New Zealand Fertiliser Blog

Nearly all of us are familiar with composting. For many of us, it’s going on in our backyard everyday. Like rust, it never sleeps.

But composting – the practice of letting organic matter rot before you apply it to the soil – is more than merely a backyard hobby. It’s a direct application of microbial decomposition to agriculture, and is particularly favoured by followers of organic farming methods and, of course, by many gardeners. Continue Reading »

Remember the old line about what happens to composers when they die. They decompose. Well, forget all that when it comes to dead organic matter and the soil. Because quite the opposite occurs.

Dead organic matter – in the form of the dead bodies of plants and animals, plus the waste excretions of animals – is broken down and returned to the soil so that the nutrients it contains can be reused by plants. Continue Reading »

pH is a soil condition you hear about a lot from "experts" – excessively so, in fact. Nevertheless, pH is important, and we should not ignore what it is telling us.

pH measures soil acidity and alkalinity. And, as soils become more acid, grasses and clover do not grow as well. Which reflects why pH levels provoke so much interest in New Zealand’s grass-based agricultural system? Continue Reading »

Animals need food for two reasons – to produce energy; and to build new cells and grow, reproduce, repair injury, and produce milk or eggs.
Animals normally use carbohydrates and fats as “fuels”, although proteins can also be used for this purpose in times of starvation or excess. As far as growth is concerned, the essentials are proteins and minerals (calcium and phosphorus for bones and teeth, iron in the blood, sulphur in some amino acids). Continue Reading »

Before we tackle a problem, it’s often best to step back and look at the bigger picture. If we can understand the whole issue – its symptoms, causes and possible solutions – we’re usually better placed than if we concentrate solely on the problem.
Agriculture works with things of nature…… with natural systems, with living biological species of plants and animals, with the natural environment. Nature, of course, is incredibly complex – even a tiny cell is more complex than any man-made machine. Continue Reading »

Soil is the absolute basis of agriculture – and, therefore, of human existence. We survive by eating plants grown in the soil, or by eating animals that eat plants grown in the soil.
Quite clearly, soil is our most important national resource. Wise use and management of the relatively thin upper layer, the topsoil, is crucial for us to maintain good health and a high standard of living. Continue Reading »

Plants are a lot like people really. They just love stretching out and soaking up sun and moisture.
True, plants are different organisms from us and the animals we’re familiar with. Plants do not have eyes or ears, bones, nerves or muscles. They can’t walk or run around from place to place. Continue Reading »

Most of us are astounded to discover just how extensive and complex the plumbing system in plants is. Not only do plants take up water and nutrients through their roots, but also through their above-ground upholstery – their leaves.

Plants can take minerals from the air in the form of dust particles and floating ions. Indeed, some scientists believe the air contains all the nutrients plants need. A year’s rain delivers ample supplies of nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium, and these can be absorbed directly through the waxy cuticle that covers the outer cells of plants, or through the tiny openings (known as stomata or stomates) on the leaf surfaces. Continue Reading »

There’s a forgotten – or, more accurately, a largely unknown war going on in our soil. It’s all about the interactions going on among the many species of micro-organisms that live in the soil, and the interactions between these micro-organisms and plant roots. Continue Reading »

The food chain is often described as a pyramid – or, more precisely, a “biotic pyramid”.
Soil forms the base of the pyramid, plants are on the lower level, then plant-eating animals (herbivores), with animal-eating animals (carnivores) on the top level. If humans are included, they are placed at the very top. Continue Reading »