I explained this today to a homeowner and they found it informative so maybe you will too.
Why should you think twice about fertilizers ?
Okay so plants need 4 things in good supply (other than water and light).
1) Nitrogen: comes from the air but plants need special bacteria and special nitrogen-giving plants around to use it. 2) Sulphur: only present in good supply when it’s friend nitrogen is around 3) Phosphorus: the amount available depends on how many mushroom “mycelium” (like mushroom roots) are in the soil. 4) Carbon: any dry brown material has a lot of carbon and that is why leaves shouldn’t be swept away, this material feeds mushrooms!
The other minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium are only available to plants if these 4 things are around.
SO if you let the soil take care of itself then it will make sure these 4 things are there and everything is fine. That is why when clover pops up, or grass pops up, it’s the soil’s way of creating more nitrogen or carbon. They aren’t “weeds”, they have a purpose and when we destroy them we actually create more work for ourselves.
ANYWAY.. the point is if you add fake fertilizers that have nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus, it is actually TOO much for the soil to handle and not in the right form for plants to naturally use so you end up with sick plants and rock hard soil. It’s like trying to feed someone 1000 salads at once. They will gain lots of water weight but be sick. So actually you’re spending money on making the plants and soil WORSE off and harming all the animals that eat them (including us humans)!
But even worse... when these fertilizers get into the water, they suck up all the oxygen from the waterways and create “algae blooms” which means a lot of water plants grow quickly, suck up all the oxygen and then kill all the fish and shrimp etc in the water.
SO next time let’s choose natural mulch and compost for your plants than fertilizer!!
