Whether you are a
farmer who grows crops to feed others or a backyard scientist who likes to grow
their own crops from organic materials, or maybe you are a person who has a
hobby to grow plants in their apartment balcony just for the aesthetic. One
thing that is definitely common among all of them is that they like to see
their plants healthy and as green as blissful Eden does. However, like all
living things, even plants need some very essential nutrients, to survive and
retain their health and beauty. Soil is the primary sources of all such
nutrients that can help the plants grow. Nevertheless, many times it happens
that the soil either contains these essentials in scarce quantities or is
completely devoid of all. In such a situation, fertilizers are, used as a
secondary or artificial source to provide the plants all that they need. Today
in this article, we are going to dive in-depth and understand what fertilizer
is. Understand the different types of fertilizers, moreover what organic
options are available over their chemical counterparts and how do fertilizers
exactly enrich the soil and help the plants grow. Now let us discuss what
is a fertilizer?
What is fertilizer? In addition, how
does it work?
So, what is a
fertilizer? Well if we go by the textbook definition then fertilizer is a
chemical substance which when added to the soil supplies it with essential
nutrients, which in turn help the plants to grow, remain healthy and increase
their productivity. However, how does that exactly work? To answer this
question we will have to understand some basic chemistry and biology of plants.
Let us start with the plant’s interaction with the air first. Elements such as
hydrogen, carbon, oxygen are present in abundance in the air. The plants
extract the carbon from the carbon dioxide in the air and with the help of the
hydrogen; they produce the starch and sugars through the process of
photosynthesis while releasing oxygen. The animals then consume these sugars
and starch, which in turn helps them to convert the oxygen that they breathe
back into carbon dioxide to release in the air. Nevertheless, these are not the
only nutrients that the plants need to survive and grow. Apart from this, the
macronutrient potash which is composed of potassium, nitrogen and phosphorous
is extremely important too. Along with these secondary nutrients such as sculpture,
cobalt, magnesium and micronutrients such as boron, cobalt, copper, zinc, etc.
are also important. From all of the above essential nutrients, potash is
certainly the most important. Nitrogen is important, as it is the primary
component of amino acids. What is the role of amino acids you ask? Well, amino
acids are the basic building blocks of proteins. For any living organism,
proteins are one of the most important components for survival and proteins are
nothing but sequences of amino acids. Therefore, if there is no nitrogen then
no proteins and hence, the plant growth will be stunted. Phosphorous, on the
other hand, is present in the form of phospholipids, which are the membrane
molecules on any plant cell, and potassium in the form of ions constitutes
about 1-2 per cent of the entire weight of the plant. All of these nutrients
together are important in producing the primary source of energy known as ATP,
which is essential for the survival as well as the growth of not just plants,
but any other organism too. The catch here however is that these nutrients are
very difficult to acquire for the plants. For example, nitrogen can only be,
found in any decaying matter present in the soil. Hence, the growth of plants
in an environment where the soil is not rich in such contents is very
difficult. This is where the fertilizer steps in. If you do a bit of research
then you may find that most of the fertilizers being, sold on the market
contain nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium as their primary contents. The
entire purpose of fertilizer is to provide these essential nutrients to the
plants in abundance in an artificial manner to accelerate their growth and
yield. Now, that you have a brief enough understanding about what is a
fertilizer and how does it work? In the next section, we will briefly discuss
the different types of fertilizers and more importantly, we will be focusing on
organic fertilizers than inorganic fertilizers.
Types of fertilizers
Depending on the
amount of nutrients present, safety, acceleration in the growth rate of plants,
and the method of production. The different types of fertilizers can be,
categorized into two types: Inorganic and Organic fertilizers. Inorganic
fertilizers are, mainly chemically produced. They can be, further divided into
nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and mixed fertilizers. Most of the nitrogen
fertilizers are, synthesized from synthetic ammonia (NH3) used in gas or liquid
solution. Phosphorous and potassium fertilizers are also synthesized chemically
using phosphoric acid and potassium chloride respectively along with other
chemical treatments. Organic fertilizers on the other hand are, completely
naturally made. In fact, as they are, obtained from completely organic matter
such as animal and plant waste, they actually enrich the soil with carbonic
compounds. They also increase the organic content of the soil by actually
promoting the reproduction of the much-needed microorganisms by creating an
environment, which is suitable for their survival. Some of the main sources of
organic fertilizers can be an agricultural waste, animal waste, industrial
squander, garbage, sewage etc. There are many different types of organic
fertilizers available on the market. Some of the most, common and useful ones
are as follows:
·
Manure: Manure is the
most commonly available type of organic fertilizer. It is simply the “complete”
fertilizer. It has all the organic matter that might be, needed by the plants.
Although, it does fall short of nutrients.
