Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Organic Fertilizers

organic fertilizers

Organic fertilizers are made with natural raw materials and by raw material it usually pertains to our biodegradable wastes.

Advantages of Using Organic Fertilizers

All natural

Organic fertilizers usually composts are made by decomposing biodegradable wastes. These wastes may include paper, leaves, fruit peelings, leftover foods and even fruit juices. These are all natural and the process of decomposing them needs no chemicals either. An abundance of worms are all it takes to decompose these wastes and turn it into organic fertilizer. You don’t have to worry about build up of toxic wastes because that is not happening with an all natural source of ingredients.

Make the soil rich

Organic fertilizers make a good addition to the soil. It makes the soil rich and ideal for planting. With a good soil, plants will get the nutrients that they need. Furthermore, organic fertilizers do not upset the balance in the soil as it does not leave behind any artificial compounds.

Transforms unhealthy soil

If the soil in your garden is not the rich and loamy type, but instead it is sandy or may have a lot of tiny gravel in it or a high concentration pf clay perhaps are not a good area for planting. Sandy soil does not hold water and not even the roots of the plants. Clay tends to clump. Adding organic fertilizers to these will improve the content and quality of the soil making it more suitable for planting.

Corrects imbalances

As the soil goes through the plants cycle of planting and harvesting and de-cropping, it becomes stripped bare of nutrients and the pH balance is also affected as well. Organic fertilizers help correct these imbalances in the soil pH to make it more suitable for plant growth.
Delivers nutrients in a slow but sustained rate

Organic fertilizers are yet to be broken down completely into nutrients that the plants will absorb. Nutrients are delivered slowly in small increments as the organic fertilizer is slowly breaking down. The plants do not get shocked by a sudden high dose of nutrients being delivered that comes with using inorganic fertilizers. Over fertilizing which can be harmful to the plants can be avoided. Furthermore incidents where the roots get burned from direct application of high hoses of fertilizer can also be avoided.

Cost- effective

The raw material needed to make an organic fertilizer can be found even in our homes. Biodegradable wastes can be recycled and turned into compost.

The Disadvantages of Using Organic Fertilizers

Takes longer time

Some plants grow sick and are malnourished. Some are even on the verge of dying. AT this point, plants need an immediate intervention. Meaning it needs high doses of nutrients fast. This is possible with the use of an organic fertilizer but not with an organic fertilizer. The slow and sustained release of nutrients by the organic fertilizer cannot be made to hasten in order to meet the needs of a dying plant. If you wait for the organic fertilizer to release everything it has stored, the plant may die during the long wait.

Organic fertilizers are broken down into basic nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These are not available in appropriate proportions. It could be that the nitrogen is more abundant than the rest. The plants may end up absorbing a lot of one nutrient over the others. This is similar to having an unbalanced diet. Plants will not grow beautifully.

High demand, low supply

If you have a big garden it is advisable to use organic fertilizers so that it will not be too costly. However, organic fertilizers enough for a big garden is not readily available. While you can make you on organic fertilizer by composting, you really need a lot to fertilize a big garden. The wastes from the house can only make so much organic fertilizers that it is not enough. Furthermore, it takes awhile to prepare organic fertilizers.

Simple but messy and inconvenient

It is very simple to make compost. There are even a lot of recipes for organic fertilizers available. However, whipping it up can get messy not to mention it may also smell unpleasant from the rotting of the organic ingredients. A lot of people find making compost far more trouble than what it’s worth. Hence, they’d rather pay a price for a little bit of convenience.

Organic fertilizers indeed offer a lot of benefits but it has its drawbacks as well. Better consider the pros and cons before even deciding on which path to go.

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