Saltpeter in the Garden

Soil Food Web

• The soil food web is the complex system of living organisms and decaying plant materials that inhabit topsoil. Food nutrient content is created by the organisms that live in soil. Earthworms, beneficial bacteria, fungi, tiny arthropods, nematodes and protozoa digest decaying plants and animals and exude nutrients to plant root systems. Soil food web organisms also create soil structure and transport water and oxygen to deeper soil levels.

Saltpeter Fertilizer

• Saltpeter synthetic fertilizers give plants and food web organisms a sudden growth spurt that ends when nitrogen leaches out of the soil. The natural rate of carbon materials (organic matter) to nitrogen materials in soil is 12 to 1. The use of salt peter fertilizers radically increases the presence of nitrogen, which speeds the decomposition of living organic matter in the soil. Rapid decomposition of soil's organic matter deteriorates its structure and depletes its nutrient content.

Beneficial Fertilizer

• Non-saltpeter garden fertilizers are derived from natural sources such as animal manure, grain meal, fish by-products, blood and bone meal, seaweed and mined rock powder. Natural fertilizer contributes nitrogen to the soil at a slow rate that microorganisms can use more efficiently. Plants require 17 nutrients to grow and thrive, including oxygen and water. Saltpeter fertilizers often contain only three: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Additional Warnings

• Saltpeter in the garden in the form of synthetic fertilizer also contributes to environmental pollution, according to the World Resources Institute report on global nitrogen overload and environmental pollution. Excessive nitrogen in soil, water and air harms animals and human health. Saltpeter sodium nitrate is mined and imported from another South America, which makes it an unsustainable product for the U.S.