Quote:
Originally Posted by permaculturekidd
I'll say my bit and I'm done.
We all know pestcides and artificial fertilizers are bad; you eat them they'll kill you. You breathe to much in you can get cancer, you put some types on your skin it can burn you or leave you with a rash.
But many don't care; they have mouths to feed and more importantly money to make.
We have just as many people preaching the miracle grow dogma aswell as the composting commandments; its a battle to me. Those resistant to change and those rebuking a regrettably successful fix (on the short-term).
There is no point to argue, much like all other things that affect people's choices there will be those who simply enjoy to make other people's choices there own.
It's absolutely mind boggling to be on the sidelines and reading what some people say.
Anyway I'm done; carry on.
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Both methods have negative consequences and positive benefits. Artificial fertilizer? What does that mean? N fertilizer is made from air by nature in 2 ways; lightening and in the nodules of plants that contain nitrogen fixing bacteria, plants and bacterial then transform it into various forms, ammonia, nitrate, protein. Man makes N fertilizer from air using the Haber-Bosch process using natural gas, heat and electricity (modeled after Mother Natures method - lightening). After the N is fixed, it can be transformed into various forms, like nitrate.
P and K cannot be "created" by man (except in nuclear reactors--at cost that would make it more valuable than gold.) P in modern fertilizer is mined from animal graveyards where bones have turned into phosphate rock. The phosphate rock can be powdered and used directly or transformed into various forms. Most K in nature is found in rocks- (it is radioactive with a half life of 1.5 B yrs by the way and responsible for most of the background radiation we all recieve--especiall if you live in a brick home). In manmade fertilizer, K comes from extraction of rocks with acids to obtain various salts of K.
As I said earlier, the real downside of concentrated fertilizer is that it helps natural soil bacteria consume the organic matter that is there. In soil, when a plant dies, the C to N ratio is lower than what is needed to support bacteria, that N get used fairly rapidly leaving even lower C to N ratio--almost pure organic carbon. This material helps in soil drainage, aeration and maintains a healthy soil. The addition of fertilizer alone will speed up the degredation of the organic matter, it does not kill the bacteria, it provideds them with the nutrients to consume the carbon. If you do not add additional organic matter, the soil will become compacted and depending on soil type, low in minerals.
However, if you continuously add organic matter, you can maintain a healthy soil and more productive plants.
As for pesticides, I understand the concern for use of chemicals that we know little about, especially in a long term sense. We may know that there is low probability of acute toxicity, but how do we know there are not some long term negative effects like cancer or birth defects. But just because a pesticide was made by Mother Nature does not mean it is safe. The most toxic compounds know to man were made by Mother Nature.
The best way to control pest is to maintain a healthy population of predatory insects. To do that I use pesticides very sparingly, and I only use pesticides that have very short half lives (some organic some manmade--mostly malathion and permethrins) and I limit application to problem areas to avoid killing beneficials. I often use soap--a manmade chemical--because it only kills what I put it on.