A while ago I wrote about Milk As Fertilizer and concluded that although milk would add organic matter to a garden, it was no ‘magic bullet’. Since that report I have spent more time looking at the subject of milk fertilizer and tracked down how this myth was born. It a thriller full of deception and lies. Today I will dig deep into this myth and uncover some surprising facts. Then I will review the latest research on the subject.
Rock dust is a very popular soil additive especially with organic and permaculture groups. It is full of nutrients and it is claimed that adding it to soil will replenish all of the nutrients that agriculture has taken out of our soil. This process of adding nutrients back to soil is known as mineralization.
This seems to make a lot of sense. We remove food from the land, and the food contains lots of minerals. At some point we need to put them back into the soil or else we will have soil that won’t grow anything. This seems logical but is it really true? Is our soil losing fertility? If it is deficient, can rock dust be used to solve the problem? How effective is rock dust and which type of rock works the best? Time to crush some myths about rock dust.
Should you use bat guano? Is it a good fertilizer? Does harvesting it from caves harm bats? How does it compare to seabird guano? Learn more about this valuable resource and understand organic products better.
I am sure you have heard the saying, plants need nitrogen for growing leaves, phosphorus for growing roots and flowers, and potassium for overall plant health. Well, it is not only wrong, but very misleading because it causes gardeners to use the wrong fertilizer.
In this post I will have a close look at this and show you why it is wrong. Along the way you will learn a lot about plant growth and how to get more flowers.
People love to go organic, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, the information about organic fertilizers is not always correct or complete. Here are some real important things you need to know about organic fertilizer.
Mycorrhizal Inoculant products have been around for more than 10 years but the number of products available is rapidly growing. Clearly manufacturers are finding customers willing to pay for these products, but are they worth the money? Do they work? Are companies able to provide solid evidence that their products work?
I have done an investigation and you will be surprised by the results.
Is urine in the garden a match made in heaven or hell on earth?
Human urine is not commonly used as a fertilizer but we do use animal urine when it’s mixed with manure. Many gardeners have no issue with its use this way, but few would use human urine even if it is clean and free of feces. Is this just due to social attitudes or are there some a good reasons for not using urine. Is it safe? Will it burn plants? Can it spread human pathogens and what about all the drugs we use? Those can’t be good for plants?
Let’s have a wee look at using urine in the garden.
Bone meal, or bonemeal, is a common organic soil amendment and many consider it to be a good fertilizer. It is a “must add” when planting spring bulbs and it’s claimed to help plants establish after being moved by improving root growth. Plant not flowering? Add bone meal to make more flowers.
This sounds like a great product every gardener should use, but are the claims real or just myths?
Is sugar water good for plants? This is a very interesting question and one that leads to all kinds of fun facts about plants.
Even more interesting is how this myth plays out on the internet. In most cases, popular gardening sites promote the myth, but in this case they tell you NOT to use sugar water for plants, except in special cases. They then give a variety of reasons why sugar water is bad for plants, but these explanations are mostly wrong. They are creating new myths with their explanations!
Many of these writers ignore basic plant biology or are unaware of the correct facts. I’m going to try and sort this thing out for you.
Lots of information in books and on websites recommend a soil test to help you select the right fertilizer numbers. This is very good advice but it has limitations.
I recently did a post about Cal-Mag where I described the value of getting the calcium level right. As part of that work I found recipes for making Cal-Mag fertilizer at home using eggshells, vinegar and Epsom salts. I’d like to use this post to have a closer look at these methods to figure out if they work, and if gardeners should be using them.
I was searching for earthworm myths and stumbled upon this essay on the organic farming myth. It was published in the 1950’s or early 1960’s and the author was fighting back against myths being spread about synthetic fertilizer by the pro-organic movement. The contents really resonated with me because I have been battling the same myths for years. In fact some of the comments like “There is no evidence that mineral fertilizers, when applied at recommended rates, are injurious to soils, or that crops produced by the use of such materials are harmful to man or beast,” are identical to what I tell people in this blog and in my lectures. Ok, I don’t use the word “beast” but I think I will start using it.
It is amazing that after all this time, most gardeners still believe these myths.
I have included the complete article, without alterations, and thank Ecological Agriculture Projects, McGill University for posting it.
This article is old but the story has not changed. A 2009 review tells the same story.
