FAQ

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DR. EARTH® GARDENING GUIDE DR. EARTH® GARDENING GUIDE
These materials consist of natural ingredients that the
beneficial microbes in a living soil digest as food. Popular
ingredients include fish meals, feather meal, alfalfa meal,
cottonseed meal, bone meals, kelp meal, seaweed extracts,
blood meal and liquid animal manures. The meals and extracts
contain organic matter and nutrients, while the bacteria and
the symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi convert the nutrient sources
into usable forms plants can absorb as needed. Also, fungi
extend the reach of plant roots to acquire more nutrients.
Organic fertilizers have a much lower chance of leaching
through the soil and contaminating the water table. With
organic fertilizers, nutrients are physically bound into larger
pieces of organic matter lodged in the soil and available so
that microbes can free them up for plant use. There is nothing
mysterious or magical about organic fertilizers. They simply
give you a way of working with nature rather than against it.
The objective in using them is to recycle organic matter back
into the soil rather than discarding it and relying on chemicals.
In fact, the organic process is much less mysterious than the
methods of the chemical grower.
A program of organic fertilizers involves far more than just
growing plants without chemical fertilizers and artificial
sprays. Using organics is a life choice and commitment that
recognizes the complex, successful workings of nature in
maintaining life for hundreds of millions of years. Sound
organic cultivating principles closely follow processes found
in the natural world. Also, do not think that using these
principles leads to lower yields or quality. In fact, with organics
you are likely to increase both. Organic methods also support
habitat for wildlife while insuring the fruits and vegetables
you produce in your garden are safe, nutritious and free of
chemicals. You also reduce the possibility of the harmful
effects of chemicals on infants and children.
The soil teems with millions of microorganisms that release
nutrients required for healthy plant growth from organic
matter. Rather than feeding plants directly, organic fertilizers
feed the soil with natural materials that allow your plants to
draw on a humus reservoir of nutrients as they need. Plants
grown this way are stronger and more resistant to pests and
disease. Organic fertilizers work and persist for many months
(unlike the short-term affects of chemical fertilizers) because
they become a part of the living soil.
You can find a number of different organic fertilizers and
amendments at your local nursery. Some are formulated to
support the nutritional needs of particular plant categories
such as vegetables, while others take an all-purpose approach
good for a variety of plants. Fertilizers are generally tested and
proven for a specific application. Choose a selection specific
to your types of plants: vegetable fertilizer for vegetables;
fruit fertilizer for your fruit trees. In any case, organic fertilizers
and amendments are geared for the slow, controlled release
of plant food. They are perfect for preparing the soil for
upcoming seasons without having to worry about nutrients
being wasted or washed away.
Chemical fertilizers feed plants directly
and do not address the soil, because
they are in a form that plants can absorb
immediately. While direct plant feeding
sounds attractive, it adds no beneficial
attributes to the soil. In fact, over time
chemical fertilizers can deplete the soil
of nutrients. The gardener treating plants
only with chemicals uses the soil simply
as an anchor to hold plants in place.
While this approach appears to have
good short-term results, in the long run
it has disastrous consequences. When
organic matter is not replaced in the
soil, beneficial organisms die out, the
soil structure breaks down, and the soil
becomes hard, airless and unproductive.
Attempts at “force-feeding” plants result
in soft, sappy growth, which is prone to
attack by a host of pests and diseases.
When plants are forced to grow with
chemical fertilizers, they become weak.
As plant cell walls develop, they do
not have enough time to produce two
important compounds, cellulose and
lignins. These substances strengthen
protective cell walls. As cells are forced to
duplicate and grow quickly, the amount
of cellulose and lignin decreases, making
the plant tissues much softer and more
attractive for pests to attack. If you were
an insect, would you rather bite into a
soft head of butter lettuce or chew on a
piece of wood? Insects prefer tender, soft
growth.
Chemical pesticides are also often used
for short-term pest control. Unfortunately,
these pesticides also kill the natural
predators of the pests that attack plants.
Eventually, the problem gets worse
as nothing is left to kill the “bad bugs.”
Stronger, more toxic pesticides then
have to be used, setting in motion a
hard-to-break, vicious cycle: Plants and
soil weakened by chemicals need more
chemicals to protect them from pests
they resist naturally when well nourished.
Organic Fertilizers and Soil Amendments
Chemical Fertilizers
UNDERSTANDING
GARDEN
BIOLOGY
SCIENCE OF THE SOIL
HAPPY AND HEALTHY GARDENING
SYNTHETIC
PROBLEMS
Synthetic chemical fertilizers feed only the plant, giving it a temporary boost, but doing nothing
to nurture a healthy soil environment with lasting benets. Adding petrochemical synthetic
fertilizer also drives up the salt index in the soil and changes the pH, which can have adverse
eects on plants. If the damage has already been done, you can undo it. Just go organic!