The distinction between Mineral Fertilizers and DCM Organic Fertilizers

Not all fertilizers are created equal (or should be treated equally)

Many people automatically assume that all fertilizers should be treated equally and applied according to the same traditional standards. Regardless of a fertilizer’s actual ingredients, most professionals figure that the N-P-K and other guaranteed analysis values of a fertilizer justify treating it like all others. However, numerous chemical, physical and biological factors distinguish the different types of fertilizers from one another and inherently determine how various fertilizers perform. The general differences in forms and release characteristics of essential elements in inorganic vs. organic-based fertilizers alone are important enough to call for them to be considered and used differently.

Straight mineral fertilizers release their nutrients quickly mainly due to their application in immediately available form and their high solubilities. Though soils vary in their capacities to retain inorganic nutrients, much of the major nutrient content in straight mineral fertilizers is wasted to leaching and runoff, which contributes substantially to ground and surface water contamination. Synthetic polymer membranes or other coatings are sometimes used to encapsulate mineral fertilizer ingredients to artificially moderate nutrient release. Further still, some fertilizer manufacturers incorporate the use of synthetic organically complexed nutrients to provide slower nutrient release. Hence, without the use of synthetic polymers or synthetic organic nutrients in conventional fertilizers, inorganic nutrients must be over- and intensively applied to maintain proper plant growth, resulting in inefficient fertilizer use with a significant environmental cost.

DCM Corporation never claims that DCM Organic Fertilizers provide better forms of nutrients to plants, since plants only take up nutrients in inorganic form. Rather, the high-quality organic components in DCM Organic Fertilizers contain organically bound nutrients that are only available to plants when soil microorganisms break down these fertilizers. Application and breakdown of these fertilizers also helps to improve soils by releasing humic and fulvic substances and bioactive compounds into the soil environment. In keeping with the release of nutrients from organic matter in nature, DCM Nutrient-on-Demand® technology conveniently paces this natural nutrient release with the dynamic fertilizer needs of the plant during the growing season. This technology relies upon very careful specification of raw materials and their proportions in each fertilizer formula based on the needs and possible growing conditions of each plant or crop type. DCM Corporation’s own extensive practical knowledge and technical understanding of each ingredient’s nutrient release characteristics under a variety of soil, water and climatic conditions make this technology possible and unique to the market.

The results speak for themselves

Several independent trials conducted by government and university researchers conclude that DCM Organic Fertilizers more steadily release enough plant nutrients in available forms to yield productive crops and attractive plantscapes with generally 75, 67 and 70% reductions in N, P and K losses due to leaching, respectively, than when inorganic fertilizers were used. Due to the efficiency and efficacy of using DCM Organic Fertilizers, most end users are able to apply less N, P and K the course of the growing season (i.e. lower amounts per application with less frequent applications) than when using standard mineral fertilizer application regimens. Lower fertilizer inputs offered by DCM Organic Fertilizer use can reduce end-users’ costs of application and their impacts on the environment while still providing correct nutrition for healthy, desirable plants.

Striking a chord between Organic and Mineral Fertilizers

Because organic fertilizers alone are not appropriate for all situations, DCM Corporation recognizes the necessity of mineral fertilizer components for certain applications. DCM Organic-Mineral Composite Fertilizers are actually organic fertilizer formulas amended with nutrients in inorganic form. These fertilizers are designed to quickly release nutrients needed for seedlings and other fast-growing plants, colder soil conditions and other special situations requiring quick boosts of plant-available nutrients. The organic components in these fertilizers are selected according to the same exacting standards as with the strict DCM Organic Fertilizer formulas but are homogenized with high quality mineral components before granulation to assure uniform organic and mineral nutrient composition in each granule.