Natural Fertilizers
Do chemical fertilizers or natural fertilizers work best? There is hardly a more pressing, or contentious, issue facing gardening today. People on both sides of the debate fight very passionately for their viewpoint, and scientific evidence unfortunately does not definitively support one side of the debate or the other. Public opinion is currently swinging in the direction of natural fertilizers, as evidenced by the rise in the popularity and availability in organic produce at grocery stores. Does that mean that natural fertilizers are the best and chemical fertilizers pollute the environment? Not necessarily. One of the real problems with this debate is that people can’t actually agree on what a natural fertilizer is.
What Are Natural Fertilizers?
It sounds like it should be obvious – that a natural fertilizer is one that is made of ingredients that occur naturally in the earth. However, there is much debate about the making of natural fertilizers, and how much manipulation of the ingredients can there be before the fertilizer becomes not natural any more? Of course, lawn natural fertilizers and natural fertilizers for flower gardens have a different composition, as do the different brands of natural fertilizers, and so there are many different natural fertilizer types. For this reason, if you were to ask 10 people to give you a list of natural plant fertilizers, you will likely get 10 different lists and a lot of debate about things like Angloflash versus natural fertilizers.
The Pros And Cons Of Natural Fertilizers
Natural fertilizers have a lot of benefits. They are kinder and gentler to the soil, and so presumably to the environment at large, and they do not burn plants like some chemical fertilizers may do. Likewise, they do not present a risk to pets or young children who play in the garden, and they create more nutrient rich fruits and vegetables because the nutrients in the soil are not destroyed.
There are some downsides to natural fertilizers, however. For one, you need much, much more of the natural fertilizer than you would of the chemical fertilizer, and so it can be more costly that the chemical alternative. Bulk natural fertilizer purchases are a must. Also, natural fertilizers, from natural fertilizer lawn care products to natural flower bed products fail to offer any protection against pests that might destroy all of the plants.
Another downside of natural fertilizers is that you can never really sure what you are getting. The composition may differ from bag to bag of the same brand, and the difference may be great. For large scale agriculture, these fluctuations can be a major problem.
