Organic vs Synthetic Fertilizer

Why Synthetic Fertilizers Are Unsustainable

  1. Almost all synthetic lawn care fertilizers are derived from petroleum products.
  2. Synthetic fertilizers DO NOT build the soils nor feed beneficial microbial activity, in fact they kill beneficial microbial activity and if used for long enough the will kill the soil.
  3. Synthetic lawn and tree care fertilizers only feed the plant and when the fertilizer is used up, the plant will need another application of fertilizer to stay healthy.
  4. Synthetic fertilizers tend to be in a fast release form and if a fast release fertilizer is over applied it can burn a lawn. The reason this can happen is because to a plant nitrogen is a scarce resource and up until recently most nitrogen came in the form of rain or snow. For millions of years plants adapted to absorb as much nitrogen as possible and plants do this as fast as possible. The problem is that grass and plants don’t have a shutoff when nitrogen is available for uptake. Therefore, if fast release nitrogen is available, the plant will continue to absorb it even to the point of overdose and death. This is called a nitrogen burn.
  5. Synthetic lawn care fertilizers can green up a lawn very quickly, but the color fades almost as quickly as it developed. To sustain a green lawn with synthetic fertilizers frequent applications of fertilizer are required and if they are stopped the lawn will not look green because they killed the soil.
  6. Synthetic fertilizer applications feed from the top of the soil and at short intervals therefore, promoting a shallow and weak root structure.
  7. Over time the continued use of synthetic fertilizers will require more water and more fertilizer to obtain the same deep green color that can be achieved from a few applications of organic fertilizers. This is why chemical lawn care companies need 6-7-8 applications per season to maintain a green lawn and Organo-Lawn can provide a deeper and darker green lawn with only 4-5 applications per season.
  8. The more months chemical fertilizers are used on a lawn the worse the soil quality will become and the faster the soil will die.

Why Organic Fertilizers Are Better

  1. Organic fertilizers not only feed the grass and plants, but they also feed microorganisms in the soil. Soils teeming with microorganisms are called living soils and these microorganisms build and sustain nutrient levels in the soil.
  2. Organo-Lawn's 100% organic plant based lawn and tree care fertilizers are renewable and sustainable. The plant based fertilizers feed the microbes which build the soil and good soil will feed the plants, which will feed and build soils. Compare this to synthetic fertilizers which are derived from petroleum products and cannot be recreated after the oil is all gone.
  3. The nitrogen in organic plant based fertilizers is naturally slow release and therefore cannot burn lawns. This means the nitrogen will only become available to the plant after it has been broken down by beneficial microorganism activity.
  4. Organic plant based fertilizers stimulate beneficial microbes and beneficial bacteria.
  5. During hot summer days or colder temperatures in the winter the microorganism activity is reduced and therefore, the availability of nitrogen is less abundant protecting the plant life from excessive nitrogen exposure during stressful heat or extreme cold.
  6. The symbiotic relationship between microorganisms and organic fertilizers is marvelous. The microorganisms create a living soil which is a naturally controlled release nitrogen source, a preventative for lawn diseases and will not cause excessive growth.
  7. The slower uptake of nutrients develops stronger tissue growth, deep digging roots, and a deep dark emerald green foliage.
  8. Other benefits of organic fertilizers and healthy microorganism activity include the synergistic effects of naturally balancing soil pH; the boosting of potash and iron levels, increasing plant root density, reducing problematic fungus activity, and fostering the decomposition of thatch.
  9. Organic plant based fertilizers add humic matter to the soil and therefore reduces soil compaction.
  10. Organic soils are have proper soil porosity and therefore hold water better and reduce lawn watering needs.