Coming to Grips
with Inorganic and Organic
Do you know the
difference between inorganic and organic products,
especially fertilizers? If you’d like to know, you’ve come
to the right place. In sidewalk English, let us explain the
whys and wherefores, and what inorganic and organic products
have to offer.
First, where do
these products come from? Inorganic products are “man made”
while organic products occur naturally throughout the world.
Sand is organic, but so are humus, limestone, cow manure,
grass clippings, tree leaves, etc. If you put your mind to
it, you could probably name a dozen or more organic
products, many of whom you routinely use in the garden.
Milorganite is the most recognized organic product used by
homeowners nationwide. The common denominator in organic
products and materials is that they must contain carbon in
one form or another. If a product does not contain
carbon, it is not organic!
As for inorganic,
almost everything you find at the nursery and garden shop
comes under the umbrella of inorganic because the products
are manufactured. They may contain some “organic”
components, but since they don’t originate entirely in
nature, they are classified as inorganic. Most lawn
fertilizers are inorganic, as are most fungicides,
insecticides, weed killers, landscape products, etc.
Here, we want to
back up a bit and explain the in-the-dirt differences
between inorganic and organic products, and why we need to
understand the factors impacting our use of these products.
We’re going to illustrate these differences in a way
everyone will understand: personal checks and cash.
Let’s say you
received a check in the mail and now you’re going to a bank
to cash it. If you have an account at the bank, they’ll
gladly take your check and give you cash in return. While
this isn’t a big deal like it was a century ago, the bank is
still processing your check. Keep this
“processing” in mind because it’s the cornerstone so you can
understand the differences between inorganic and organic.
Now, let’s move on…
INORGANIC IS LIKE
CASH. Nobody in business refuses to accept cash.
They may not accept your credit card, but they love your
cash. All inorganic products behave like cash. You apply an
inorganic fertilizer to the lawn and, man-o-man, it’s
releasing to grass roots within minutes. If you sprinkle
20-20-20 from Jack’s Classic over your bedding plants, the
roots will absorb the energy by the time you get back in the
house. Why? Because inorganic behaves like cash. It doesn’t
need any “processing” because inorganic is already in the
proper form for plants (grass, plants, shrubs, trees) to
absorb it. Here, we throw yet another term at you:
nitrate. Everything inorganic that you use gets to
plants like lightning because it’s in the nitrate form.
In a way of speaking, inorganic equals nitrate.
ORGANIC IS LIKE A
CHECK. Someone has to process a check, therefore
organic products must be processed, too. What processes
your organic products? Microorganisms, otherwise known as
“bacteria,” do the processing. They feed on your
organic matter, changing it from organic to “nitrate” so
plants can use it. On the head of a pin, there are thousands
of microorganisms ready to go to work for you in the garden.
Obviously, there are
hitches in the way microorganisms work. Because
microorganisms live and work in the soil, soil conditions
must be right if they are to process organic matter. They
only work when soil temperatures remain above 53 degrees.
When temperatures drop below 53 degrees, microorganisms stop
processing organic matter. How can you tell? Well, grass
clippings start piling up on the lawn when soil temperatures
fall below 53 degrees. Even though you’re mowing the grass
in late fall, the clippings go nowhere. This is when common
sense tells you to bag clippings when soil temperatures fall
below 53. If you don’t, clippings will mat down on the lawn
through winter and early spring. Lawns won’t look nice!
During the heat of
late spring and summer, clippings disappear because
microorganisms are working feverishly on freshly cut grass
blades. Bacteria decay clippings in less than a week,
generating humus for the lawn. Everything is in the
“nitrate” form so the lawn benefits from bacterial
processing.
When you consider
other organic products (Milorganite, composted cow manure,
etc.), the conversion from organic-to-nitrate usually takes
about eight weeks. If you apply Milorganite to the lawn in
mid-June, the nitrogen and phosphorus will be released to
the lawn by mid-August. The same for composted cow manure
used to energize fruiting vegetable plants like cucumbers,
eggplant, muskmelons, peppers, tomatoes and squash. If you
remember this eight-week timetable for organic fertilizers,
you will always time your applications to yield maximum
results.