To turn your own garden into a green paradise, the plants need enough nutrients. We reveal what is important in a garden fertilizer.
Not everyone is lucky enough to own a bountiful compost heap or a stable full of fragrant horse manure. If you want to buy garden fertilizer to fertilize your garden, you will find a decision-making aid here.
A garden fertilizer should be chosen with care, because it is used a lot and frequently. We explain what to look out for and whether mineral and primarily organic fertilizers are equally suitable.
What should you look for in garden fertilizers?
The garden as a place of application places high demands on a fertiliser. The soil fertility should be maintained or even increased by him. It should also not have any negative effects on the nature that populates the garden: beneficial insects, mammals and birds, soil life and of course pets and playing children should not be exposed to any danger. Especially when the fertilizer is applied to vegetables that will later end up on our plates, choosing an organic fertilizer is the best. It must also be considered that garden fertilizer is bought in larger quantities than fertilizer for indoor plants - so the price is more important for you and the compatibility for the environment. Last but not least, the information available about the fertilizer, the ease of use (e.g. a long-term effect of the fertilizer) and the manufacturer's service are important decision-making criteria.
What should you look out for when choosing garden fertilizers?
- Soil fertility should be maintained
- Safety for humans and nature
- Price
- Comfort of use, long-term effect
- Ecological compatibility, organic quality
- Manufacturer's Product Information and Service
Because we take the above criteria to heart, we have developed our own fertilizers that meet them all: Our animal-free Plantura organicFertilizers with a long-term effect are environmentally friendly and harmless, maintain soil fertility and, in addition to great safety and convenience, of course also offer extensive product information.
Comparison of garden fertilizers
A large number of different fertilizers are available in every hardware store and on the Internet, which differ in brand, area of application, price and quality. These can be roughly divided into two categories: mineral fertilizers and wholly or primarily organic fertilizers. We explain how these two categories meet the above requirements.
Mineral Garden Fertilizer
- Unfortunately, mineral fertilizers do not maintain soil fertility. They strongly stimulate soil life, which promotes the breakdown of organic material and humus - because they don't bring anything with them that the heavily multiplied soil organisms could otherwise consume. After long-term use of mineral fertilizers, a soil with a reduced humus content remains, which itself can store and release less water and nutrients.
- Mineral fertilizer is in most cases not directly harmful to humans and nature. However, there are also inferior products that contain phosphorus compounds contaminated with cadmium or even uranium. And of course, in the long term, soil degradation and soil life depletion is environmentally harmful.
- The price of mineral fertilizers in relation to the nutrient concentrations they contain is almost always lower than that of organic or organo-mineral fertilizers. However, the user accepts that the soil fertility decreases as a result of use.
- Mineral garden fertilizers have some disadvantages in their use: On the one hand, gloves must be worn when applying the concentrated s alts, on the other hand, the dosage must be very precise. If too much nutrient s alt is distributed, slight to severe over-fertilization occurs, which can also cause plants to die completely.
- Unfortunately, the production of mineral fertilizers is not sustainable: Nitrogen is extracted from the air using the Haber-Bosch process, which requires a lot of energy, all other nutrients are broken down from finite, fossil deposits and also converted into an easily soluble one, also using a lot of energy Form converted.
- Mineral fertilizers are priced in the lower segment and good customer care is not included in the price, especially with low-price brands.
Conclusion: Mineral fertilizers as garden fertilizers are not a good long-term solution.
Primarily organic garden fertilizer
Maintain soil fertility: Mostly organic garden fertilizers bring not only the necessary nutrients but also organic material into the soil, which microorganisms use as food and humification as the basis for new humus. In this way, soil fertility is preserved.
Safety for humans and nature: Especially fertilizers made from slaughterhouse waste were viewed with suspicion for a long time because of the possible transmission of animal diseases. What is certain is that the horn and claws of commercially reared animals can contain residues of administered antibiotics. In addition, in most cases the raw materials for organic fertilizers come from commercial husbandry and the origin of the processed animals is also not traceable. Animal-free, primarily organic fertilizers are the ethically and ecologically better alternative. Incidentally, our Plantura organic fertilizers are 100 percent animal-free.
Price: Mainly organic fertilizers are usually more expensive than mineral ones in relation to the nutrient concentration they contain. In return, they not only provide nutrients, they also maintain or promote soil quality. So the slightly higher price is worth it in terms of long-term soil quality.
Convenience of use: Some organic fertilizers are simply finely ground organic material, which is supposed to speed up its conversion into the soil. Ground and then granulated fertilizers are more suitable for spreading, because they are easier to distribute and do not produce dust. And then there's the smell: Fertilizers made from slaughterhouse waste have an unpleasant smell, but vegetable fertilizers don't.
Ecological compatibility: Compared to the production of mineral fertilizers, organic fertilizers are in any case more environmentally friendly. Since animal husbandry requires significantly more space and resources than the production of plants, variants made from plant-based raw materials are recommended.
Product information and service: The market for primarily organic fertilizers is still dominated by a few large, often idealistic manufacturers. They usually have the resources and will to communicate with customers and provide them with the best possible service.
Conclusion: Organic and primarily organic fertilizerssuch as our animal-free Plantura organic fertilizers with a natural long-term effect are the better choice as garden fertilizers due to their ecological compatibility in production and application as well as their ease of use. Your greatest benefit is maintaining soil fertility, making your garden a thriving paradise.