Organic Fertilizers–Part 3–Plants Sources

Plant Parts are High In Nutrients

   Alfalfa plant

Plants, specifically plants grown for grain, are used in the organic cycle.  Grains that are grown for livestock and human consumption, or grown for seed, are plants that are used for organic fertilizer.  Little or no food is sacrificed in the fertilizer process.  The grains are harvested, and the remaining parts of the plant – the stalks, stems, and leaves – are ground into the organic fertilizer product.

Palm tree waste
  Coir planting mix

Palm trees are a source for organic fertilizers.  They also provide coir, a fiber made from the coconut shell. Coir can be used in place of  peat moss as a more sustainable product. Peat moss bogs have taken 100+ years to  create. These bogs are not sustainable at the rates they are harvested.  Coconuts are highly sustainable year after year.    In soil, coir is slightly acidic, holds moisture, and loosens soil as peat moss does. Although the N-P-K of coir is .5-.08-1.9, ( good Potassium source) it helps in holding nutrients in soil for plants to use.

   2 year old palm
  palm oil nuts

Another palm product is palm oil waste powder. The life span of the oil palm is about 200 years. As the oil is harvested, the hulls are processed.  The product is humic acid which is not a fertilizer, but enhances the nutrients by supplying organic matter. Palm oil waste powder can be used on cereal and bean crops, and on turf.  This product encourages deep roots, and increases yields of crops.  

Rice husks are also used in the fertilizer industry.  The husks have little value in feed for livestock or human consumption.  N-P-K for rice husks is minimal at .2-.4-.2, but, here again, the organic matter added to soil is valuable.  Zinc is a trace mineral found in rice husks.  Rice hulls



Alfalfa has a long tap root that penetrates deeply in the ground and draws nutrients into the plant. A good amount of trace elements are found in this fertilizer.  A natural fatty-acid called trianconatol, is an element in alfalfa.  The trianconatol is a growth stimulant that helps plants grow larger, and provide higher yields.  N-P-K for alfalfa meal is 2-1-2.  Because of the long tap root, alfalfa prevents soil erosion.
Alfalfa is a member of the pea family and is a Nitrogen fixer in the soil. 



Plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, are many and include the alfalfa, various beans, and peanuts (legumes)  They fix nitrogen into the soil from the atmosphere.  A colonizing bacteria attached to the roots draws in nitrogen from the air and converts it for food for the bacteria.  Any remaining  nitrogen is used by the plant for growth.  The nitrogen doesn't come to the plant from  fertilizer, but from the bacterial activity.
 

Canola Plant and Seed Pod

Canola is processed for two different consumer markets, the oil for food and for livestock feed. The by-product of the livestock feed is a canola meal that is used for fertilizer. The oil food by-products are used for bio-fuels.  There is no waste of any part of this versatile plant.

Flax is very similar to canola meal.  Flax seed meals are the by-products of fiber production and livestock feed production.  N-P-K is about 6-3-2 for both oil seed fertilizers.

Soybean meal is also primarily used for feed for livestock.  It’s 7-2-1 nutritional values indicate high nitrogen.  Soybean meal is a by-product of the food industry, and cosmetics manufacturing.

 

Cottonseed meal is another high nitrogen product.  N-P-K is 6 – 0 .4 - 1.5. Because cotton attracts pests that can ruin or reduce the crop, cottonseed meal may contain pesticides.  Pesticide free cottonseed meal is available, but you may need to check labels.
 



Molasses is a sugar cane or sugar beet by-product and can be dehydrated to become an organic fertilizer.  The high carbs in the molasses are ‘good food’ for microbes in the soil. Dried molasses is easy to apply because it is bonded to dry grain to stay ‘grainy’ for applicators.  The grain adds another layer of nutrition and organic material.  Molasses also comes in a liquid from some suppliers.  This product is a Dutch organic beet extract – molasses.

