NATURAL & ORGANIC Versus SYNTHETIC FERTILIZERS

How do you know what your soil needs? You want to add what they lack, not what they do not need.

The very first step is You testing the soil, Because soil continually changes, you should have your soil tested every 2 to 3 years. Keeping records of test results, fertilizer applications, and any other soil amendments you make is always a good idea.

Fertilizer providing the N-P-K nutrients mentioned above can come in both organic and synthetic versions.

What’s the difference?

Organic fertilizers come from sources such as manure, blood meal, cottonseed meal, feather meal, crab meal, etc. (Bear in mind: Not all products labeled “natural” are organic.

Organic fertilizers work in concert with soil microbes that break fertilizers down for plant uptake. Because they don’t add excess salts and acid to the soil, organic fertilizers are beneficial in encouraging healthy soil biology rich in microbial activity. 

Synthetic fertilizers are lab-made and derived from compounds like ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, superphosphate, and potassium sulfate.

They expedite plant growth and can contribute to bloom rate in flowering plants. However, they are high in salts and can be detrimental to populations of beneficial microorganisms and also leach into water sources.

Applying too much synthetic fertilizer can “burn” foliage and damage your plants. Synthetic fertilizers are great for a boost, but do little to improve your soil’s long-term health, texture, or long-term fertility. Because synthetic fertilizers are highly water-soluble, they can also leach out into streams and ponds.

In general, organic fertilizers need time to enrich the soil, so they’re best applied few weeks before planting.

Note that the N-P-K ratio of organic fertilizers is typically lower than that of a synthetic fertilizer.

Yours in the garden Farm2Markt