The use of organic fertilizers is essential for sustainable gardening. We will show you the advantages of which organic fertilizers are available and how they work.
You keep reading about organic fertilizers or seeing them on the shelves in garden stores. But what are these organic fertilizers actually all about? What are the advantages of using them and are there any disadvantages? Here's everything you need to know about organic fertilizers to feel like a true pro in the fertilizer department.
The word "organic" has been a household word for a number of years. In the meantime, you can get a wide variety of products in organic quality: from clothing to food to furniture. Below you will find out what actually constitutes an organic fertilizer and why it is not only good for your plants in the garden and on the balcony.
Organic Fertilizer: Composition
In principle, organic fertilizers can consist of organic waste and/or animal excrement, i.e. decomposable plant parts or animal waste. These organic fertilizers include manure, liquid manure or compost and sometimes substances such as horn shavings or horn meal are also added. Animal ingredients in fertilizer are not optimal for the he alth of your garden.
Advantages of animal-free fertilizers in organic quality are for example:
- Plant raw materials usually have a lower heavy metal load than animal residues
- Plant based products are not contaminated with animal antibiotics or hormone residues
- The risk of developing resistant bacteria in your garden or on your vegetables is minimized
To avoid these dangers and to produce a product where there are no ethical or ecological concerns, we have developed our Plantura fertilizers in organic quality. In addition, they do not contain any animal raw materials and are therefore ideal for all garden and animal lovers.
The group of organic fertilizers also includes microorganisms that are spread, for example to increase the nutrient uptake of theto improve plants or to support the decomposition of plant residues in the soil. Such microorganisms are often also referred to as effective microorganisms (EM) and can include, for example, rhizobia, azotobacter, blue-green algae or different bacteria.
Effects and advantages of organic fertilizers
Soil improvement, stimulating soil organisms and building up humus are at the top of the list of effectiveness of organic fertilizers. In addition, you naturally strengthen the plants and ensure he althy growth. When you use organic fertilizer, however, you not only provide nutrients to your plants, you also provide food for important soil organisms and microorganisms such as earthworms.
Microorganisms are important for nutrient digestion and often also helpful for plant roots. The organic substance in organic fertilizers builds up humus and thus improves the water balance in the soil. A good water balance is a great advantage for us garden lovers. On the one hand, our plants are well supplied with water and when it rains heavily, our entire garden is not immediately flooded. The reason for this lies in the improved soil structure; this guarantees a fertile basis for the garden plants.
If you have loamy or clayey soil in your garden, organic fertilizers can make this soil more permeable. However, if your soil is sandy and you use organic fertilizer, you may notice better water holding capacity over time.
Compared to mineral fertilizers, organic fertilizers release the nutrients a little more slowly, but this does not have to be a disadvantage for us and our plants. A slower release means that the fertilizer has a longer effect and the nutrients are not washed out as easily. It is also important to mention that organic fertilizers contain the same nutrients as mineral fertilizers. They only differ in the amount of nutrients they contain.
The advantages of organic fertilizers at a glance:
- They promote humus formation
- They contain no chemical-synthetic substances
- They are more nutritious and more natural fertilizer alternatives
- You support soil life
- They improve the growth of your plants
- And they also improve the soil structure in your garden
Organic fertilizer for lawns, vegetables, tomatoes etc.
Our plants need some help and support to be he althy and vitalgrow. Organic fertilizers such as our Plantura fertilizers are an ideal source of all important nutrients and also ensure a he althy soil.
Organic Lawn Fertilizer
You should start early in the year with optimal organic lawn fertilization. In spring you can apply a high-quality soil activator such as our Plantura organic soil activator, which improves the structure of the soil. This allows the grass to better absorb nutrients throughout the year.
If your lawn is sufficiently watered and mowed regularly, you should also pay attention to the fertilization of your lawn. In order to get a full and dense lawn, it is necessary to fertilize up to three times a year. You can start in April with the first fertilization and from the end of May a second fertilization is recommended. These fertilizations help the vegetation get off to a good start and guarantee even growth throughout the summer.