The last organic fertilizer that comes from plants in this article is Corn Gluten.  This 9-0-0 product is the by-product of the corn industry for livestock feed, and food processing.  High in nitrogen, this product also acts as a pre-emergent for seeds.  Applied in the spring, it can keep crabgrass seeds from germinating.  Applied in late summer, it may keep summer weeds from getting established before fall.  This product is not recommended on newly seeded lawns but will green up an existing lawn well.

 
Plants are a great resource for organic fertilizers.  The processing is minimal.  Use of a ‘waste’ product is cost effective. 

We will talk about Animal sources of organic fertilizer next time.  Thanks for your interest.  Please leave a comment.  I love to hear from you.

Building the Garden of your Dreams

The Dream Garden or A Nightmare Garden

The 2010 summer in my zone 6 garden has been challenging.  The extreme heat has many of the late summer perennials fading earlier than normal.  The coneflowers are brown and the daisys are just sticks.

The ferns hate the heat.  I'm hoping that  with the extra watering I've given them, they will emerge nicely in the spring.




Even the perennial sunflowers which are drought tolerant have given up the fight this year.

The lawn has not been a priority for me to keep green.  My water bill will be bad enough just concentrating on shrubs, and perennials.  (The rain barrel has been empty for weeks!)

We fertilized the gardens and turf Sunday with an organic fertilizer ( 4-3-5) and some left over corn gluten (9-0-0).We were anticipating some rain which lasted 10 minutes and cooler temperatures.  This is late September, after all!  Forecast for this next week is 12 - 15 degrees above normal - near 90 degrees. Good thing that organic fertilizers will not burn the turf as chemical fertilizers can.


On the positive side of gardening this season is the second blush of the lavender.  Since lavender thrive in heat and low moisture, I shouldn't have been surprised.

The pink fall anemones which bloomed a few weeks ago have finished their show, but the white anemones, which are over 5 feet tall, look great.

Sedum Autumn Joy is full and gorgeous. 

Several roses are reblooming, including this "Queen Elizabeth".

These 'FejetaBells' are in heaven.

This aster is one of five varieties we have in the garden.  I prefer the reliablity of asters for fall color over mums which do not over winter well for me.

So, building the garden of you dreams is not a science.  Nature has a way of interjecting her will on us.  We may research plants draw diagrams of flower beds, and arrange plant varieties so we can have color all season, BUT, (lesson learned)  brown is a color.  Oh well,  there is always next year. 

Relax and enjoy whatever happens.  Remember we are not the center or the source.  Just the caretakers.

How did your garden fair this year?  Let us know.  And thanks for stopping by.  Claudia

Plans for Spring - Chores

The winter certainly has been a doozy! I’m anxious to get out into the garden, but I have to wait a few more days. So in the meantime, I’m getting ready to place my order for my organic lawn care products.

I have mentioned that organic solutions for our yards and gardens are going to be my focus.This gardening method is fun and healthy at the same time. Let me explain why I feel organic products are soooo much better than chemicals.

Chemical lawn and garden products come as fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. The chemical products are generally water soluble. Organic fertilizers  are turned into nutrients for plant materials by the micro organisms. The chemicals wash away within days of application and leave no residual nutrients in the soil. In fact, they reduce the microbes and leave the soil ‘dead’. So we are tempted to reapply more products, again and again.

The focus for organic gardening is to feed the soil. This whole under-world needs us to feed it and support it with organic materials. Healthy soil has more living organisms in two handfuls of dirt than there are people on this planet. The soil grows our food, and supports trees that filter our air. Without plants, erosion and contaminated water become issues. The soil is the source of life on this earth and I feel we must be committed to keep it healthy.

If you have used chemicals on your lawn in the past, either through a lawn care company or do-it-yourself, the organic products  will be give you superb results and bring your soil back to a healthy ecosystem that will benefit the whole planet.

