Spring is just around the corner and it means – it’s fertilizers O’Clock. Most of the time soils do not provide ideal growing conditions for your plants right away and that is why application of specific nutrition’s is a common practice in horticulture.
What are fertilizers? Role of fertilizers.
Fertilizers are the components that increase plant productivity and development. With the help of fertilizers, plants become resilient against harmful plant pathogens, pests, and weeds. Elimination of diseases in plants increases the value in the harvest. Without fertilizers, nature struggles to replenish the necessary amount of nutrients in the soil.
Often, when talking about fertilizers, amendments are mentioned too and even more often these 2 are being mixed up. But these two are different things – one is designed to improve the soil, and the other – to feed plants. So, what is the difference?
Soil amendments:
- organic or nonorganic material;
- can include animal worm castings, perlite, straw, grass clippings, greensand, gypsum, hay, cover crops, or other materials;
- improves the physical properties of the soil, such as water retention, permeability, water infiltration, drainage, aeration, and texture;
- main goal – provide a better environment for roots.
Fertilizers:
- concentrated chemical or organic nutrients;
- food for plant – supply nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous;
- main goal – to stimulate plant growth and improve plant quality;
- do not help to improve a soils structure.
By learning the difference between these two types of soil conditioners, you won’t have to wait long for success in your greenhouse or bed, just make sure you use these products correctly and responsibly.
Unless otherwise instructed, we at Nord Agri prefer to use a complex approach when producing our premium quality substrates. And the reason is simple – mixing fertilizers and and soil amendments together, results are so much better! For example, applying fertilizer on top of poorly managed soil with compacted earth won’t do a magic, just because the nutrients will simply drain away. Such soil cannot absorb moisture if it is compacted; that is why soil amendments are needed. Once the soil is amended, plants will make better use of the fertilizers.
Chemical fertilizers vs Organic fertilizers
Important aspect to look at, when talking about fertilizers specifically, is the difference between organic and chemical fertilizers. Both types of fertilizers have certain situations where they shine, and both feature the same three primary nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, often indicated as an “NPK” ratio. While both contain nutrients needed for plants to grow, natural fertilizer contains smaller amounts of nutrients than chemical and chemical fertilizer does not contain the additional organic matter and microorganisms that organic fertilizer does. At the most basic level, chemical fertilizers feed the plant, and organic fertilizers feed the soil. But as you may understand, it’s a little more complicated than that.
Chemical fertilizers
Organic fertilizers
When choosing the right fertilizer for your garden both organic and chemical fertilizers can be used, but the organic option will always be at the top of our recommendation list. Organic fertilizers stimulate soil life, improves soil texture and nurtures fertility in the long run. But in case you need immediate results, you may need to feed your crops with chemical fertilizers while adding organic fertilizer blends to improve soils health over time. Chemical fertilizers facilitate precise agriculture by allowing crop input suppliers to tailor fertilizer products that contain nutrient profiles specifically tailored to precise field nutritional requirements.
We offer a large variety of recipes of substrates that are designed and tailored for all types of plants, so it won’t be hard to find the most suitable product for you! Contact us at info@nordagri.com and let’s discuss what we can offer!
In Peat we trust!