Question from M.R.
What is your opinion on the organic fertilizers, organic potting soil and garden soil on the market today.
Are these really any less toxic than the conventional products? I do not understand how fertilizer chemicals can be organic. Is this a misuse of the word “organic”?
Debra’s Answer
You are asking a question that is too general to answer.
So let’s take some examples.
Here’s one that came up near the top of the list searching on “organic potting soil”: Fox Farm Ocean Forest Organic Potting Soil. It contains premium earthworm castings, bat guano, Pacific Northwest sea-going fish, crab meal, composted forest humus, sandy loam, and sphagnum peat moss. All good stuff. All natural. All organic in the sense that it the ingredients are from nature and not manmade. There is nothing to indicate that any of it is organically grown without chemicals.
Here’s another one: Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix. It contains “a blend of all-natural, organic ingredients: sphagnum peat moss and composted bark fines.” Again all good stuff, all natural, no indication these are grown without chemicals.
Likewise for ingredients on “organic fertilizers” I checked.
These fertilizers are using whole natural ingredients for soil nutrients as opposed to isolated synthetic nutrients. Hence, the term “organic”.
