What is an organic fertilizer?
Organic fertilizers are derived from once living organisms that are in the process of decomposing through the action of microbial activity to give up essential nutrients for plant growth. The term “organic” does not include synthetic fertilizer forms that are formulated from non-living sources. Good examples of organic fertilizers include seaweed, fish emulsion, kelp, poultry or cow manure, bloodmeal, cottonseed meal, sewage sludge, compost tea and bone meal. The percentage of nutrients is different for each source and tend to be low in contrast to synthetic sources. Because organic fertilizers require the action of microorganisms to release nutrients, they are considered a slow release type of fertilizer. It may be months, depending upon the type of organic material, its particle size, the ground temperature, microorganism population and other factors to gain significant release of nutrients. However, some gardeners rely completely upon organic sources for their nutrients. The supply
