Lawn Fertilizer – Organic or Synthetic


Plant periodic table
Lawn Fertilizer equals roughly 300 lbs alfalfa pellets
  • Personal beliefs
    • Some gardeners may not want to distribute manures and blood meal and are concerned with ecoli bacteria, mad cow disease, or offensive orders. Others may like organic products, because they prefer to recycle, to conserve nature, and to limit dependence of fossil fuels.

    • In most cases, gardeners are swayed by a combination of the 3 categories above. There are no right answers, but only preferences and choices.

    Blurring the lines
    It used to be a very simple definition: synthetic fertilizers were very concentrated products which worked well even in cold weather releasing their nutrients very quickly once dissolved in water. Organic fertilizers had to be supplied in large quantities, needed to be hauled in as bulk, were difficult to handle, but release speed matched growth of plants since nutrients became available gradually in warm soil.

    Fortunately, it is not as straight forward as above because there are significant differences within each group of products.

    Release Speed
    Organic fertilizers generally release their nutrients slowly as microbes are required to break them down. However, organic products, such as dried blood and bone meal, release rather quickly, almost as fast as synthetic fertilizers.

    Today, coated synthetic fertilizers are also available which mimics organics in their release time. There are even so-called IBDU coated synthetic fertilizers which release nutrients slowly even in cold soil.

    Packaging
    It used to be easier to use synthetic fertilizers because they were pre-packaged and formulated with the optimum NPK ratio for lawns. Organic fertilizers have NPK ratios pre-determined from the source. For example, Milorganite (sewage sludge) 6-2-0 lacks sufficient potassium. This required organic gardeners to buy and mix several products.

    However, today, products are readily available with optimal numbers, such as alfalfa horse feed pellets (2-1-2) and pre-formulated organic lawn fertilizers, such as Ringer Lawn Restorer 10-2-6 .

    Synthetics can also come pre-packaged with weed and insecticide killers which can lead to in-optimal application times and overuse of pesticides.

    Concentration
    While highly concentrated synthetic fertilizers are easier to transport, it is possible to apply very precise samll doses of nitrogen in late spring by using organic fertilizers which tend to have small NPK numbers, e.g. by using less product a gradual feeding can be control. This level of control is difficult to achieve with concentrated synthetic fertilizers.

    Making the Choice
    In my mind, it does not have to come down to a choice for or against. There is absolutely nothing wrong with mixing and

    The copyright of the article Lawn Fertilizer – Organic or Synthetic in Home Lawncare is owned by Kenneth Joergensen. Permission to republish Lawn Fertilizer – Organic or Synthetic in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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