From August you can start thinking about fertilizing the lawn in the fall. With autumn lawn fertilization you can strengthen the winter hardiness of the lawn and fertilizers with long-term effects ensure a dense lawn without weeds.
You can use our Plantura organic lawn fertilizer for optimal fertilization throughout the entire garden year. Our Plantura organic autumn lawn fertilizer is recommended for lawn fertilization in autumn. Our Plantura organic fertilizers are free of animal substances and their optimal nutrient composition guarantees an optimal supply of the most important nutrients to your lawn.
Organic Fertilizer for Vegetables
Particularly when it comes to vegetables, it is important to most of us not to use chemicals and to fertilize the plants organically. Our Plantura organic universal fertilizer optimally supplies a wide variety of vegetables and berry bushes with nutrients. It is made from natural raw materials and is free from animal ingredients.
Another slow-release fertilizer for your garden is sheep's wool. The advantage of this is the good water storage capacity, and it also loosens the soil. You can also easily make compost yourself from kitchen waste and plant material from the garden and use it as a high-quality organic fertiliser. Another way to fertilize vegetables of all kinds is coffee grounds, which are also particularly good for tomatoes. You can also fertilize your vegetables in the garden organically with manure from different plants. We recommend manure made from stinging nettles orField horsetail, after all, the effect has already proven itself with our grandparents. In addition, the raw materials are often already found in our garden - often to our displeasure as weeds. All these alternative methods can ideally be supplemented with an organic fertilizer.
Organic fertilizer for tomatoes
For organic tomato fertilization you can use not only commercial products such as horn shavings, but also self-made manure made from nettles or comfrey. Your compost from your own garden is also ideal for tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). In principle, cow and horse manure are also suitable as organic fertilizers for these. Since tomatoes are so-called heavy consumers, they need a lot of nutrients in order to develop optimally. We can particularly recommend our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer.
This long-term fertilizer is made from purely plant-based substances and is certified organic. It stimulates soil life and, in addition to its optimal NPK ratio, also has extra potassium for excellent fruit quality in your tomatoes.
Organic fertilizer homemade
Compost, stable manure, manure or mulching are certainly among the most common homemade fertilizers. Manure, i.e. animal excrement, is obtained from a wide variety of animal species. The composition differs: cattle manure, for example, has a higher nitrogen content than horse manure, but the potassium content in horse manure is higher.
The own production of liquid manure from plant parts, which is also called herbal liquid manure, is a very sustainable and cheap method for the production of fertilizers. Another advantage of such liquid manure lies not only in the plant-strengthening effect, but also in the effect against pests and fungi. Such manure, teas or broths are made from different plants and water and should be diluted before use. The following liquid manure can be used for fertilization and at the same time for plant protection:
- Field horsetail: plant strengthening and effective against fungal diseases
- Comfrey: nitrogen-rich fertilizer that is also suitable for foliar application
- Stinging nettle: plant strengthening and growth promotion
- Fennel: good fertilizer effect
- Chamomile: plant strengthener and anti-rot
- Dandelion: high in potassium and calcium
- Yarrow: rich in potassium and silica
Another self-made organic fertilizer is compost. Each of us should have a compost, because through this we can turn plant residues into high-quality fertilizer. Plant residues are decomposed in the compost by rotting and the resulting fertilizer can be used in the garden. You can compost anything from grass clippings to kitchen scraps like potato peelings. When composting, however, make sure not to put any plant parts in the compost that are covered with pathogens. In this way, the pathogens are easily carried throughout your garden and can spread unhindered. If you don't want to take that risk, you can use commercial organic fertilizers instead, which are guaranteed to be free of weed seeds, pathogens, or other harmful substances. In addition, you have the advantage of knowing exactly how many nutrients you apply with commercial fertilizers, since the nutrient levels are constant and specified on the packages, for example with our Plantura organic fertilizers.