Chemical Fertilizer vs. Organic Fertilizer

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We garden organically, so what you'll read below is colored by our experiences. That said, the debate about chemical fertilizer vs. organic fertilizer is one that we can't afford to debate these days.

What Is a Fertilizer?

A fertilizer, whether organic or put together in a factory, is any substance used to make soil more fertile.

It provides the supplements that plants need to thrive. It's used to improve the soil with nutrients that it doesn't have, or has in short supply.

Whether organic or chemical, fertilizer should be used only when actually needed, and only in the amount needed.

Why? Excessive use of many types of fertilizers can reduce or eliminate many soil organisms that produce other nutrients present in the soil.

Adding the fertilizer can improve on some nutrients while ridding the soil of others.

A soil test should be done to determine what nutrients the soil needs, before adding anything to your gardens or lawns.

What Is a Chemical Fertilizer?

Chemical fertilizer is a man-made collection of nutrients, usually the big 3 of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK). Since the big 3 are essential for plant growth, they're the ones that manufacturers focus on.

They're also the easiest to make. (Chemical fertilizers took off after World War II, when munitions manufacturers needed something to make to continue their profitability. Since they already had the ingredients, it didn't take them long to discover that manufactured fertilizers were the way to go.)

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are combined in various ratios based on the type of plants they'll be used on. When released into the soil to meet the needs of the plants growing there, they provide a "rush" of nutrients.

The flush of nutrients results in a growth spurt (think of children on a "sugar rush" and how manic they can become), but just like the sugar rush, it doesn't last long. Stop adding fertilizers and the plant has nothing left, no reserves, to continue its growth.

And since long-term use of chemical fertilizers destroys soil organisms that produce and/or make nutrients available to plants, there are few naturally occurring nutrients in the soil that the plants can fall back on when the growth spurt is over. This ensures that you'll need to buy more every year, thus ensuring the financial health of the chemical companies.

Unfortunately, using chemical fertilizers over a long period of time also results in salts leaching through the soil and into our water supplies.

What Is an Organic Fertilizer?

An organic fertilizer is one derived from animal or vegetable matter, or rock, that nature has been using for millions of years to nourish soils.

It may also be "manufactured" in the sense that a company, using equipment, combines naturally occurring ingredients. But the company doesn't manufacture the ingredients, as is done with chemical fertilizers.

Organic fertilizers are usually slow-release, adding nutrients to the soil over time. This slow release increases the soils' capacity to retain nutrients. And the organic matter in most of these fertilizers improves the soils' capacity to hold water, while at the same time improving the ability to let water drain from the soils (plants can't grow well in waterlogged soils).

Most organic fertilizers are also broad spectrum, adding many nutrients, not just the big three of NPK. Magnesium, sulfur, calcium and boron are just some of the essential elements that organic fertilizers will add to your soils. These elements can be used up in chemically induced growth spurts, leaving the plants worse off than before the chemical fertilizer was applied.

Organic fertilizers feed the organisms in the soil, not just the plants growing in it. This ensures that your garden soil improves year by year, to the point where only maintenance doses of fertilizer are needed to replace the nutrients removed from the soil during the previous growing season.

Unlike chemical fertilizers, you can actually lower your dependence on purchased inputs. You might even get to the point where composting your garden waste and food waste produces enough soil amendment to eliminate the need to buy inputs.

These fertilizers strengthen the plants, providing a well rounded list of nutrients. As they become healthier, they become more resistant to insects and disease. That means a reduced need for pesticides. It also means higher numbers of beneficial insects in your gardens.

Chemical Fertilizer or Organic Fertilizer?

We believe that using organic fertilizer is the only sane way to grow. In these times of financial restraint, it's only prudent to use a fertilizer that reduces the need for future applications of fertilizer, and one that makes plants healthier and better able to withstand the stress of changing growing conditions.

Yes, organic gardening (and organic farming) require some planning and thinking ahead. You need to ensure that what you plan to put into the soil is what's needed from the plants you plan to grow.

But as you become more skilled at planning, and at growing organically, you'll find that it all becomes second nature to you. You'll be able to tell, just by looking at your plants, what nutrient deficiencies your soils have. And you'll know the right organic fertilizer to add.

Chemical fertilizer vs. organic fertilizer? We think the answer's obvious. But only you can decide what's best for your circumstances.

We hope you'll join us in growing using only organic methods and inputs.

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