As we know, the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are bad for the environment! However, how could we take care of the environment while maintaining the plants health also? Actually, many of the natural ways could help us control the health of plants easily and make home gardening more safe for human health and eco-friendly!

Compost

Using Osmocote (a kind of slow releasing chemical fertiliser) is the common way for maintaining the health of a potted house plant! However, it is a synthetic fertiliser and not good for the environment if the extra nutrients have leached and cause nutrient pollution. We actually have a better alternative choice, we may use compost instead of synthetic chemical fertilizers. Compost is lower in nutrients but it is enough for the normal growth of the plants. Besides that, compost could improve the aeration of soil, increase the beneficial microorganism within the soil and establish healthy plant roots. Feeding of chemical fertilizers is like feeding vitamins to humans, you rely on the supplements once you stop it the plants could not grow healthily anymore. But application of compost, like having balanced nutrients and exercise regularly. The overall health condition of the plants could be improved and maintained naturally. Moreover, compost is low in nutrients and the chances for nutrient leaching and nutrient pollution will be lessened.

Organic and Natural Fertilizer

Besides the compost, using certain organic fertilizers could achieve the same effects as the chemical fertiliser and be more eco-friendly! For example using fish meal could provide high content of nitrogen to the plants and make the leaves grow bigger and greener! Rock phosphate, the natural minerals, could provide phosphorus for the plants to make the roots of plants grow better! And Epsom salt could provide potassium and magnesium to the plants and make the fruit of plants and leaves grow better . Seaweeds extracts could provide various types of nutrients to the plants. All the mentioned items are biodegradable, not toxin to the animals if leached to the environments and slightly have chances to cause nutrients pollution unless you over-apply! 

Bio-Fertiliser

Bio-fertiliser is an alternative choice other than the chemical fertiliser. Bio-fertiliser is a kind of fertiliser that makes use of the inoculate natural fungi from the healthy soil and manufactured as commercial products for the convenience of the user to apply to the plants! Application of the bio-fertiliser such as mycorrhizae could improve the nutrient absorption of the plants! Besides mycorrhizae, PSB (Phosphate solubilizing bacteria) could be used to transform the immobile phosphate in the soil to soluble phosphorus for absorption of the plants. All the mentioned fertilizers are organic and may not cause destruction to the environment while providing enough plant nutrients!

  
We always talk and worry about the issues of climate change, environment pollution, floods and assorted natural disasters caused by destruction of environments! It is actually the responsibility of all of us to minimize the impact of environmental pollution caused by human activities! What we do and what we buy will have an impact on our environment! Even if we are not the policy makers, we cannot stop the pollution from continuing to happen! However, every step counted, everybody taking a little step could form a great leap in reducing the pollution of environments! Do not turn eco-friendly activities like gardening into a bad activity that pollutes the environment!