Organic Fertilizer Composes Of Matter Generated In A Wholly Natural Process, Without Synthetically Manufactured Components.
Because it is natural, it shares similar characteristics that organic foods have. This means that the fertilizer is organic and natural, composed of matter generated in a wholly natural process, without any commercial additives and synthetically manufactured components.
There are a few ways of preparing fertilizer, organic and natural.
Compost is a by-product of composting, a natural process of turning organic wastes into their simplest form—humus.
Humus or compost is a black soil-like substance abundant with nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium.
Composting can be aerobic or anaerobic.
In aerobic composting, the organic wastes are properly insulated to allow oxygen and accelerate the decomposing process. In anaerobic composting, oxygen is discouraged so anaerobic bacteria can feed and decompose on the organic matter.
Fertilizer Organic and Natural
you can also prepare natural fertilizer from animal manure such as that of the horse in North America and Europe and carabao or tamaraw in Asia.
Animal manure can also be the ingredient in natural fertilizers available in the market, along with other organic materials, including bone meal, decomposing plants, and any rotten produce.
Unlike synthetic fertilizer, organic, natural, and chemical-free fertilizer does not contain anything inorganic or unnatural. The same holds with organic liquid fertilizer.
Besides, its benefits far surpass that of the synthetic because the organic does not harm the soil or the plants.
- Synthetic fertilizer contains toxic chemicals that make the soil compact, poor, hard, and too acidic. Likewise, they produce may also contain remnants of synthetic chemicals.
- Natural fertilizer feeds the plants because all the nutrients—potassium, phosphorous, and nitrogen—that plants and soil need are present.
- These nutrients are essential in strengthening the plant’s root system and ensuring healthy plant growth. It is also used in amending the soil.
The same nutrients are found to be beneficial to the soil. They enrich the soil quality, regulate its pH level, and aerate it so oxygen can penetrate underground and allow the roots to breathe.
In cases in which the soil is compact and poor, amending it before planting is recommended.
You can do this by digging the soil about 4 feet deep and filling it with natural fertilizers. Soils with natural fertilizer are loose, airy, and rich in nutrients. The soil also has a better capacity to hold moisture and essential nutrients.
Organic Fertilizer and Soil Amendments List
Bat Guano
The organic fertilizer Bat Guano is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. The fertilizer bat guano is a type of animal manure—mainly sea birds, bats, and seals—used as an organic fertilizer.
It has its origin in the Inca civilization, at which time, the guano was highly treasured. The word guano, which is a Quichua language, means Droppings Of The Sea Birds.
The bat poop is virtually odorless, rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and other trace eliminates. Two common methods of application are adding it to topdressing and manures. Hydroponics supply stores carry this organic fertilizer from many manufacturers.
The Incas at their time would appoint guardians over the islands and coasts, where the bat poop would accumulate. The guano during the Inca era is perceived to be the most famous and excellent type because of its complete nutrients.
The guano would gather on the rainless islands and coast of what is known today as Peru. The atmospheric conditions then ensured a minimal loss of nutrients. The nitrogen content in the manure was intact.
Farmers in ancient times relied on the guano for plant and soil fertilizer.
Besides the NPK content, organic fertilizer is also rich in microbial flora and soil-improving chelates. Worldwide, it has been documented as an excellent organic fertilizer.
In today’s modern era, bat guano refers to the accumulation of droppings from the cave floor. The droppings may include bat poop, animal remains, and minerals. Its value did not change as the US Congress enacted a law on August 18, 1856.
The law grants protection to Americans who will discover an area rich in guano. While you shall grant the possession of such an area to the one who found it, the law prohibits anybody who is not American from benefiting from it. It was supposed to be an exclusive usage by the North Americans.
The guano serves as a soil conditioner and organic fertilizer. It is abundant in nitrogen and other organic materials, making it ideal for indoor and outdoor uses.
The nitrogen content in the guano amounts to 10%, while the phosphorous is 3%. Its potassium content is 1%.
- It is used as a slow-release fertilizer to assure a continuous benefit for the plant and soil.
- Bat guano is also known to contain bioremediation microbes, which help clean up toxic substances.
- The guano is also used as a foliar spray to fight plant fungus.
- Bat manure is found mostly inside the caves, protected from the scorching heat of the sun and wind. Thus, it does not break down as easily as do most organic matter. It is also for this premise that its nutrients remain intact.
The fertilizer bat guano is extracted or harvested by hand and transported to a processing plant. There, it undergoes processes such as refining, heat treatment, and testing. It is then sealed and distributed for commercial uses.
