Down To Earth Fertilizers
Down To Earth Fertilizers are the manufacturers of an extensive range of organic fertilizers available throughout the USA and Europe. Founded in Oregon back in the 1980’s they have spent nearly four decades producing fertilizers from naturally sourced, organic and sustainable ingredients.
Now if you’re reading this then you’ve probably already heard of Down To Earth Fertilizers and if you’ve had a look through the available reviews then you will have struggled to find a bad one and for good reason. Down To Earth Fertilizers are a premium, high quality and effective product but for me there is one problem with them – with a total of 55 products available, there are just so many that it can be quite confusing at first glance.
So let’s take a look at what they offer and try and simplify it a little by looking at their overarching ranges.
Our Favourite Down To Earth Fertilizers
Blended Down To Earth Fertilizers
What Are They?
These are dry fertilizers and as the name suggests they are made from a blend of organic ingredients.
How Do You Use Them?
They can be spread over your garden or lawn and mixed into your soils but they are not intended to be dissolved in water.
What Do They Do?
As they go onto or into your soil in a solid form, that is not highly water soluble, they remain in the medium for a prolonged period and provide time released nutrition for your plants.
The 12 different blended fertilizers are a collection of general purpose fertilizers, each providing a different nutrient profile.
Single Ingredient Down To Earth Fertilizers
What Are They?
Again these are a dry fertilizer but these are each made from a single specific ingredient.
How Do You Use Them?
Spread them over you garden or lawn and mix into the soil. Again, these are not intended to be diluted into a fertilizer tea.
What Do They Do?
As with the blended fertilizers, the single ingredient ones remain in your soil for prolonged periods slowly releasing their nutrients.
The 21 different products in this collection each provide very specific nutrient / mineral compositions tailored to meet very specific needs during a plants growing cycle.
Liquid & Soluble Down To Earth Fertilizer
What Are They?
A collection of fertilizers in either a liquid form or a solid designed to be readily soluble in water.
How Do You Use Them?
Both varieties are mixed (diluted or dissolved respectively) in water and then sprayed or watered where required.
What Do They Do?
As these are delivered in a liquid form they are absorbed rapidly by your plants so can take effect quickly.
The 10 products available in this range are best described as general purpose fertilizers.
Biological Down To Earth Products
What Are They?
A dry blend of microscopic soil organisms.
How Do You Use Them?
Spread over your soil and mix in or can be applied directly under seeds, cuttings and transplants. The water soluble varieties are mixed with water before being sprayed or watered where required.
What Do They Do?
There are five products in this range, all tailored towards promoting strong and enhanced root growth.
Down To Earth Garden Minerals
What Are They?
A dry form of minerals.
How Do You Use Them?
Spread over your soil and then mix in, just prior to your growing season. These are not designed to be diluted in water.
What Do They Do?
The 3 products available in this range are basically soil conditioners that provide different sets of minerals for your soil.
Solution Grade Down To Earth Minerals
What Are They?
A collection of water soluble mineral powders.
How Do You Use Them?
Dissolve in water and then spray or water where required.
What Do They Do?
The 5 products in this range are a collection of soil conditioners providing different mineral for your soil.
As they are dissolved in water, they are absorbed into the soil rapidly and can be applied where you already have plants.
Down To Earth Potting Media
This collection of products are best looked at individually and there are only four of them;
All Natural Potting Soil or Pro-Organic Mix
These are both growing mediums that can be used to plant directly into. They provide an ideal soil structure and contain added nutrients.
Coconut Coir Fiber
This is a soil addition which is added to your soil or potting medium to provide the correct structure, aeration and drainage. This is an alternative to using peat.
Coconut Husk Chips
These are used as an alternative bark medium or protective mulch.
Hopefully our descriptions make it a lot easier for you to decide which of the product ranges meets your requirements.
Now you can take a look at the individual products available in each of the ranges and decide which one you need.
First things first though, you need to know what you’re looking for in a fertilizer in relation to the nutrition / mineral content so for help doing that, take a look at our article HERE, explaining fertilizers in general.
So… Do We Use And Recommend Any Of Their Products
Absolutely.
Now, we are big fans of Homemade Organic Liquid Fertilizer but Down To Earth Fertilizers make fantastic quality products and we always like to keep some on hand for their reliability and convenience. The only issue is that because there are so many products available from them, we haven’t tried them all out.
Of what we have tried though, we have four products that have worked really well for us and we have purchased repeatedly and they are;
Vegetable Garden 4-4-4 (Blended Fertilizer)
This is an all-purpose fertilizer with a broad nutrient profile designed specifically for growing vegetables and herb gardens.
We mix this into our soil in our beds and planters just before transplanting our seedlings and young plants out.
Citrus Mix 6-3-3 (Blended Fertilizer)
This Down To Earth Fertilizer has been specifically formulated for use with citrus trees but works just as well on any fruiting tree. There is a Fruit Tree fertilizer available but we find the Citrus Mix is more suited to our needs.
We use this at the beginning of the season when we re-pot our smaller fruit trees into new soil when we simply mix this into the new potting medium and water it in. Then at intervals throughout the season we simply mix it into the top level of the surrounding soil and mix in before watering in.
Liquid All Purpose 4-1-3 (Liquid & Soluble Fertilizer)
This is a good general fertilizer which is aimed at all-round plant health. We use this throughout the season and simply mix with water in the quantities recommended in the instructions and then water our crop.
Liquid Bloom 2-6-4 (Liquid & Soluble Fertilizer)
This is another good general fertilizer which is aimed more towards fruiting or flowering performance. We use this interchangeably with the Liquid All Purpose and in exactly the same way.
In Summary
Down To Earth Fertilizers produce some excellent products. The sheer number of products available can be quite daunting but it does mean that there is something for everybody in their range. From the window-box herb gardener right through to the professional grower, you will find the right fertilizer or minerals for your needs.
We’re very particular about what goes into or onto our soil and plants (we do eat them and feed them to our kids after all) but we’re more than happy to use their ranges as they use all natural, organic ingredients.