·
Blood meal: It is
powdered, dried blood, which is, collected from slaughterhouses. It is a very
rich source of nitrogen. The important thing to consider before using it is
that using it in excess can cause the roots of the plants to burn. Hence, it
is, advised to use it before plantation so that the leaf growth can be
stimulated.
·
Fish emulsion: Fish
emulsion is, made by partially decomposing finely crushed fish. The upside to
using this fertilizer is that like blood meal it is also rich in nitrogen
content along with potassium, phosphorous and other micronutrients discussed
earlier. It is also one of the fast-acting organic fertilizers. The downside is
that this fertilizer can have an unbearable smell although some scented
versions of the same are also available.
·
Cottonseed meal: It
is, obtained as a by-product during cotton manufacturing. Unlike the other
fertilizers, it is a slow-acting and acidic fertilizer. Even though the
nutrient contents in the fertilizer may vary, generally it has about 7%
Nitrogen, 3% Phosphorous and 2% Potassium content. The benefit of using this
fertilizer is that it helps in retaining the moisture in sandy soil and
aerating the tight dense soil.
·
Compost tea: As the
name suggests it is just compost mixed with water and brewed over a long time.
This fertilizer is a very useful way to fertilize and improve the health of the
plants in general. The best part of this fertilizer is that anyone who does not
wish to spend a lot of money on fertilizers can make it very simply. There are
two different recipes of this fertilizer the traditional one called as Passive
compost tea which can be simply made by soaking compost bags in water in 5:1
(compost to water) ratio for a couple of weeks. After the brewing period is
completed, the liquid can then be, directly used in controlled quantities.
Aerated compost tea recipe is a comparatively costly option and requires
commercial brewers, pumps, and ingredients such as kelp, humid acid, etc.
·
Corn gluten meal:
Similar to cottonseed meal, this potent fertilizer is also a by-product in this
case it is, a residue left during the process of wet milling. It is a very good
nitrogen source, apart from that it also provides proteins up to 20-60%.
Although some might confuse it with the cornmeal which is used for making
cornbread it should be noted that cornmeal is ground dried corn which contains
the endosperm but lowers in protein. However, corn gluten means is for the most
part the only endosperm, which is, used by corn plants to germinate. These were
just some examples of organic fertilizers. There are still tons of organic
fertilizers available on the market. In the next section, we will be discussing
why to use organic fertilizers over inorganic fertilizers.
Organic vs Inorganic
Organic and inorganic fertilizers, although the purpose
of both types is to supply the essential nutrients needed for the plant’s
growth, there are still some very noticeable differences between them. These
differences in turn affect the various factors that are directly or indirectly
affect the plants and the surroundings in which they grow. Organic fertilizers
are, strictly made using the materials found in nature either in the form of
animal or plant wastes. They do not contain any kind of synthetic materials.
Due to this reason, when used, the organic components of the fertilizers
actually help in maintaining the pH level of the soil, keeping it under 6-7,
which is neutral most of the time. These conditions are in fact ideal for the
plants as well as the different microorganisms in the soil. Although due to
being, made using completely organic materials, these types of fertilizers is
slow in working and may not provide all the macronutrients at the same time in
large quantities. Inorganic fertilizers are, synthetically made. Most of the
inorganic fertilizers are, made from petroleum. The nutrients or minerals found
in these type of fertilizers are, mined directly from the earth; this is the
reason why most inorganic fertilizers can provide all the macronutrients at
once, sometimes in large quantities too. Although these fertilizers may not be
so good for the soil decreasing their pH level almost making it very acidic and
making it difficult for the microorganisms to survive. Unlike their organic
counterparts, they work fast and even with more effect. It can be, clearly seen
that while inorganic fertilizers can provide more nutrients, work faster, and
improve the growth of the plants drastically. The risk that they pose to the
environment cannot be, ignored. They can also be very harmful to the user if
not used properly posing various health hazards even leading to death. Organic
fertilizers on the other hand cannot provide extreme growth but the
environmental and human risk is almost none. The toxicity levels in them are close to none. In
fact, as the organic fertilizers release and break down their nutrients very
slowly, they actually make the soil suitable for the microorganisms to thrive
which then help to retain the fertility in the soil too.
Conclusion
To conclude, we can say that in order to keep the crops
in the farm or the plants in the garden healthy enough and keep their growth
steady, while also increasing their yield, fertilizers turn out to be a very
efficient and effective solution. We have also discussed the working of
fertilizer and the important chemistry behind their interaction with the soil
and plants. In addition, we have discussed the different type of fertilizers,
their merits and demerits we can safely assume that while inorganic fertilizers
do have the same purpose as that of organic fertilizers they surely pose many
hazards that if left unchecked and treated incautiously can yield catastrophic results. If
you ever need any, further assistance with your garden or farm. Feel free to
contact us. IPL Biologicals is a best organic fertilizer company in India established solely for helping farmers and in
general everyone who is interested in practicing horticulture.
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