Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUrbanFarmer
I had spent the last hour typing out an elegant and extremely informative post...but accidentally hit the back button and lost it all. In correct context, the following statement would not have sounded as snarky, but it is pretty much an all inclusive summary:
Chemical vs organic ultimately comes down to whether or not you think you know more about what the plant needs than the plant does itself.
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I can flip that and say organics is about thinking that you know what the vastly complex soil food web is comprised of with great understanding, and that you know what and how much to add in the organic form to supply what is needed and be able to predict when if/when it will become used/available.
If you are saying that the organic forms are stable and therefore cannot harm the soil, and the soil biota in combination with the roots will dictate the proper use of said material, then I will say that proper timing, rate, and method of application of soluble fertilizer will do the same when soil organic matter is sufficient.
I will also mention that organic nutrients can be over-applied and harm the soil and surrounding systems.
We are all basing our nutrient applications on some basic assumptions based on what we can observe and measure.
If we go with the assumption that tomatoes need 100 lbs of Nitrogen per acre, then we can calculate how much Ammonium Nitrate or Fish meal.
Other than that, I'm not sure how deciding what the plant needs versus measuring the nutrient load of a material differs.
I can over-apply either material and cause harm to the soil.
If your beef is with the source, then I don't see how using alfalfa meal (most alfalfa is conventionally grown, soon to be 100% GMO contaminated) or blood meal (most is from conventional pork) is better than a refined elemental form of nitrogen, such as Ammoniacal N.
Either product uses up resources to process, package, ship, and apply.
So I still think that application rates and methods are what matters in regards to soil health.