Joined
·
490 Posts
should be the main idea here. Being "organic" is not about finding "natural" or "organic" sources of water soluable fertilizer instead of chemicals. It IS about using materials that work to create a livable environment for the microbes and earthworms that break down the raw materials we supply into plant usable forms of nutrients.
FEED the SOIL, not the plant is the idea. Create a healthy thriving soil that ANY plant would grow well in, and turf will be very happy and resistant to disease and weed invasion.
There are lots of "organic" fertilizers that aren't any better than the synthetics for creating a healthy soil environment. Leather meal is a byproduct of processing leather and a cheap sourse of nitrogen for fertilizers. Since it's part of animal skin it is "organic", but because of the tanning process it's full of heavy metal contamination. Lots of the materials are like that. No other use for them so they are very cheap to buy in large quantity.....
If a product kills bacteria and soil microbes than it doesn't matter if it comes from dead dandelions, you don't want to use in a "organic" program. Think "sustainable horticulture" rather than "non petroleum based ferts" and you'll have 1/2 the battle won. :blob2:
FEED the SOIL, not the plant is the idea. Create a healthy thriving soil that ANY plant would grow well in, and turf will be very happy and resistant to disease and weed invasion.
There are lots of "organic" fertilizers that aren't any better than the synthetics for creating a healthy soil environment. Leather meal is a byproduct of processing leather and a cheap sourse of nitrogen for fertilizers. Since it's part of animal skin it is "organic", but because of the tanning process it's full of heavy metal contamination. Lots of the materials are like that. No other use for them so they are very cheap to buy in large quantity.....
If a product kills bacteria and soil microbes than it doesn't matter if it comes from dead dandelions, you don't want to use in a "organic" program. Think "sustainable horticulture" rather than "non petroleum based ferts" and you'll have 1/2 the battle won. :blob2: