Which is Better: Chemical Fertilizer or Organic Fertilizer?
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A popular topic among the agriculture specialists and home gardeners these days is the furor on organic fertilizer vs. chemical fertilizer. Now each fertilizer certainly has its pros and their cons, but before we delve in deeper into that, let us first make a few definitions.
What is organic fertilizer?
Organic fertilizers are substances containing nutrients derived from the remains or by-product of an organism. Examples of organic fertilizers are cottonseed meal, blood meal, fish emulsion, and manure and sewage sludge.
Organic fertilizers are naturally rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, the three major nutrients needed in plant growth. Organic fertilizers depend on microorganisms found in soil to break them down and release the nutrients.
What is chemical fertilizer?
Chemical fertilizers are synthetically produced plant nutrients from inorganic materials. Because they are artificially made, many chemical fertilizers contain acids that can be harmful to the soil’s population of microorganisms. In this aspect, chemical fertilizers have the potential to stunt plant growth.
Chemical fertilizer vs. organic fertilizer
Fertilizers are created to target soil nutrient deficiency, which is a prevalent problem among home garden owners. One distinct advantage chemical fertilizers have over organic fertilizers is the fact that they contain all three of the major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). Organic fertilizers can only either have high content levels of one of these three or have all three nutrients in low levels.
For its part, organic fertilizers are a much cheaper and cost-effective alternative to chemical fertilizers. Any home gardener can create his own brand of organic fertilizer by composting or mixing cow, sheep, or poultry manure with other organic matters. Chemical fertilizers on the other hand will have to be bought from a gardening store or horticulturists.
A noted aspect of organic fertilizer is its slow-release capability. This slow release of nutrients in organic fertilizers can be both beneficial and potentially harmful to plants. Slow release of nutrients means that there is less risk of over-fertilization. However, this could also mean that if the need for immediate supply of nutrients arises, organic fertilizers would not be able to provide the needed supply. In contrast, chemical fertilizers can prove plants with an immediate supply of nutrients when the situation calls for it.
Several chemical fertilizers have high acid content. Acids in chemical fertilizers, like sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid, lead to high soil acidity which would in turn result in the destruction of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, the microorganism that plays a key role in supplying a growing plant’s nitrogen needs.
Plants certainly do not recognize the difference between organic fertilizers and chemical fertilizers. Their tiny root hairs will absorb those microscopic nutrients, regardless of where they come from or how they were manufactured. But even so, with today’s growing environmental concerns, some people debate over the wisdom of using chemical fertilizers as a nutrient source.
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18 Comments
October 6th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Generally Organic -
Chems are faster acting, so if you are doing a growing experiment short term (less than 60 days) you'll probably have better results with the chemical ones.
Organics work differently, they start a cycle of decomposition in the soil that then feeds the plants, indeed mimicing mother nature. But it takes awhile for that cycle to begin. So the companies generally add a bit of fast acting nutrients to bridge that gap.
Biggest difference is that Chemical ferts are like drugs, plants get addicted and they keep needing it, and will suffer without it. Organics allow a soil cycle to begin that will allow the plant to 'eat on its own' and not need a 'fix' all the time.
Finally Chemical ferts are generally made from petrolum which as we all know is become of short supply and expensive.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
From what I understand, organic would be something that is from a plant or animal source, versus being manufactured. Chemically, they are not the same, although you'd have to be more specific as to what fertilizers you are looking at, before anyone could tell you. If you had one of each, then someone could compare them, but as far as liquids, solids, brands, types, you need more info
.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Organic fertilizer is better for the enviroment because it is organic and there is less run off that destroys our rivers.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Thank you … Useful advice! Sorry it took me so long to respond …
Regards,
B. (happy)
October 6th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
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October 6th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
what would u recomend for me, my menses stopped,all hormone test test suggest everythg is okay, ovaries still good.(no menopause yet)Iam 46 ,will chaste tree help? can i ovulate without menses?
October 7th, 2009 at 2:17 am
Chemical fertilizers are basically purified nutrient salts. They aren't toxic or harmful when they have been taken up by plants, as pesticides would be. Their biggest downside is that they can get washed quickly from the soil before they are used by the plants, so that alot is wasted, and they can get into water supplies easily, which can upset the natural nutrient balance of lakes and streams. If you use too much they can build up salt residues in the soil, which can eventually be harmful to your plants.
Organic doesn't really mean natural, it means containing carbon. Organic fertilizers are from once living plants or animals, such as manure, blood, composted plants, etc. These types of fertilizers are not as nutrient dense as chemical fertilizers so you don't get the same puch from them, but the nutrients are released to the plants gradually as they decompose, causing less waste, and danger to water supplies. Also, organic fertilizers contain more micronutrients, which are nutrients a plant needs, but not in large amounts like they need nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Most importantly I think, is that organic fertilizers can do a lot to improve your soil by adding organic matter and creating a healthy ecosystem within your soil, which in the long run has the most benefit to your plants.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
I would recommend finding a qualified medical herbalist to discuss whether chaste tree is most appropriate for you and he/she may give it to you as part of a prescription following a consultation, and tell you about the right dosage and times to take it.
