Organic vs mineral

The information below was posted on a blog yesterday.  Mostly it is misinformation.  The exerpts from the post in question are in italics. 

Organic fertilizer is just that. It’s organic, meaning the elements of the fertilizer have no foreign chemical components &; are not bound to foreign elements. true organics do one of two things. they are either absorbed by root systems immediately as they are applied, or they are absorbed by the soil and then releases slowly to the plant. Organic fertilizer is only effective in organic soil.

It is almost impossible for organic fertilizer to be absorbed imediately by roots.  Organic fertilizers are complex and need to be broken down by microbes into simpler forms in order to be absorbed.  Organic soils are mucks, mucky peats, peaty mucks, and peats.  These soils have very little mineral nutrition in them and absorb minerals applied easily.  They do break down, but they are usually not the most productive soils on the farm.   There would be no point in adding organic fertilizer to them. 


Synthetic Organic fertilizer works best in not so organic soil. Synthetic organic fertilizer is basically made up of a readily available nitrogen, phosphate and potassium along with other necessary micro nutrients. it is usually encapsulated in a hard shell of sulfur, polymer or salt.

Synthetic organic is a contradiction of terms.  enough said.

Salt based fertilizer compacts the soil, making the soil less able to absorb nutrients and water. When fertilizing potted plants, the salts flush out between applications so it works great for pots. Salt based fertilizers usually come in a fine powder form and are mixed in to a liquid for feeding.

Salt based fertilizers have almost nothing to do with compaction as such.  Compaction is a mechanical process brought about by heavy machinery and travelling on or working the soil too wet. Most organic fertilizer consist of manure or some other animal or plant waste.  Sometimes it is composted, sometimes not.  These fertilizers have the advantage that they also contain microbes that may be benficial to growing plants.  One disadvange of composting as opposed to using it straight from the animal so to speak is that composting causes about half the nitrogen to be released into the air.  Organic material can improve the structure and tilth of soil in the long term.