Organic materials in the garden are more environmentally friendly than traditional chemical fertilizers. Unlike commercial chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizer for gardens is typically made of single ingredients and can be matched to our garden’s particular nutritional needs.
The
types of organic fertilizer can come from plant, animal or mineral sources,
depending on what chemicals our garden requires. In order to qualify as an
organic fertilizer, the materials must naturally occur in nature. Fertilizer
for organic gardening isn’t the quick and instant fix that chemical fertilizers
can be. With organics, we have to let moisture and beneficial organisms break
down the content of the fertilizer material in order for the plants to get to
the nutrients inside.
In
general, half of the nutrients in an organic fertilizer ingredient can be used
the first year it is applied, and the rest of it is slowly released in the
years to come, feeding and conditioning the soil.
Different
Types of Organic Fertilizer for the Garden and there are a number of organic
fertilizers. There may be all-purpose chemical fertilizers, but this doesn’t
exist in the organic side of gardening. Different organic fertilizers add
different nutrients and ingredients to the soil.
The
materials you need depend completely on our soil and the plants we are growing
in the garden. Plant-based fertilizers Plant-based fertilizers break down
quicker than other organics, but they generally offer more in the way of soil
conditioning than actual nutrients.
These
materials, such as alfalfa meal or compost, help to add drainage and moisture
retention to poor soils. Other plant-based fertilizers include:
Cottonseed
meal
Molasses
Legume
cover crops
Green
manure cover crops
Kelp
seaweed
Compost
tea
Animal-based
fertilizers
Animal-based fertilizers, such
as
manure,
bone
meal
blood
meal,
add
lots of nitrogen to the soil. It’s great for leafy plants and strong growth in
the early weeks of gardening.
Additional
animal-based fertilizers for the garden include:
Fish
emulsion
Milk
Urea
(urine)
Manure
tea
Mineral-based
fertilizers.
Mineral-based
fertilizers can add nutrients to the soil, as well as raising or lowering the
pH level when needed for healthy plant growth. Some of these types of organic
fertilizer are:
Calcium
Epsom
salt (magnesium and sulfur)