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Blood Meal
What is a blood meal? The name might not bring up the images that you would see when you think of fertilizer. But that is exactly what it is – dried blood gathered from the slaughterhouses where cattle are slaughtered.
A blood meal is a vibrant source of nitrogen that rapidly increases the growth of your plants.
This is a vibrant nitrogen source. There are other elements contained in the meal as well, one of them being iron.
A Very Powerful Fertilizer
Applying this powder can be so powerful that if the directions on the application of the blood meal are not followed, it can burn plants.
You can mix it with water to use as a liquid growth enhancer. Nitrogen is one of the most lacking elements in the soil, thus requiring a fertilizer with nitrogen for plants to get this much-needed element.
Plants that are not getting the right amount of nitrogen will turn yellow. The addition of blood meal will bring back the green color and health to the plants.
When it is added to the soil, it works with tiny worms that live in the soil and bacteria that break down the blood meal powder into nitrogen.
This allows plants to absorb it more easily and increases the growth of the roots of your plants. Strengthening the roots helps the plants to be much healthier.
A Great Source of Nitrogen
Some plants are very heavy feeders. This means they need a good fertilizer to help them to realize their full growth potential. Lettuce, corn, and okra are some plants that need to have large amounts of nitrogen. The meal is a fast-acting fertilizer, and if plants are showing signs of problems, they may be lacking nitrogen and other minerals they need to be healthy.
A blood meal is 100% natural and organic. Compared to the chemicals used in the past, it has a (12-0-0) nitrogen count, which is one of the highest among all-natural fertilizers. The easiest way to give your plants the nutrition they need is also the safest.
The use of this fertilizer will be, among other things, very affordable, safe for storing, will work on various plants and even your lawn. It is easy to apply to plants. The scent of the meal is also a great repellent to those animals that like to raid your gardens, such as rabbits and deer. It can also help to break down leaves and other composts rather quickly.
The application of the fertilizer will have the best results if ¼ cup is used for each plant. It is safe to put on stalks and leaves. Mixing it into the soil is another way of giving the plants the nourishment they need. When mixed correctly, a bag weighing 5 lbs can feed a 400 sq. ft. area.
There is not a better fertilizer that can provide the nourishing elements that your plants need. By using the meal, not only are you going to have a great garden or lawn, but you will also be helping the environment by using an all-natural fertilizer.
Cottonseed Meal
Cottonseed meal is an organic fertilizer derived from crushing the cottonseeds and extracting the seed’s oil. Cottonseed is a good source of nitrogen, which is 85% water-soluble.
It can be used alone as lawn and plant fertilizer or as a component of other organic fertilizers.
When it comes to soil’s pH quality, the cottonseed can regulate it. If the soil is more alkaline, the meal is used as it is to lower the pH.
If the plants to be grown are acid-loving—especially blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and potatoes—the meal is applied without lime or pH boosters.
The high nitrogen content —7% –in this fertilizer makes it favorable for shrubs and trees.
You can sprinkle it finely under the tree branch or shrub. Besides nitrogen, it also contains 3% phosphorous and 2% potassium.
Cottonseed meal benefits lawns, bushes, flowerbeds, vegetable patches, and more.
- Lawns. The release pace of the nutrients is slow, making it very useful to lawn grass for an extensive-time period. You can use it in generous amounts because it does not burn leaves, and it can withstand the losses by leaching.
- The nutrients help the soil to retain moisture and amend the texture. The meal is preferably applied in early spring before new growth starts.
- Bush. To use the meal, You should prepare holes for transplanting. The holes should be twice as wide as required and should be adequately deep. After the plant is positioned at the center of the hole, You should cover the hole with its original soil with a concoction of cottonseed hulls.
- One cup of the meal should be spread to the soil close to the small bushes, while You should prepare two to four cups for larger bushes. The meal will keep the plant’s development to be flourishing and healthy.
- Flowerbeds. Many gardeners rely on this meal to prepare the flower beds, especially for Roses. The meal offers good prevention from root harms, provides better soil conditions and essential nutrients.
You should use the organic fertilizer at the rate of six pounds per 100 square feet of the bed.
If the soils are highly substandard, you should combine organic cottonseed meal with other organic fertilizers at the rate of 11/2 to 2 pounds for every 100 square feet.
Vegetable Patch. For a new vegetable patch, use 4 to 6 pounds of the meal to 11/2 pounds of other organic garden fertilizer for every 100 square feet.
If the soil is below the standard, spread one to two inches of the meal hulls, decayed leaves, well-rotten hay, and other organic matter across the surface of the garden.
Till the soil to 8 or 10 inches deep and blend the soil with the organic matter, including the meal.
