Question about fertilizer safety

[ladrianmarie]

Much of the reading I'm doing seems to suggest that fertilizer is a must or at least strongly encouraged. But I'm having trouble finding much good info about pets, safety and pet-safe fertilizers. Are there alternatives to fertilizer, like realllly good mulch or packaged compost or something, that could keep vegetables fed and happy? Or any fertilizer options that pose zero risk to pets? I am in an apartment, so there's kinda no separation between plant area and pet area.

 

[Meadowlark]

Interesting question...and I would venture you just might get differing opinions in response.

Before offering mine, I asked AI the question and this was the response


Are synthetic fertilizers potentially harmful to pets?

"Yes, synthetic fertilizers can potentially be harmful to pets. They often contain chemicals like nitrates, phosphates, potassium compounds, and sometimes even herbicides and pesticides. If ingested, these chemicals can cause a range of health issues in pets, from mild gastrointestinal distress to more severe conditions like vomiting, diarrhea, and even seizures. In some cases, fertilizers could lead to more serious health problems, such as kidney failure.
It's always a good idea to keep pets away from recently fertilized areas and consider using pet-safe fertilizers, which are often made from natural materials "


My response...I "feed" my veggies nothing but organic matter. No synthetics. I have never experienced or even heard of a pet having problems with natural composts from organic matter. I do make my own, so I'm not well versed on what is commercially available but know for certain there are many good organic products out there to choose from that are completely safe.

 

[ladrianmarie]

It's really cool that you make your own. My instinct is also to stick to organics, but I feel like marketing and varying definitions of "organic" make the waters around shopping for safe products pretty muddy. I browsed through some organic, all natural plant food products earlier, but they all had warning labels on them stating they should be kept away from pets. Confusion has ensued in my brain.

I would venture you just might get differing opinions in response.

I do welcome the idea of multiple perspectives here. I feel like I know very little about this topic so anything that helps me learn or consider from a new perspective is a help.

 

[oneeye]

I can tell you are a very sweet person with a lot of love for your pets. I love my pets too. It's no different from bleach when it comes to harmful effects if swallowed. Don't throw away the bleach just because it's poison. Most potting mixes have a nutrient charge in the potting mix and won't need any fertilizer. When the plant depletes its nutrients store just up-pot or transplant and use a bigger pot with new potting soil. I have 6 dogs and 4 cats have all kinds of horticulture amendments and never had any problems with my animals eating poison.

 

[Meadowlark]

... I feel like marketing and varying definitions of "organic" make the waters around shopping for safe products pretty muddy. ...

I completely agree...and it has gotten to where I even hate to use the word "organic" in my discourse, but it doesn't have many synonyms I'm aware of.

 

[cpp gardener]

Lots of organics are made from animal parts, manure, guano, blood meal, bone meal, etc. Cats and dogs, especially dogs, LOVE to eat these because they smell and taste like dog food. They won’t hurt them except in large amounts, just like food.
Synthetics, on the other hand, do not taste or smell like their food so are less attractive to them. Yes, they can be toxic, but they are less likely to WANT to eat them due to weird non-food scent and taste.
So, use the type you want and be observant about your pet’s attraction to what you use. My dogs, all 10 of them through the years, have been singularly uninterested in eating any of the synthetics I’ve used.

 

[Meadowlark]

One observation I've made on dogs over the years is that if they have a choice between drinking water from your faucet in a container vs drinking water from a plant container overflow dish for example, they will always drink the water from the overflow dish, always.

Now if the plant that empties into that dish is loaded down with nitrates, etc. seems like that would not be particularly healthy for that dog. Just a thought.

 

[YumYum]

If you had the most fertile soil in the world and never fertilized it, whatever grew in it would pull out the nutrients and in time there would be no nutrients so it would then be infertile soil. Fertilizer is a must at some point in time. If you grow in containers with fresh potting mix every year, you may get away with just using that but I doubt it. They will still need some sort of fertilizer.

A pile of composted cow manure would be no better for your pet to eat from or lay in than it doing the same from an opened bag of synthetic fertilizer. Both would probably make the pet sick and you too. It really doesn't matter which one you use as long as you keep the fertilizer out of the reach of the pets and/or mix the fertilizer in with the soil somehow so that it is diluted.

Chickens will do the same thing. They will choose muddy filty water on the ground rather than drink from a bowl of clean water. I'm not sure why but that doesn't mean I'm going to do the same.

 

[ladrianmarie]

Appreciate everyone's replies here. It's good to know most people get by fine using it. Kinda hard to tell from what's left of google these days exactly how dangerous or non dangerous something really is.

I have good potting mix I like, so I guess I'll start there and see if I need to add anything later. If I need it, it sounds like there are more than a few options I can feel pretty comfortable with.