| ||||||||||||||||
Organic hydroponic nutrients vs. Inorganic hydroponic nutrients the urban gardener There has been much
controversy over organic versus inorganic plant fertilizers. It is important to
realize that plants do not recognize the difference between organic and
inorganic fertilizers. Root hairs can absorb only nutrients that have been
broken down into inorganic, water-soluble forms. There are, however, advantages
and disadvantages to each form of fertilizer - organic and inorganic. Organic fertilizers Organic fertilizers are
substances containing nutrients derived from the remains or by-product of an
organism. Examples of organic fertilizers are cottonseed meal, blood meal, fish
emulsion, manures, etc. Chemical fertilizers Chemical fertilizers are
synthetically produced plant nutrients from inorganic materials. Because they
are artificially made, many chemical fertilizers contain acids and salts that
can be harmful to the population of microorganisms in the plant root zone and
in high concentration even burn foliage. Rock phosphate for example, is a
common source of phosphorus in chemical fertilizers. Liquid fertilizer also
known as hydroponic nutrients Liquid fertilizers refer to
a composition of plant nutrients in a liquid state (vs. "dry" or
granulated). Their purposes are to supply plants with an immediate source of
fertilizer elements and are designed to be used in irrigation and hydroponics
setups. The dominant forms of
liquid fertilizers in the agriculture industry today are inorganic. Inorganic
liquid fertilizers are cheaper to manufacture and are more readily available to
be taken by the plants which in turn support rapid growth. Organic liquid
fertilizers on the other hand are dearer to manufacture due to longer element
digestion times and an overall more demanding production methods – For example
a common chemical N.P.K fertilizer takes 16min to mix and pack, an equivalent
quality organic liquid fertilizer takes 245 days to "digest" before it
can be packed and used. Technology advances in
partical size – the key to organic hydroponics As mention earlier the main
advantage of Inorganic hydroponics nutrients when compared with the organic
hydroponics nutrients lays in the immediate availability of fertilizer
elements. This availability allows the nutrients to be rapidly absorbed by the
plants and there for produce faster growth – Recent technology advances in
partical size processing methods have changed the way organic liquid
fertilizers are manufactured. Laboratories and fertilizer plants can now
produce fully organic liquid fertilizer that is immediately available for plant
uptake and provide the same growth rate that can be achieved with inorganic
liquid fertilizers. Organic hydroponics nutrients
vs. Inorganic hydroponics nutrients Since plant nutrients
availability is no longer a limiting factor when using organic hydroponic
nutrients lets examine the advantages* of organic hydroponics nutrients.
*Based on collected data from field
experiments in recent years. Source: Stefanski Organic
Fertilizers |
|
|