Try looking up American Guild of Herbalists, National Institute of Medical Herbalists, or College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy to find one near you.
Best wishes…
October 7th, 2009 at 11:19 am
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October 8th, 2009 at 2:29 am
This product you are asking about is being manufactured and sold out of the (Republic of China) Taiwan (this is their statement, not mine). It consists of what is known as organic tea. If there is any actual research to back up their claims, I haven been able to find it, nor did I expect to. The product as advertised is basically a big rip off.
Their claim:
"This product contains macro, secondary, micro, and more than ten necessary nutriments such as more than tens of different good microbes, medium and short bond amino acids, enzyme protein hydrolysate, powerful protease, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (amount < 15%), boron, manganese, zinc, magnesium (amount < 4%), calcium, iron, and copper. "
If their claims are accurate (they don't state this a 15:15:15,
N P K fertilizer or if it is 15% total) they are selling this tea in 1 liter bottles and recommending a 1:1500 liter dilution. That comes out to about .0001% active ingredient, in other words almost nothing. Applying this product as recommended about the only advantage your plant would receive would from the watering it gets.
Organic tea is not a bad product, if you make your own and apply it at a rate that would actually do you some good, it works great. This product being labeled as Liquid Organic Fertilizer with Universal Essence is a good product that is being sold out of a country where they don't have to back up their claims in a volume so low that it would not be worth the postage to get it to you. Don't waste your money on this product. For all we know it is coming right out of their sewer system. Look on the web for how to make organic tea and make a good product that you can use and know that it will do you some good.
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:7WUc74RF2O8J:www.gideon-global.com/eng/img/02_uep_en.doc+Liquid+Organic+Fertilizer+with+universal+essence&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us&lr=lang_en
October 7th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
I would recommend finding a qualified medical herbalist to discuss whether chaste tree is most appropriate for you and he/she may give it to you as part of a prescription following a consultation, and tell you about the right dosage and times to take it.
Try looking up American Guild of Herbalists, National Institute of Medical Herbalists, or College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy to find one near you.
Best wishes…
October 8th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Hi
the reasons will mainly revolve around nutrient availability and toxicity with water retention of the soil sometimes important depending on what you have used.
You might have to do a bit of note taking and scrolling but the following have lots you can use.
http://www.ecochem.com/t_faq9.html
http://www.dannylipford.com/diy-home-improvement/lawn-and-gardening/debate-over-organic-chemical-fertilizers/
http://www.your-healthy-gardens.com/fertilizers.html
http://www.malcolmbeck.com/books/gv_method/FertilizerOrganicNaturalversusChemicalInorganic.htm
October 8th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
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October 8th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
My sis in law has high prolactin levels, even though she weaned her second child six months ago and is a young woman. This means she doesn’t get her period and she’s desperate to get it back. Anyone have any suggestions? She’s been using sage and it’s reduced some of the milk she produces, but not stopped it completely.
October 9th, 2009 at 6:56 am
If you are referring to liquid organic fertilizers that you can buy, the advantages are readily available nutrients and of course it is organic, whatever you think that is worth. The disadvantage is the cost you will be paying for the nutrients you receive. Price per unit of nutrient would make using this fertilizer on a large scale farm prohibitive. If you are raising a small garden or flower bed you may be able to afford to go this route.
A much better and much cheaper way would be to make your own. A compost tea or a manure tea can be made by soaking a burlap bag filled with compost or manure and soak it in a barrel of water for seven days to two weeks. The primary benefit of the tea will be a supply of soluble nutrients, as well as bio-active plant compounds, beneficial microbes, and the beneficial metabolites of microbes.
I can't see much advantage to the compost tea over applying the compost its self, unless you are growing hydroponically. With the compost you would get everything that is in the tea plus more nutrients and the advantages of the organic matter.
If you need references Goggle liquid organic fertilizer and/or organic teas, and you will find plenty.
October 9th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Getting rich soil organically takes years, you cannot get great soil in one season.
Start a compost heap ASAP. it takes about 9 to 12 months to make good compost (many people say you can do this in 3 to 6 months and this is true if you know what you are doing-there is a lot of skill to making excellent compost)
This fall after the peppers and tomatoes come in grow a cover crop for green manure that will be cut and turned in to the soil next spring. green manures do an incredible amount of good for the soil.
Get a soil test to see what your soil is lacking.
Both peppers and tomatoes like rather low nitrogen and higher potassium and magnesium. Tomatoes love a couple of table spoons of epsom salts per planting hole.
Both appreciate a twice a month foliar feed with kelp or fish emulsion
A great gardening forum with lots of organic growers is http://idigmygarden.com/forums/index.php
October 9th, 2009 at 1:55 am
Spouse & I desperately want child, but we purposely won’t conceive, because what we want isn’t most important thing. Most important consideration is toward the child. Making life-altering decision w/out consulting one most effected seems wrong. And possibly child may feel “I would have preferred non-existence. There, I would have remained safe from harm.” Also, harm that comes would be my fault and my spouse’s. If we hadn’t conceived, harm would not have occurred. Do others think this way?
October 9th, 2009 at 4:32 am
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