Selecting the Right Type Of Organic Fertilizers
After a lot of thought and debate, you may have finally decided that organic fertilizers are the best option for your lawn and garden. Accordingly, you visit your local garden store to pick an organic fertilizer. To your pleasant surprise, you may find that you have to choose from an amazing variety of organic fertilizers, each one differing either in their mix or their product source. You are now in a quandary since you are not sure which organic fertilizer is best for your lawn.
Most organic fertilizers are either animal-based (bone meal, blood meal), plant-based (cottonseed) or contain naturally occurring minerals. Of course, they also come in different forms like pellets, powder and liquid forms.
Before you decide which organic fertilizer may be the best for your lawn or garden, you may need to understand a little about how these fertilizers work. Three nutrients are essential to all plants – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. While nitrogen gives the plants and grass its rich green color, the other two work to strengthen the roots of the plants and grass. All three of them work together to build the immune system of the plant leading to healthier growth.
When you look at any fertilizer packet, you will find that three numbers are prominently displayed. These refer to the percentage of the three nutrients in the fertilizer. For example, the first figure refers to the percentage of nitrogen, the second figure to the percentage of phosphorus and the final figure refers to the percentage of potassium contained in the fertilizer. You may also notice that the percentage of nitrogen is the maximum amongst all three. The best fertilizers are those that contain all three nutrients in correct proportions and which release them slowly to the soil.
Most chemical fertilizers contain the three nutrients in the right proportions but have a tendency to release them all at once to the soil. At times, it so happens that the roots take in more nutrients than is good for the plant causing the plant to burn up. Organic fertilizers on the other hand, do not contain the nutrients in a form that can be readily used by the plant. Once the fertilizer is mixed into the soil, various microorganisms work on it and break it down into nutrients that can be absorbed by the roots. There are three benefits of this process – for one, since the nutrients are released slowly to the soil, there is no fear that the plant will take in more nutrients than necessary. Secondly, since the whole process requires an active participation of the soil microbes, it stimulates their growth and leads to long-term fertility of the soil. Finally, the nutrients are spread out into the soil by the microbes and the plant roots have to look for them further and further, allowing them to take firm root as also prevent the growth of weed, naturally.
The only drawback that organic fertilizers may have is that they are generally rich in one main nutrient and you may need to mix a few to get the right kind of mixture for your lawn and garden.