When herbs, vegetables, and fruit grown for consumption are fertilized organically, you avoid introducing chemicals into the food, which is important to health-conscious consumers. Once you have chosen organic fertilizers, it is just another step to choosing organic insecticides and the total organic commitment.
Why Use Organic Products to Fertilize?
Your plants won't know whether they are receiving organic or synthetic fertilizers, and the bugs on them won't care whether they are being sprayed with an organic or inorganic pesticide. Both work well to nurture or to kill; however, the similarity ends there.
Organic Fertilizer:
Is a slow-release fertilizer without the hazards of over-fertilizing or root damage
· Doesn't work as quickly as chemical fertilizers but improves the quality of the soil over the growing season
· Doesn't introduce toxic chemicals into the soil that are then washed out by the rain and leaked into the water system
· Helps to maintain organic soil structures and retains naturally occurring bacteria, fungi, and micro-organisms
· Produces food that is higher in nutrients—vitamins and minerals—and retains its natural flavor
Synthetic (Chemical) Fertilizer:
· Has a destructive action on soil
· Works quickly but can burn out roots
· Ruins the natural soil structure
· Is absorbed into the food and then into animals and humans, with who-knows-what long-term effects
· Requires careful handling, using gloves and breathing filters—a clue as to how dangerous it is
The Composition of Organic Fertilizers
Organic products are composed of only natural organic waste, rather than water-soluble ammonium salts, the basis of chemical fertilizers. Some examples of organic waste are humus, or decayed kitchen and garden waste, fish blood and bone, bone meal, fish emulsion, and seaweed.
If you want to make your own compost, save your kitchen and garden waste and mix it with bonfire ash and a bit of wet newspaper in a little compost bin and wait for it to perform its magic. (It all turns into nutrient-rich soil in about a year—it really does!)
What Organic Fertilizers Should You Buy?
Fertilizers are mixtures of three components: nitrogen, potash, and phosphates, all of which are found in healthy soils. Leafy plants (lettuce, for example) need a lot of nitrogen. Root and tuberous plants like carrots and potatoes need more phosphates, and flowers and fruit need extra potash.
You can purchase organic fertilizers as liquid, pellets, or in a granular composition.
Many of these fertilizers are identified by name brands that evoke an image in nature (for example, Earthworm or Lady Bug, or Earth Juice), and fertilizer producers, like California Organic Inc., make sure you know they have organic products.
While the impact of organic gardening on wildlife may not be a priority for you, many people are thrilled that so many birds and butterflies are attracted to their yards once they discard synthetic fertilizers and insecticides and use organic instead.
Studies have shown that organically farmed fields and farmlands have a much higher percentage of birds, butterflies, insects, wild flowers, weeds, and rodents living in, on, and around the land than farms and fields that are fertilized with chemicals. What more can we say? Even the birds and bees know what's best. Keep chemicals off your land and out of your container gardens, and enjoy the many rewards.
Scott Gray is a gardening enthusiast and freelance writer, currently consulting for All Garden Planters.
