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Organic Fertilizers
Getting the most from your garden soil the natural way
Organic GardeningThe organic gardening approach to plant growth omits chemical fertalizers for a variety of reasons. Its practitioner uses a wide variety of natural materials and substances derived from natural materials to boost and maintain the soil's fertility.Organic matter and rock powders are effective organic fertilizersThe most basic types of organic fertalizers are animal manures and green manures, compost, and rock powders—substances that provide the soil with not only the major nutrients, but with trace minerals and organic matter as well.As organic farming has gained credence since the 1970's, more and more fertilizers derived from natural materials have come on the market. Many of these products have definite value, but none should take the place of the basic organic fertilizers: organic matter and rock powders.
Balanced soil will consistently yield healthy plantsOrganic gardeners and farmers believe balanced, fertile soil, rich in organic matter, will consistently yield healthy plants in abundance. Their soil preparation techniques basically resemble those practiced by their chemical-oriented counterparts.A - They test their soil so they know its nutrient levels, organic matter content and pH.
B - They develop a long-range soil-management program based on the soil test results.
C - They seek to maintain major nutrient levels consistent with good plant yields.
How organic matter improves your soilOrganic matter has aptly been referred to as the storehouse of the soil's nutrients. Briefly, the reasons it is so vital to soils are that it;1) Improves tilth and structure
2) Improves water-holding capacity
3) Aids in nitrogen fixation
4) Makes nutrients available to plants
Soils differ widely in their content of plant nutrients, depending on the minerals from which they were formed and on the extent to which these original nutrients have been lost through erosion, leaching and crop harvesting.
Some of these losses are made up by the weathering of minerals, rainfall, the action of earthworms and bacteria in the soil, and other natural soil phenomena. But serious deficiencies must be corrected if the soil is to produce adequate and healthy crops. This is the reason why organic fertilizers and mineral nutrients should be added—to maintain crop yields and to produce crops with the proper nutrients.
Testing the SoilOne of the best ways to gain an understanding of the major nutrient problems of soil is to have it tested—either with your own soil test kit or by your state experiment station or a commercial laboratory. Generally a test of this kind will tell you whether or not your soil has a sufficient amount of the major nutrients—nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Often, it will also indicate whether your soil is acid or alkaline.While most state experiment station laboratories still interpret soil tests and make recommendations in terms of excesses or deficiencies of chemical NPK, a growing number are prepared to provide organic equivalents on request. Be sure to state this preference when you submit your sample and before you begin your soil preparation.
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Feeding the soil not the plantThe basic objective of natural soil fertility management is to feed the soil, not necessarily the plant. This approach entails a long-range commitment to building the overall fertility of the soil, as contrasted with merely supplying the minimum amount of nutrients to produce a single crop in one season.The chemical fertilizer user has long made use of special proportions of fertilizers, such as 5-10-10 or 4-8-4. Such fertilizer formulas are merely simple ways to show the amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash in the mixture of fertilizer. For example, in the combination 2-4-2, 2 percent is nitrogen, 4 percent is phosphorus and 2 percent is potash. The remaining 92 percent of the fertilizer is "inert" matter.
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