What are the advantages and disadvantages of natural fertilizers?
[1] The main disadvantage of natural fertilizers is their slowness to release, and to act, in soil. [2] The main advantage is their contribution to soil and therefore plant health. For commercial fertilizers focus on improved yield. [3] Natural fertilizers focus on soil structure. [4] They improve structure by their attention to the total nutrient picture, soil pH, and organic matter. In comparison, commercial fertilizers just focus on the big three of nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They do not consider important nutrients such as calcium. And they do not consider lesser but still important nutrients such as manganese. Nor do they consider soil pH. If one of the nutrients is off, then the entire soil health is affected. If the soil pH is incorrect, then nutrients such as iron and magnesium may be present but unavailable to the plant. [5] Natural fertilizers therefore are more environmentally friendly, in the short and long terms. And that is an important concern. For a
