Why Choose Organic Fertilizers

These days, everyone from backyard gardeners to big agri-businesses are increasingly using organic fertilizers. This is due in part to an increased consumer demand for organic produce. It’s also partly due to the positive press earned by “going green” and eco friendly.

The average person, however, may wonder if there’s any substance to all these buzz words. Are synthetic fertilizers really that bad for agriculture and dangerous to animals and people? Are organic fertilizers really all that much better and safer? If so, why? And what are “organic fertilizers” anyway? This article will try to answer these questions for you.

WHAT IS ORGANIC FERTILIZER?

Basically, inorganic fertilizers are made from synthetic, manufactured chemicals, and organic fertilizers are made from naturally occurring organic material. This is a bit of an oversimplification, however, and sometimes the line between organic and inorganic fertilizers can get a bit blurry. For example, naturally occurring minerals such as limestone, saltpeter, and mine rock phosphate, although technically inorganic (they come from rocks, after all), have been used as fertilizers for centuries and are just as safe as organic fertilizers.

Organic fertilizers are generally created as other organic material that rots and decays. As plant and animal matter rots, the organic material breaks down into its component water and minerals. The resulting biomass is very high in nutrient quality.

The most common example of this is compost, which many backyard gardeners make themselves from organic waste?dead leaves, grass clippings, leftover food, etc. Another example is animal manure, which is also very high in nutrient content and has been used in agriculture as a fertilizer for thousands of years. Finally, some plants are used directly as fertilizers, like seaweed and peat moss.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH INORGANIC CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS?

Many inorganic fertilizers contain synthesized chemicals that do not occur naturally in nature, and thus can become harmful. The introduction of such chemicals, if used extensively over time, can throw off the local environment and ecosystem.

The most common form of chemical pollution occurs when it rains, and the synthetic chemical fertilizers get washed out of the soil into the rainwater runoff. This agricultural runoff flows into the ponds and streams, where they frequently kill the fish and other water life. These chemicals also eventually leech down into the groundwater that people and animals drink.

Finally, some crops will absorb these synthetic chemicals into their plant matter as they grow. When people buy such produce and eat it, these chemicals are introduced to their bodies. One meal of such produce may be harmless, but over a lifetime of eating such produce, these synthetic chemicals can build up in the body.

IS ORGANIC FERTILIZER REALLY BETTER?

Obviously, the introduction of unnatural chemicals into the local environment is not a problem with organic fertilizers, which are made from other naturally occurring organic plant and animal matter.

In terms of encouraging crop grow, however, organic fertilizers are just as good as synthetic fertilizers. Whereas synthetic fertilizers are concentrated, organic fertilizers are more diluted throughout a large amount of biomass. On the one hand, this means you have to use more organic fertilizer to achieve the same effect as a smaller amount of synthetic fertilizer. On the other hand, however, this means that the nutrients are released into the soil gradually, at a slower, more consistent rate over the course of the crops growth cycle. This prevents the boom-and-bust cycle that some synthetic fertilizers can create in crops.

Finally, a 32-year study in Sweden between organic and synthetic fertilizers found that, although both greatly encouraged crop growth over unfertilized fields, organic fertilizers encouraged a higher yield than synthetic fertilizers (65% compared to 50%).

We hope this article has answered some of your questions about organic fertilizers. This article, however, is just the tip of the iceberg,there is much more to learn. If you want to try using organic fertilizers, we suggest doing more research so you can find just the right fertilizer for your garden.

Plants Producing Organic Fertilizers

Today’s health conscience society has warmed up to the benefits of organics. Food grown organically has been known to be healthy and natural with no harmful side effects of chemicals. The same holds true with organic fertilizers.

A drastic increase in demand for organic fertilizers have shown the environmentally safe techniques and compounds can prove to be beneficial and inexpensive.

Many organic fertilizer factories and plants have been erected all over the world. They produce organic fertilizers using manure, seaweed, and other natural compounds. With the increasing popularity of organic fertilizer, a rise in the number of fertilizer plants will follow, giving a farmer many choices of fertilizer.

Organizing organic fertilizer factories and plants was a very logical step in increasing the productivity of the environment. Many means of producing fertilizer comes directly from the waste of other organic materials that rot and decay.

