Fast But Infertile - what went wrong with fertilizer?
Early on scientists discovered by easy experiments that plants would absorb simple chemicals and they determined which were the most important for growth: nitrogen (N), potassium (K) and phosphorus (P), followed by calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), Sulphur (S), and many more in lesser quantity. (Beware of N.P.K. formula.)

Gardening with a chemistry set
However, it was a mistake to go from there, to feed the elements directly as soluble nitrates, potassium salts, and phosphates derived from inorganic chemical processing. It is wasteful and destructive and without an oil industry to fuel - mining, chemical manufacture, tractors and transport, it would not have happened.

Worse still, the gardener has directly copied inorganic agriculture: by using inorganic fertilizers, by growing monocultures, by digging soil over to the point of destruction. Bad enough in agriculture - wholly inappropriate for gardening as many have now realised.

DISADVANTAGES OF INORGANIC FERTILIZERS
Inorganic nutrient salts require:
Regular application with LOTS OF WATER NEEDED,
Cause rapid growth that's sappy, and disease prone,
Risk nutrient imbalances and consequent improper growth,
Can stimulate growth that is not well-timed with external conditions,
Destroy micro-organisms that are useful to plants,
Can burn plant roots, and ruin soil structure,
Are washed out and wasted with winter rains to pollute water courses.
All this along with continual digging leads to large scale soil erosion and land degredation.

Container gardening and hydroponics are the only situations where inorganic nutrients may have a practical role in what is a highly artificial way to garden. However, the disadvantages remain true.

ADVANTAGES TO ORGANIC FERTILIZERS AND AMENDMENTS
Use Organic Fertilizers because they:
Maintain healthy balanced growth over the whole season,
Stimulate beneficial soil micro-organisms -

these improve the soil condition and

release nutrients in time with seasonal plant needs

Don't cause leaf burn, soil damage or toxicity.
Give you healthier good tasting, fine looking plants that are less disease prone.

Plus:
All soil improvers are organic, like: seaweed, farmyard manure, garden compost and green manures which add humus to the soil. This creates a reserve for water and plant nutrients. Humus will encourage earthworms and beneficial soil organisms. It will help to build a good soil structure for longer term benefit.

Organic Liquids - for example Comfrey liquid
Great care is needed with these because they have some of the disadvantages of soluble inorganics. For example it is easily possible to upset the natural nutrient balance with high potassium containing Comfrey liquid. They may be useful however when growing in containers to boost the fertility of a proprietary compost over the short-term.

Comparing an inorganic with an organic approach
Hydroponics is an extreme example of inorganic growing. This method is best confined to small scale gardening where there is no soil e.g. in a high-rise New York appartment. But using chemicals in the field is wasteful and destructive.

On the other hand Permaculture is an extremely advanced example of organic growing. This involves creating a sustainable approach to growing. There isn't a one size fits all solution and permaculture involves intelligent planning.

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