When it comes to online gardening tips, a certain amount of skepticism is healthy. For example, according to one popular gardening site, when soil nutrients become depleted, \u201cthat\u2019s where fertilizer comes in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The site doesn\u2019t provide any additional information or advice so the next logical question is, \u201cWhat is fertilizer, anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fertilizer is any<\/em> substance used to increase the productivity of the soil. \u00a0Technically speaking, fertilizer can be 100% all-natural\u2026like cow manure, for example.<\/p>\n

Still, most people associate fertilizer with packaged commercial products\u2014many of which contain synthetic chemicals. Moreover, to qualify as a commercial fertilizer, many products only need to have nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus (N-P-K) as their primary ingredients.<\/p>\n

Fertilizer\u2019s Quick Rush<\/strong><\/p>\n

Synthetic fertilizers are designed to give plants a quick rush of food, not unlike the \u201csugar rush\u201d we get when we ingest a plate full of\u00a0carbohydrates. They work fast, but they are just temporary fixes. Chemical fertilizers don\u2019t do anything to rebalance the health of the soil\u2014and they ultimately lead to its further degradation.<\/p>\n

Synthetic fertilizers also don\u2019t typically contain a balanced amount of secondary macronutrients and micronutrients like those that are found in naturally fertile soil and which are essential for healthy plant growth. Once these essential nutrients become depleted from heavy usage or from natural weathering, they are not easily replaced (and most certainly not through synthetic means).<\/p>\n

The Importance of Secondary Nutrients<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what are some of the secondary macro- and micronutrients that are essential to healthy plant growth? They are:<\/p>\n

\n
• Silicon (Si) \u2013 a key component of plant cell walls; improves plant structure and increases resistance to pest and disease<\/li>\n
• Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg) \u2013 regulate soil cation exchange capacity that determines the availability of many other nutrients in the soil<\/li>\n
• Iron (Fe) \u2013 a catalyst to chlorophyll formation; many synthetic iron fertilizers are ineffective because the iron converts rapidly to forms that are unavailable to plants<\/li>\n
• Magnesium (Mg) \u2013 the central atom in chlorophyll<\/li>\n
• Manganese (Mn) \u2013 necessary for photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, and synthesis of enzymes<\/li>\n
• Copper (Cu) \u2013 promotes seed production and formation; plays an essential role in chlorophyll formation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  These essential nutrients, and many others, are made\u00a0readily available to plants growing in soil that has been remineralized with all-natural volcanic basalt. Basalt is an igneous rock that, when crushed into a fine powder and applied to the soil, mimics the earth\u2019s own slow manner of regenerating the soil through geological activities such as volcanoes and glaciers. It is Mother Nature\u2019s own way of making minerals available to plants in the balanced form they need to develop stronger roots systems; build resistance to pests and disease; and deliver higher yields.<\/p>\n

  The next time a gardening site recommends \u201cfertilizers\u201d to replace depleted nutrients, stop and consider what your soil really needs. Then head to the nearest natural gardening center and buy a bag of all-natural volcanic rock dust.<\/p>\n

  ***<\/p>\n

  When looking for a soil amendment made of volcanic basalt, look for a high-quality product that is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in organic production. One product that meets this criteria is Cascade Minerals Remineralizing Soil Booster<\/strong> which is made entirely in the USA from all-natural volcanic basalt from Central Oregon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  When it comes to online gardening tips, a certain amount of skepticism is healthy. For example, according to one popular gardening site, when soil nutrients become depleted, \u201cthat\u2019s where fertilizer comes in.\u201d The site doesn\u2019t provide any additional information or advice so the next logical question is, \u201cWhat is fertilizer, anyway?\u201d Fertilizer is any substance… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Gardening.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YalT-oL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1783,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions\/1783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cascademinerals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}