Are Organic Fertilizers Better Than Chemical Fertilizer?

Increasing concerns over the effects that chemical fertilizers have on the soil and the general environment has lead to the argument that using organic fertilizers is more beneficial. To understand which one of the two – chemical fertilizer or organic fertilizer – is better, we need to understand a little more about each one of them and then how they compare with one another.

Organic Fertilizers
Organic Fertilizers are naturally derived and available, typically with minimal processing, from the by-products or remains of plants and animals. Some examples of organic fertilizers are fish emulsion, blood meal, cottonseed meal, animal or poultry manure.
Not only do organic fertilizers contain the main nutrients that plant need – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – in plenty, they contain a wide variety of other nutrients too. One of the main advantages of organic fertilizers is that it needs microbes that live in the soil to work on them and break them down in order to release the nutrients, thereby stimulating microbe activity in the soil. This is supposed to lead to long-time fertility of the soil.

Chemical Fertilizers
Chemical fertilizers contain nutrients that have been artificially generated from inorganic materials after extensive processing. Though they may be produced so as to contain a good balance of nutrients, they are also believed to contain other elements that may cause harm to the microbes in the soil. As a result, while they may help the plants grow well in the short term; there are concerns over what they do to the soil in the long term.

Which One Is Better?
Typically all soils do not contain the main nutrients that plants need – nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus – in sufficient quantities. Fertilizers help the soil make up for this deficiency by providing these nutrients. It makes no difference to plants whether the nutrients come in the form of organic or chemical fertilizers as their roots will just absorb the nutrients from the soil. There are however some other considerations.

• Chemical Fertilizers often contain a good balance of all three major nutrients while organic fertilizers tend to be rich in only one of the major nutrient and you may need to look for two or three organic fertilizers to get the right mix.
• On the other hand, organic fertilizers are very cost-effective and a much cheaper alternative. In fact, many gardeners can make their own organic fertilizer at home by using animal and poultry manure with other organic matters like garden or yard waste. Chemical fertilizers have to be purchased from a store or a garden center.
• Chemical fertilizers tend to release their nutrients into the soil all at once causing the roots to burn up at times. Organic fertilizes have to be broken up by soil microorganisms; the nutrients are then released slowly to the soil and from them to the plants, thereby avoiding plant burn.
• Many chemical fertilizers are found to have acid in them that can harm the helpful bacteria in the soil causing permanent damage to the soil.