One example of using waste to produce organic fertilizer is in the usage of chicken feces. Chicken farmers collect a tremendous amount of chicken waste and this can in turn affect the environment. Instead, by turning something that is potentially harmful into an organic fertilizer can use this to produce wonderful, abundant crops.

China has recently erected the most up to date organic fertilizer plant in the world. The plant is located in Dalian City, which is in the northeastern province of Liaoning. The plant was built by Han Wei, and it produces about 100,000 tons of organic fertilizer a year.

Along with some of the most intelligent researchers from Shenyang Applied Ecology Research Institute, Han Wei studied the effects of organic fertilizer plants could be mass produced. The studies of scientists in the provinces of Liaoning and Heilongjiang showed that they could not only be produced under controlled environments, but they would also increase crop production drastically.

This plant is a 65,000 square foot enclosed plant that utilizes the use of organic materials to make fertilizer. They use a method to extracting the nitrogen and phosphorus to preserving the organic materials in poultry feces. This method allows companies, such as Perdue AgriRecycle to convert potentially harmful pollution to healthy organic fertilizer capable of double the amount of crops. The plant in china can produce 80,000 tons of fertilizer pellets.

Although animal manure is a very popular way of creating organic fertilizer, another common way of creating fertilizer is by the use of compost made of plant materials. Compost has become a very popular way to fertilize organically. Some service areas have green waste and collect food for composting. Many local farmers also use the technique as an expensive way to fertilize crops naturally.

Composting is a process of raw plant materials breaking down. Over time the materials break down leaving behind waste water as the by product. The richness of the compost is well known for its high quality nutrient content. This process also includes the extracting and separating of the nutrients from the waste water from the soil.

Although the rise in demand for organic fertilizer has increased, the need of more and different organic fertilizer plants are still needed. There will be a steady increase in the demand for this environmentally safe way to fertilize crops that produce better and stronger plants.

Pelleted Organic Fertilizers

Going organic is the way to go if you want to get the most out of your backyard garden. But selecting the right organic fertilizer can be a chore, especially for people who have just gotten into gardening as a hobby. This article will help you decide what kind of organic fertilizer best suits your needs.

There are many different kinds of organic fertilizers on the market, such as fish emulsions, cornmeal, bone meal, seaweed extracts, kelp extract, etc. They are available in liquid or powder or in Granular or pelleted form.

The liquid organic fertilizer is applied to plants with a spray while the powder form can be applied directly to the soil. These forms have advantages and disadvantages, and many gardeners argue over the benefits of one or the other.

The other kind of organic fertilizer is the granular or pelleted. Late to arrive on the scene (the pelleted fertilizer is quite new), the pelleted organic fertilizer is quickly becoming the preferred form of organ fertilizer. This is primarily based on price: pelleted fertilizers are a bit cheaper than liquid or powdered organic fertilizers. The pelleted fertilizer also has a slow-release capability.

This slow-release property allows pelleted fertilizers to gradually release nutrients, which gives plants time to absorb and use them through the growing season. In this way, the pelleted fertilizer also helps stop leaching and soil erosion, which are side-effects of the liquid form.

Since they are organic, pelleted fertilizers have only a small amount of chemicals; no organic fertilizer is one hundred percent natural. The pelleted fertilizer’s low chemical content makes it a great source of nutrients not only for plants, but also for microorganisms in the soil.

Pelleted fertilizers may be derived from many kinds of organic materials. Most are produced from by-products of the sea.

For example, fish emulsions are sough after for their rich trace elements. Pelleted fertilizers produced from seaweed are also a prized by plant growers because of its high trace element content and nitrogen.

Another pelleted fertilizer that is made from the by-products of the sea is the crab shell fertilizer. Chock full of vitamins and minerals, this fertilizer is also popular because it is pest-controller.

Pelleted fertilizers can also be produced from manure, chicken litter, or bat guano. Chicken and other farms have begun converting their waste into pelleted fertilizers for plant use. Another pelleted fertilizer is made from bat guano. Commonly comprised of high amounts of nitrogen and phosphoric acid, the bat guano fertilizer has high-protein, slow-release, and is a soluble type of fertilizer.