growing environment concerns, growing plants the organic way seems to be the most logical, not to mention the safest gardening method available. More and more...read more on organic gardening
Fall Pond Cleaning
Great question. The answer is it really depends. Doing a full pond cleaning during the colder winter months can be very stressful on your fish. However, if the pond is...read more on organic gardening
Planting River Birch Trees in Solebury Pa
River Birch Trees are fairly easy to plant because they are fairly rugged and durable. Yet to plant or transplant them you do need to follow some basic guidelines. We have...read more on organic gardening
How to Grow Healthy Food
words: 400 How to Grow Healthy Food To grow healthy food, you literally have to start at rock bottom. No matter what you’re growing, from chickpeas to chickens, the truth...read more on organic gardening
Greenhouse Gardening
A Greenhouse can extend your growing season by months and allow you to sow seeds and harvest crops much earlier than you normally would. With proper planning, some crops can...read more on organic gardening
Caring for Your Plants
One of the best things you can do to save money on your landscape is to properly care for your plants. This is very important to keeping a healthy yard and an attractive...read more on organic gardening
|
 |
Most soils need the addition of organic fertilizers to keep them fertile and healthy. Organic fertilizers come from decomposed plants, animals, and natural minerals. The nutrients that come from organic fertilizers are only released gradually during high temperatures, moisture, and microbial activity. These are the same conditions that plants need in order to grow, thus making organic fertilizers in perfect sync with plant growth.
One of the major advantages that organic fertilizers have over chemical fertilizers is that they contain organic matter. Comprised of dead bio-matter, organic matters are the ones responsible in keeping water and air trapped in the soil, making nutrients available to plants, and preventing plant-related diseases.
Types of Organic Fertilizers
There are several types of organic fertilizers which you can find available in catalogs or garden centers. Most organic fertilizers are a combination of organic materials, although some only have one source. Organic fertilizers are separated into four basic categories - plant, animal, mineral, and compost.
Plant organic fertilizers have a rich storehouse of specific nutrients like nitrogen. This type of organic fertilizer is considered to be a renewable source of nutrient. A fine example of a plant organic fertilizer is the alfalfa meal. This organic fertilizer is made of green manure crops. Al though the alfalfa meal contains some small percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, this organic fertilizer benefits the soil best for it contains Triacontanol, the growth hormone for plants.
Cottonseed meal is another example of a plant organic fertilizer. This organic fertilizer contains seven percent Nitrogen, two percent Phosphorus, and another two percent for Potassium content. With its seven percent Nitrogen, this organic fertilizer is second only to blood meal in providing the most organic nitrogen to plants.
Plant organic fertilizers may also be made from seaweeds and algae. Organic fertilizers made from kelp meal contain very high potassium and trace elements. This plant organic fertilizer is also a great source of plant hormones that help regulate growth. Seaweed organic fertilizers have almost the same characteristics as kelp meal. This type of organic fertilizer is excellent for greening the plant foliage and stimulating growth.
Organic fertilizers may also come from by-products of animal processing. Industries like dairy farming and meat or poultry processing produce materials that are a rich source of plant nutrients and minerals. These materials are dried and processed into organic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers that come from animals include bone meal, blood meal, and fish emulsion.
Perhaps the best source of quick-acting nitrogen is the organic fertilizer that is blood meal. This type of organic fertilizer is completely soluble and maybe applied by watering it down the soil. Another organic fertilizer that comes from animals is the bone meal, a rich calcium source. This organic fertilizer contains a high percentage of lasting phosphorus as well as some small amounts of nitrogen ad potassium. Bone meal organic fertilizer best suits young plants because it releases its nutrients extremely slowly.
Mineral-based organic fertilizers are not really organic but are considered to be so because they are not extensively processed. Rock phosphate, Chilean nitrate, sulfate of potash magnesia, and green sand are only a few examples of this type of organic fertilizer.
Compost is considered to be the "Cadillac" of organic fertilizers. This type of organic fertilizer is the cheapest and most widely available (you can make it in our backyard!).
Written by: Gail Metcalf
|