Fertilize your garden organically. This invigorates the garden soil, protects the environment and your own he alth.
Anyone who fertilizes their garden organically is one step ahead. It protects nature, its own he alth and contributes to the natural development of plants.
The use of organic fertilizers closes the ongoing natural cycle. The plant nutrients that were once withdrawn from the soil for plant growth are returned after the plant has died and weathered. Animals that consume plants for their diet also contribute to this with their excretion. In this context, it is hard to imagine life without the manure heap on the farm.
Mineral fertilizers are often used without hesitation
Fertilizing, for the garden lover that means supplying the plants with nutrients so that they grow quickly and vigorously.
In spring, gardeners often use a mineral fertilizer that is less expensive and has an enormous effect on plant growth. And so mineral fertilizers attract quite a few hobby gardeners. The nutrients it contains are quickly soluble and immediately available to the plant.
It is questionable whether the dosing is carried out correctly in every case or whether the principle has perhaps spread: "a handful of fertilizer more, that can't hurt". Hand on heart, who hasn't caught themselves being too careless when applying artificial fertilizer?
Damage is often inevitable
The use of mineral fertilizers (such as blue grain) gives quick results initially, but in the long run can have negative consequences for the soil and plant cultivation in the garden in general. Risk factors can be:
- Too high a dosage. This can have a significant impact on the environment. The easily soluble mineral components are flushed into the groundwater.
- There may be erosion damage in the soil after long-term use. The soil is not sufficiently aerated because the soil organisms needed for this are considerably weakened. Soil compaction cannot be ruled out in the long term.
- Furthermore, damage to human he alth can occur, for example if there is too much nitrogen pollution in thevegetables In addition, improper use of mineral fertilizers can cause the preparation to enter the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract or near the eyes.
Therefore, more and more organic fertilizers are preferred, they are environmentally friendly and protect our he alth when eating fruit and vegetables from the garden.
Organic fertilizer is better in the long term
Organic cultivation of fruit and vegetables has become increasingly popular among hobby gardeners in recent years. What comes later on the plate should be less contaminated by chemical substances. This is supported by the gentle organic fertilization. The minerals are not in an immediately soluble form, they first have to be released by the soil organisms. Thus, organic fertilizer works for a long time.
Selection of organic fertilizers
A wide variety of organic fertilizers are used in the garden. Some of them are no longer unknown to the hobby gardener.
Compost
Without a doubt, compost is the best-known organic fertilizer. There is a compost heap in almost every garden. Mowed grass and tree cuttings are deposited here, as well as vegetable kitchen waste, eggshells, coffee grounds or old potting soil from indoor plants. Gradually, these substances become natural fertilizer.
The garden and kitchen waste first has to be transformed into valuable humus by innumerable small creatures. But it will take a while before that happens. The experienced hobby gardener knows that the compost must be regularly mixed and kept moist to ensure good quality.
Vegetable Manure
Vegetable manure is an alternative to compost. These contain nutrients in dissolved form. For this purpose, plant parts are placed with cold water. After a day, the plant manure can be applied to the soil and is available to the young plants more quickly but still gently.
Damn
Horse manure or cow pats are a special kind of organic fertilizer. It also contains many nutrients that accelerate the growth of plants in the garden. However, manure processing has a downside. It contains many wild herb seeds that get into the animal stall with the bedding. Thus, the wild or weeds are also distributed in the garden soil when fertilizing and grow in the garden.
Pelleted Manure
Pelleted cattle or horse manure is a far more odorless and less weed-infesting alternative to manure. When pelletingexposes the manure to high temperatures so that it becomes germ-free in every respect. However, the advantages for soil revitalization are not restricted.
Organic Fertilizer with Single Nutrients
In addition to the natural organic fertilizer, which covers the needs of the plants with a wide range of nutrients, there is also a selection of organic fertilizers that contain nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium as individual nutrients.
horn shavings
In many gardens, for example, horn shavings are used as a pure nitrogen fertilizer. Horn shavings consist of crushed cattle claws or horns. Incidentally, this nitrogen fertilizer is produced in different degrees of grinding such as horn semolina or horn meal. It should be noted that the finer the grain size, the faster the fertilizing effect will set in.
Bone Meal
A similar fertilizer is bone meal, made from slaughterhouse waste. This mainly contains phosphorus as a nutrient component, but also a larger amount of calcium.
Denser and sandy soils, for example, benefit from bone meal. However, intact soil life is necessary here for the release of nutrients.