This article is about the dangers of fertilizers, and which fertilizers to use.
One of the greatest reasons not to use pesticides and chemical fertilizers is the risk to wildlife in your area. If your home is surrounded by a natural habitat/ecosystem you should take steps so that you do not interfere with it. Fertilizers and chemical pesticides do not stay in your garden. They seep into the soil and travel through ground water and they travel through runoff when there are heavy rains. Chemical and Natural fertilizers are both dangerous to aquatic ecosystems. Fertilizers can cause Eutrophication. Eutrophication causes the water body to become unhospitable to water dwelling creatures. Eutrophication is when the amount of nutrients changes within an aquatic environment/ecosystem. The harmful effects of eutrophication are caused by the increase of nitrogen and phosphorous. This shift in nutrients increases aquatic plant life including algae, and decreases the amount of fish and shellfish.
Fertilizers can cause large algae blooms which can intensify the problem of eutrophication, and create new risks within a given ecosystem. To learn more about algae blooms see “Harmful Algal Blooms and Eutrophication: Nutrient Sources, Composition, and Consequences” at http://www.whoi.edu/cms/files/Anderson_etal_2002_Estuaries_29903.pdf.
Some algea even produces neurotoxins and other toxins which can accumulate in fish and shellfish and are toxic to aquatic life, and in turn these creatures become toxic to everything that eats them including humans. Learn more at http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/oceanography-book/harmfulagalblooms.html.
Having read this information you can see that the the choice of which fertilizing methods to use is an extremely important decision. It is best to choose fertilizers that are marketed as soil ammendments. These are minimally processed minerals and other organic matter that are kind to the environment.
Some of these soil amendments are:
- bone meal which provides calcium
- blood meal which provides nitrogen
- alfalfa meal which provides trace minerals
- flax seed meal which provides nitrogen
- worm castings which provide nitrogen and trace minerals
- kelp meal which provides trace minerals, amino acids, and enzymes
- Langbeinite which provides sulfur, magnesium and potassium.
More information about these soil amendments and how to use them can be found at www.bustan.ca.
Soil amendments release nutrients gradually which prevents the problem of contaminating ground water and runoff. These nutrients take between 1 and 5 years to fully break down. By slowly releasing nutrients these soil amendments are also gentle on your plants unlike liquid fertilizers that may shock your plants, cause yellowing of leaves, and even potentially destroy your garden.
If your garden is close to your outdoor living space these alternative fertilizers are all the more beneficial. Unlike compost and liquid fertilizers, soil amendments do not stink. When you use soil amendments you also do not have to worry about putting your pets or family at risk. You can also eat your vegetables without worry about washing them. You can eat peas, beans, and strawberries as quickly as you pick them! This is a great benefit if you have children.
Using worm castings gives you the benefits of compost without the smell. You can create you own supply of worm castings by putting some soil and worms in a wooden box. If you are going to keep your box outdoors it will need a roof as worms drown easily. Instead of putting scraps of vegetables and fruits into your green bin put them into your worm box. The worms will eat the food and turn it into castings. You can add the worm castings to your garden as frequently as you like because it is basically nutrient rich soil.
Soil amendments are also perfect for beginner gardeners because it is more difficult to damage your garden. The over use of soil amendments usually only results in stunted growth caused by the ph balance being disrupted.
Please see my next article called Gardening: How to deal with insects, raccoons, rabbits, and squirrels.
