A new fertilizer to me

I was at Ace hardware today and noticed they had an organic fertilizer called Natures Touch. Is anyone familiar with it? If so, what do you think? The ingredients sounded great.

I never heard of it and was curious, so I went and checked out their website and I'm not at all sold on it. First of all, they call their fertilizers "organic based" which to me means they're not organic but they want to make people think they are so they sprinkle in a bit of organic stuff into some conventional fertilizer (deceptive advertising!). The page about their lawn fertilizer specifically says that they blend conventional fertilizer with some natural/organic fertilizer. The pages for their other fertilizers aren't that specific, so maybe they have a few more organic ingredients than the lawn one, but I still don't believe they're actually organic. Maybe slightly better than a 100% synthetic fertilizer, but I feel they're engaging in misleading advertising so personally I wouldn't buy it because of that. I can't get an enlarged image of the product package to see the ingredients, but I am willing to bet they list a bunch of organic ingredients in really big print but don't tell you what percentage of them is actually in there, then the non-organic ingredients are either in fine print or not listed at all.

Thats what I was thinking too. I'm always leery until I here reviews on them.

When in doubt, always look for the OMRI seal on the products...if they've approved it then you know it's OK

Also remember to check the ingredient label. Beware of "inert ingredients" and look up the product MSDS. Just google "(product name) + MSDS ".

Cheers!

Thanks ecrane.

organic1: What is MSDS? And inert ingredients? Thanks

MSDS is Material Safety Data Sheet, it tells you what the hazards are associated with the product, and what to do if you get it in your eyes or eat it and things like that. It will also have specific information on any ingredients that are known to be harmful in some way. If you can't find one online, you can always call the company's 800 number and they should be able to send you one.

Inert ingredients are all the things that are in there that aren't actually doing the fertilizing (or killing if it's a pesticide or herbicide). Almost nothing you buy is going to be 100% of the goodies that are doing the job, there's always other stuff in there too and it's not regulated as much as the active ingredients. Trouble is, for products that are EPA registered (which fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides all are) the companies aren't required to list all their ingredients, the only thing that's required is that they tell you the active. Some organic type products might go out of their way and actually list everything that's in there, but chances are the companies that have things to hide are going to take advantage of not having to tell you what's in it.

Thank you for all your information. I hate being decieved.

Me too! It really bothers me when I see companies do stuff like that, they're just taking advantage of people who are trying to be more environmentally friendly.

Yes but which organic fertilizer doesn't have potassium sulfate or sulfate of potash, or whatever they want to call it? hardly organic. but i am sure the organic position allows it somehow. at least these folks either cover their rear or are honest. what's wrong with wood ash? that's organic.

Here's the thing...any type of mineral ingredients in organic fertilizers can't technically be called organic ingredients. The way organic is defined, it has to be something that was grown organically (whether it be a plant or animal). So when you see an OMRI seal on a fertilizer, what it means is that the fertilizer is approved for use on organic crops, not that it's technically speaking 100% organic in its own right. OMRI has standards of what they consider OK to use on organic crops, so you won't find synthetic stuff in there, it'll be things that come from nature, whether they're minerals or plant based.

The whole "organic based" thing seems to be popping up a lot more now, and not just by shady companies--my mom bought some fertilizer because she thought it was organic from David Austin roses, but it was just "organic based." That smoke-and-mirrors marketing crap is targeted at people just like my mom--well meaning but not having the education to decipher the labels beyond the big print. I was furious that a company that I personally have loved would take advantage of my mother like that--it's everywhere.

I always think less of companies when they do things like that, they're totally doing it to take advantage of people. I'll stick to doing business with companies that make an actual honest effort to make their products organic/environmentally friendly and don't just try to trick people into thinking they're green!

You guys are just seeing the first few flakes of snow in an approaching blizzard. The "green" theme has been adopted by the mainstream media money grubbers, and it is about to be played on every consumer product on the market. If it makes you crazy (like it does me), sign up for some relaxation technique classes, 'cause you're going to need it.

And I thought I was bitter...

I especially love the commercials for the new Clorox "green" cleaners that make it sound like Clorox invented the concept!

I'm not bound by organics. If I have to use a chemical once a year for anything, I will. But I'm trying to get to where I don't have to use chemicals. I don't get bitter or let things like that control my life. I will just not buy it or refer it to someone else. I just feel like if I do buy a product that says organic in big letters to get my attention, that it should be all organic.

I don't care if it's green or not. I just want it to work and be cheap. If all they could do is advertise how green it was, i would wonder if it would even work. Green clorox?? what does that mean? that you could pour it on your plants and it would act like a fertilizer?

The green Clorox stuff they were talking about is a line of natural cleaners, they don't make stuff for plants. Natural or not I don't think I'd spray cleaning products on my plants! LOL

lol. i would imagine that the new green clorox is just as deadly as the old. probably the same ingredients, but with a green label.

And maybe green food coloring! But as for organic gardening, ground rock powders are very much encouraged. The question is to find out if they are using ground rock powders or chemicals that were extracted by some chemical process. Greensand and ground rock phosphate and bone meal are all organic.
I like the idea of using the MSDS. That is the official content of any product.

Well, technically, bone meal would only be organic if it came from animals that were fed organically. Of you were using bone meal from cows on BGH and massive doses of antibiotics and being fed pesticide-laden food, all of that concentrated in the bones, which would then be ground up and spread in your dirt. On my last trip to Texas, I saw cows being grazed on the remains of last years cotton crop, which, as many people know, is one of the most pesticide-heavy crops we grow.

Being vegetarian I don't have to worry about this and I know many people aren't as strict as I am about not using meat or by-product of the meat industry.

I generally don't use harsh chemicals like clorox because I don't like how it affects my shin and my lungs, and because we have a septic system where we live, and I don't want to upset the microbial balance in it. I do keep a little bottle of clorox because there are rare occasions (like when I have a sick pet or bring home a stray) when I really need to make sure to kill all the germs on something.. I view harsh chemicals like antitbiotics-- chemicals are useful and important for when we really need them, but if we use them indiscriminately, they can cause a lot more harm then good. Even with pesticides--since turning organic 20 years ago I have never been in a situation where I needed to use a chemical pesticide, but I imagine that if I were faced, say, with loosing a 100-year-old tree to borers or injecting it with a chemical to kill the borers, I would chose the latter.

It is true that bone meal could have second hand pesticides in it, but I know of no source of organic bone meal. The ground rock phosphates are much slower to break down and much more expensive, so I go ahead and use the bone meal. Bone meal is sterilized, I believe with heat and that kind of processing breaks down at least some of antibiotics and poisons.
Perhaps, as people eat more organic meat, there will be organic bone meal.

I'm sure organic bone meal would push up the price close to rock phosphate.

You are probably correct.