Fertilizer

What is fertilizer??

What is fertilizer? Why do plants need it? Well, fertilizers are substances that are either added to the soil or applied directly to plants to enhance the growth and strength of plants. Most importantly these substances are added to the soil to make the soil more fertile so the plants that grow on it are strong and have all the major nutrients. In nature, plants grow by taking up nutrients along with water from the soil. These nutrients are required by plants to perform various functions and to grow. At times many nutrients for example nitrogen, which is essentially required by the plants may not be rich in soil or may not be present at all. Mostly, fertilizers provide plants with secondary nutrients such as phosphates, nitrates, calcium and sulfates as these compounds are not abundant naturally in the soil.

Organic Fertilizers

Organic fertilizers are the natural fertilizers. These fertilizers have been used by man for thousands of years and are the most common type of fertilizers. These include compost, manure, sea weed, peat moss and guano.

Organic fertilizers are safe to use and don’t cause damage to the plant. Manure has been the most common type of natural fertilizer used by man. It is a mixture containing animal dung and is always applied on the soil to produce better crops.

To provide plants with sufficient nitrogen even dried blood is applied at times to the soil. Another common type of organic fertilizer is bone meal which is also incorporated into the soil by farmers.

  

Organic fertilizers have numerous benefits with the most important being that they are natural and do not cause damage to the plant. But despite of that chemical or inorganic fertilizers are applied to the soil for the better growth of the plant. The first most important reason for that is these fertilizers have a very slow release. For example a nitrogenous organic fertilizer would basically enhance the function of the nitrogenous bacteria present at the root nodules.

These bacteria then through nitrogen fixation provide nitrogen to the plant. Also they are not as reliable in providing maximum nutrients as compared to the inorganic fertilizers. But none the less, natural organic fertilizers increase the physical and biological absorption mechanism of soil which is very essential for plant growth.

Ammonia is a gas but is applied in the liquid form to the plants to enhance the nitrogen content of the plant.

Basically ammonia is applied to the irrigation water. The only problem is that ammonia is an expensive fertilizer.

There are mainly four nitrogenous fertilizers. The main raw material used in making nitrogenous fertilizers is ammonia gas. The common examples of nitrogenous fertilizers are Urea.

Urea fertilizer is produced by combining anhydrous ammonia and carbon dioxide. The chemical formula for urea is CO(NH₂)_2.

Its composition is:

Carbon (C)     20%                     Hydrogen (H)  6.6%

Oxygen (O) 26.7%                     Nitrogen (N)  46.7%

 A hardener is added to make the granules longer lasting during handling and shipping.

APPLICATION OF ORGANIC FERTILIZERS

A little bit of nitrogen goes a long way to make grass green and healthy. When “too much” fertilizer is applied, grass grows fast and the potential for disease is increased. The fertilizer application selected by the homeowner should match the type of grass, the soil, lawn care style, and other personal choice factors.

In all cases, fertilizing during hot, dry weeks should be avoided. At such times the lawn requires water – not fertility.

Professional turf grass specialists can tell when lawn needs fertilizer by its “look and feel.

The Healthy Lawn and Garden Technical Advisory Committee for Oakland and Wayne Counties, Michigan has identified three options which are often considered. The type of grass and other maintenance factors affects which one is selected. Each option is outlined below.

Option #1 - Two fertilizer applications

(Usually with clippings left on the lawn)

        • One pound of nitrogen for every 1000 sq. ft. of lawn in the late spring -- generally late

          April or May.

        • One pound of nitrogen for every 1000 sq. ft. of lawn in the fall.

     Option #2 – Three fertilizer applications

(especially for sodded lawns where the clippings are left on the lawn):

• One pound of nitrogen for every 1000 sq. ft. of lawn in the late spring (Memorial Day)

• One pound of nitrogen for every 1000 sq. ft of lawn in the early fall (Labor Day.)

• One pound of nitrogen fertilizer for every 1000 sq. ft. of lawn in mid-fall (October).

Option #3 -- Four fertilizer applications

(especially newly-sodded lawns when the clippings are removed)

• One pound of nitrogen for every 1000 sq. ft. of lawn in the late spring (Memorial Day).

• One pound of nitrogen for every 1000 sq. ft. of lawn in early summer (4th of July).

• One pound of nitrogen for every 1000 sq. ft of lawn in the early fall (Labor Day.)

• One pound of nitrogen fertilizer for every 1000 sq. ft. of lawn in late fall (Thanksgiving).

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Animal Ingredients

Organic fertilizers may also contain ingredients that have not been harvested in the most eco-friendly way. Bone, blood and feather meals are byproducts of the meat industries and are added to fertilizers as a source of nutrients. Fish meal, another industry byproduct, may be contaminated with PCBs and mercury and could come from overharvested fish populations. The Northeast Organic Farming Association allows their use only under the strict warning that humans should avoid direct contact with them.

Sewage

Finally, some organic fertilizers contain sewage sludge, leftover from wastewater treatment plants. Sewage sludge comes with all the pharmaceuticals, antibacterial, industrial synthetic chemicals, heavy metals and other chemicals that wastewater treatment plants aren't able to remove. Though the EPA has endorsed sewage sludge, or biosolids, as fertilizers for years, a February 2008 Environmental Science and Technology study revealed that earthworms living in soil treated with sludge were absorbing the pharmaceuticals and personal care product ingredients that treatment plants leave behind. While the study wasn't conclusive, their presence in earthworms led scientists to suspect chemicals were building up in the crops growing in the soil.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Organic Fertilizers

Advantages

Organic fertilizers are made with natural raw materials and by raw material it usually pertains to our biodegradable wastes. All organic fertilizers are natural resources. Organic fertilizers are made of biodegradable waste such as fruit peeling, leftover foods and others. NO chemical is needed to decompose them and we does not need to worry about toxic waste

Furthermore, organic fertilizers also can improves the soil health which made the soil rich and ideal for planting flower, vegetables and trees. It also creates more air space and water retention within the soil so that the plant can breathe more smoothly. Organic fertilizers does not leave behind artificial compound which harmful for the plant and environment. Another advantages of organic fertilizers is prevent soil erosion and it’s improve the quality of the soil.

Environmental friendly is also one of the advantages of organic fertilizer. It maintains the balance of ph level and delivers nutrient in a slow but sustained rate. moreover, it reduced the nutrient leaching. Using fertilizer also can prevent eutrophication.

Disadvantages

Organic fertilizers cost expensive as high demand but low supply. This is because organic fertilizers need a lot time to produce and the demand does not meet the market availability. Furthermore, incomplete composing of organic fertilizers may leads to the growing of pathogen. Pathogen will enter the water system or food crops and cause environmental and health problem. Organic fertilizers have an unpleasant smell. Large scale of organic fertilizers is hard to made as it is not suitable for machine spreaders.