Gypsum Fertilizer
Gypsum fertilizer is calcium sulfate. When used as a fertilizer, it may have distinct grades, such as that the calcium content is 22% while the Sulfate is 17%.
Considered the neutral salt of a strong base and strong acid, the said calcium sulfate neither increases nor decreases acidity.
The crop productivity benefits from it, particularly if the soil structure is deficient in calcium sulfate.
The soil can be amended and conditioned as well with gypsum minerals.
It corrects the alkalinity of the soil structure by reducing the high pH conditions. It also counteracts the acid soil and increases its low pH conditions.
If harmful sodium is present in the soil, the gypsum can leach it out by ionic exchange. Most gardeners used acid chemical fertilizer for a long time, and this damages the soil quality.
To reverse the damaging effects of chemical fertilizers, regular application of the Gypsum Fertilizer can help restore the balanced soil condition.
- Generally, it can also enhance the soil structure and tilth, provides friable soil, and creates deeper topsoil.
- Compacted soils are prevalent in some areas in the United States due to sodium and clay and the compounding activities of farm animals and farm machinery.
- However, applying gypsum can help break up the compacted soils and reduce cracking and compaction after irrigation.
In areas where rainfall is a generous occurrence, the soil may take some time to dry out before you can prepare it for tilling and plowing.
The calcium sulfate works wonders on such soil by helping it dry out, and thus, it can be readied sooner for planting.
- Garden gypsum also binds organic matter—if there is—to the soil and monitors for soil erosion.
- Friendly bacterial activity is encouraged, while plant diseases due to poor soil aeration are discouraged when applied with mineral fertilizer.
- Also, the plant roots grow healthily, and the water penetrates properly.
Besides supplementing the calcium nutrient to the plant, Gypsum can also strengthen the cellular walls of the plants, making them more resistant to diseases and insects.
Of course, because it is a mineral compound, both the soil and the plants benefit from the sulfur content.
Additional ingredients for gypsum fertilizer
Although it does not have nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, iron, and zinc, it helps plants absorb such nutrients from other sources.
Finally, garden gypsum promotes water conservation by allowing the water to permeate deeper into the soil without causing water to log in or form puddles.
And because of such a feature, the fertilizer helps conserve water by elongating the interval between irrigation.
Humates
Also known as humic acids, the humates are substances from the chemical and biological breakdown of prehistoric animal and plant matter and are used as organic fertilizer.
It is an agricultural product frequently used in organic farming as a soil amendment.
Before it reaches its current state, as it decomposes, the plant matter forms peat, which in turn turns into humate.
Its trace minerals are as many as 70, composed of organic acids such as fulvic acids, macromolecules of amino acids, amino sugars, and peptides.
Humic acids play a significant role in plant health. For one thing, it provides electrical energy capacity to the soil. It guards the soil’s pH level by providing buffering acids for another.
The soil’s water retention capacity, nutrient absorption ability, and aeration boost while stimulating the microorganisms to perform their function.
The humates were once living organisms. Thus, their properties are easily absorbed in the existing plants, including fruit-bearing trees, vegetables, flowering plants, shrubs, and even lawns.
The benefits of the agricultural products can be traced down to as early as the time of Anasazi Indian, Mayans, and other North American Indian cultures. At their time, they applied the limestone-gypsum-phosphate rock, which is abundant in humate materials, to mineralize the soil.
Today, researchers at Technologies Incorporated discovered that the humic acids work well as a base for organic fertilizer, soil conditioners, and plant food tablets.
The minerals present in humate fertilizer have proactive effects on the growth and development of plants.
Its beneficial effects compose multiple factors that synergistically and independently work in pursuit of several objectives such as…
- Accelerating seed germination.
- Strengthening the plant’s root system.
- Stimulating the plant’s immune system.
- Improving endurance and resistance to diseases and parasites.
It encourages ion-exchange resulting in a boost in the structural integrity of water, which in turn provides the chemical makeup of melted water.
Melted water is known for its medicinal effects on plants.
Permeable shall what become of the plant’s cell wall membrane when regularly fed with organic fertilizer. Hence, it will stimulate the plant’s cells to absorb more nutrients, especially sugar and vitamins.
If there is the presence of harmful nitrate in vegetables, it can be decreased to lower levels. Likewise, the plants are protected against toxic chemicals by bonding pesticides and heavy metals to block penetration into the root system.
Humates found favor with organic farming and home gardeners, horticulturist, and agricultural growers. This fertilizer/ soil amendment helps these people restore the previous favorable condition of North America’s urban and agricultural land.
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