Plan to use organic products on your lawn and garden. Corn Gluten is an organic pre-emergent for various annual grasses and broadleaf weeds. Crabgrass and foxtail seeds will be germinating soon, so corn gluten should be put down before the forsythia blooms. Corn gluten is a grain and can be put down with a drop spreader or whirly type applicator.Other organic supplier have corn gluten in a liquid and comes in a hose-end sprayer bottle. The full benefit of corn gluten may take a few seasons. Expect 60% control the first year, and 80% the second year. Believe me, early treatment this spring will save you frustration later as you are trying to sit back and enjoy your lawn.

I know the chemical treatments have a better control rate, initially. However these chemicals have been linked to various diseases in children and pets. Heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, lead, and dioxin have been incorporated into some of these chemical products. Asthma, cancer, and autism have been linked to some of these chemicals.

Homeowners use 10X  more pesticides per acre than farmers. They spend $67 Million a year on lawns. 60-70 million birds are poisoned each year. We are subjected to all of this exposure to toxic chemicals just to deal with less than 1% of half a million plants and insects that are considered pests. Organic products are cost effective and don't cause costly clean-ups of soil and water.

Planning now to begin this growing season with organic products will go a long way to ensure the health of our children, our pets, and our neighborhoods.

To see more information on organic fertilizer, see my article here.

ROOTS, SHOOTS, AND MUDDY BOOTS

Gardening is in my blood, and  on the soles of my muddy boots.

 
I like to take any opportunity to get out and make note of what needs to be done in the gardens and landscape. This quiet time, in the throws of winter before everything pops up, is ideal for planning.

I took time to check out the garden today. Temperatures were mild, near 40 degrees. It felt good to breathe fresh air instead of dry heated air. Some hyacinth shoots were peeking up through the muddy mulch, and the buds on the Endless Summer Hydrangea are swollen.

This pre-spring review is also reminding me that I didn’t clean up the fall debris as much as I could have.

I‘ve left seed heads of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) and Coneflower (Echinacea) for the birds to eat . Watching the yellow finches trying to land on the tips is quite funny. They are tenacious and now the stems look pretty ratty. I’ll need to recruit the grandkids for a clean-up party soon.

It seems that  the garden is sleeping. In reality, tree and shrub roots are already starting to take up water. The sap is beginning to flow up into the future canopy. This is the time I normally apply organic granular fertilizers to the ground at the base of trees and shrubs. The freezing and thawing of the ground will help this organic material work its way into the soil. Then when the warmth and moisture of the spring come along, the organic material has worked into the soil and the micro organisms in the soil will be ready to make nutrients available to the roots of the plants as they come out of dormancy.

I 'm getting my order for organic fertilizers ready to submit. I really became concerned about the chemicals we were putting on the lawn. a while ago. I mean, when the lawn care companies have to post warnings after an application,- - what were they telling me? So, we switched to organic fertilizers. I know I'm applying safe and effective products without the  contamination of water, soil, or my family.

With organic lawn products I never have to put a sign in the yard ‘Danger, keep kids and pets off’! These organic products are grains and compost that contains no manures or chemicals. My dog, Shelby can lick the products and no harmful chemicals are present to make her sick. Our 5-3-4 General fertilizer is a good option for established perennials and shrubs in the landscape and our 3-5-4 Starter fertilizer is good for establishing bedding plants and seedlings. 

I use Corn Gluten as a pre-emergent for annual weeds and grassy weeds like crab grass and foxtail. Corn Gluten can go down in March. This is best applied when the daffodils start blooming and when the forsythia bloom. When the ground temperatures are right for the daffs and forsythia, it is also right for weed seeds to germinate. Corn Gluten sets up a barrier through which weeds cannot penetrate. I spread Corn Gluten on the lawn and flower beds for weed control. Corn Gluten is also a good nitrogen source for your lawn with a N-P-K of 9-0-0. Two for one! How awesome is that?

So my plan is: order fertilizers, put down the corn gluten, and call grandkids.....!!!

What are you planning in your yard and garden this season? Have you considered organic fertilizers for your yard? Wonder how organics work? Are they effective? Are they too pricey. Let me know your concerns. Let’s talk gardening, naturally. I've written several articles on organic gardening. Visit my page on Organic Gardening for more information.