Organic Fertilizer and Soil Amendment Guide

Some information below adapted from The Chemical-Free Lawn by Warren Schultz.

General soil care objective	Organic solutions
Promote large blooms and fruits	Bat guano (4-13-1)
Condition soil	Alfalfa meal  (great for roses, quick release). Pro-Gro (5-3-4) Bio-Magic 0-0-12 Compost
Build plant hardiness and resistance to disease, pests and drought	Stress-X liquid seaweed biostimulant (great for lawns)
Promote root growth in transplants and seedlings	Phosphate rock Pro-Start Myco-Magic Bone meal Bat guano
Add balance blend of main macro-nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur) plus greensand to provide important micronutrients	Pro-Gro (5-3-4)
Winterize plants	Pro-Start
Enhance composting process	Crab meal Alfalfa meal (breaks down carbonaceous material) Blood meal
Bind sandy soil	Colloidal rock phosphate
Loosen clay soil	Greensand Sphagnum peat moss

Soil deficiency	Symptoms in turfgrass	How to correct
Acidity	Soil too acid: phosphorus, calcium, magnesium availability reduced. Soil too alkaline: iron, zinc, manganese and copper not available.	Aragonite (sweetens soil without adding magnesium) Dolomitic limestone (pelletized or powder)
Boron	Slow growth, pale green tips, bronze tint	Boron 10% Boron 14.3%
Calcium	Reddish-brown leaves, may curl and die	Gypsum (for alkaline soils) Calcium limestone flour Phosphate rock Fertrell CaFe 9-1-4 Dolomitic limestone (for acid soils)
Copper	Yellow and stunted leaves, tips die	Copper sulfate Reduce nitrogen fertilization
Iron	Pale leaves, turning yellow	Iron (chelated 10%) Fertrell CaFe 9-1-4 Iron sulfate Reduce phosphorus fertilization
Magnesium	Yellow stripes on leaves, turning red	Epsom salt (for alkaline soils)  Sul-Po-Mag Dolomitic limestone (for acid soils)
Manganese	Yellow spots on leaves, withered at tips	Manganese sulfate
Molybdenum	Yellow and withered leaves	Dolomitic limestone (for acid soils)
Nitrogen	Light green or yellow-green leaves, may start dying at tips	Blood meal (quick release) Cotton seed meal (advisory:acidifies soil) Corn gluten meal 10-0-0 Cottonseed meal 6-1-1 Crab meal  (slow release) Feather meal (slow release) Leather meal (slow release)
Phosphorus	Thin sod, thin curled leaves, dusky blue-green with purple tint in cool weather	Raise pH (reduce acidity) Bone meal (slow release - good for new plants/transplants) Phosphate rock Bat guano
Potassium	Yellow tips on leaves, may turn brown and die at tips	Kelp meal (quick release, good for fruit/flower production) Sul-Po-Mag Granite meal Greensand Greensand Plus (0-0-17)for faster availability Wood ashes (caution: too much can raise the pH level too high) Sulfate of potash (0-0-52)
Sulfur	Yellow leaves	Phosphate rock Gypsum Elemental sulfur
Zinc	Small and yellow leaves	Zinc sulfate Zinc chelates
Trace elements/minerals		Kelp meal (quick release, good for fruit/flower production) Greensand Granite meal Stress-X liquid seaweed biostimulant Bio-Magic 0-0-12
Microbial activity		Nature's Turf 8-1-9 Crab meal Bio-Magic 0-0-12 Yuccah Compost

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