Organic fertilizers are becoming more popular as gardeners have become more earth conscious and are staying away from chemical fertilizers. However, gardeners must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of using natural products on their gardens. Organic fertilizers are composed of only organic matter. On the other hand, chemical fertilizer is a careful preparation of different essential nutrients designed to enhance a plant's growth.
Improves Soil Health
Organic matter is essential to having healthy soil. Organic fertilizer is composed of only organic material, which makes it an excellent additive for soil that is nutrient deficient. The organic matter in the fertilizer also helps the soil retain moisture and increases its workability. Gardeners depend on a soil that is workable because soil that is too hard or soft will not support plants effectively. Another great benefit of organic fertilizer is that it increases airflow through the soil, which allows the plants' roots to breathe. In some cases, chemical fertilizers increase the acidity of soil due to the excess nutrients in the soil not absorbed by the plants. Organic fertilizers do not have this problem because they slowly break down and release nutrients at a rate, which allows plants to absorb them naturally and completely with no waste or excess.
Hard to Apply to Large Gardens
Organic fertilizers are becoming more and more available at home improvement stores, but this can be expensive for large gardens. Many home gardeners produce their own organic fertilizer by composting. Composting is easy enough; however, it can be a messy and smelly process and it does take some time for the material to degrade and break down. Additionally, there is only so much waste available from table scraps and eventually the home gardener will have to purchase some organic fertilizer from the store. BasicsofGardening.com points out that many people find composting troublesome due to the proportions of materials that must be combined achieve a balanced fertilizer that they do not mind paying a premium to purchase fertilizer from the store.
Does Not Pollute Lakes
Runoff water from farms and homes causes many algae blooms in lakes according to the University of Vermont, Vermont Legislative Research Shop. Chemical fertilizers used on many lawns and farms are not absorbed fully by plants. This creates a situation where runoff water from storms collects the excess fertilizer and carries it down into lakes and streams where it is readily available to algae. The greatest advantage of organic fertilizers is that they must break down first to release their nutrients. Therefore, if organic fertilizer runoff got into a lake it would not be readily available to the algae according to the University of Vermont, Vermont Legislative Research Shop. This is why organic fertilizer does not cause algae blooms and is healthier for the ecosystem.
