Everyone is standing on their toes waiting for the moment to get started digging through the dirt and pitting in seeds or seedlings and water them afterward. Yet, gardening is so much more than just doing that.
Gardening does not begin when you put in the seed on the soil. There are more tasks to do before you could even get to that stage in gardening. Preparing the soil in your garden to make it rich is paramount to growing healthy plants.
Not every soil is prepared to receive plants and make it grow. There are ideal conditions in the soil that are conducive to plant growth. The nutrient content and the soil pH are very important aspects of the soil’s chemistry that determines whether a plant would fare will and grow healthily.
The first time you get to plant in your garden, the soil may still have a lot of nutrients in store for your plants. However, over time the plant uses them all up in order to grow. Eventually, you are left with a soil that is low in nutrients and will hardly be a good condition for your soil to grow. Nutrients will not magically appear in the soil. It is your job to put in the nutrients that are lacking in the soil. You can do this by adding fertilizers in the soil. The fertilizers contain the necessary nutrients that will help sustain plant growth and even return the pH level to a point that is ideal for planting.
Two Major Types
Fertilizers are categorized into two major types.
The two types of fertilizers are organic and inorganic fertilizers. Both fertilizers bring about nutrients that your plants need.
However, there are issues both economical and ethical that one has to consider when choosing which type of fertilizer to use.
Usually your own personal values play a huge part in determining what your decision will be.
The plants that will be using up the fertilizer are also a consideration in choosing the type of fertilizer to use.
Inorganic fertilizers generally contain the elements nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in proportion that plants can readily use. These are how inorganic fertilizers manufactured. Some high-end inorganic fertilizers have been formulated specially for the use of certain plants. These do not come out cheap either. There have been debates among gardening circles on the use of inorganic fertilizers. Their topics include weighing the benefits of its use against its harmful ecological consequences. Some would argue based on their ethical responsibility to the environment claiming that the risks were just too high.
Organic fertilizers also do provide plants the same nutrients as inorganic fertilizers do only that they are not readily available for the plants to use. They have a pattern of sustained release of nutrients. A good thing about these is that it is made from all natural ingredients that pose no risk to the environment. Furthermore, one can even make organic fertilizers on their own making it a more cost-effective choice. Environmental activists who are all for saving the planet highly advocate the use of organic fertilizers.
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