Fertilizer ..... Curious

kathyth

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I know that fertilizer is toxic to tortoises.
Can someone explain why? I'm simply, curious.
Thank you!
:)
 

pfara

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that it's the "synthetic" fertilizers that can/might do harm. And, it's more like "don't let your tortoise drink out of your container of liquid fert". I know @terryo dries "tort fertilizer" and uses them on her plants and I toss out the dirty soak water on my outdoor plants. So, in my opinion, not all fertilizer is toxic (seeing as how torts eat their poop without any ill effects).

Then you have to realize that when a plant takes up fertilizer, it gets converted into something the plant uses as food. At that point, it shouldn't be toxic to tortoises when the plant is ingested.

This is just my crack at an educated guess. Feel free to throw stones :D
 

Star-of-India

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While I'm a strong supporter of organics, I still have to say it's not the chemical fertilizers per se which are bad for torts. Instead it's the fact that many of them contain pesticides too, the "feed and weed" ones.

Organic fertilizers are better for your soil and the environment generally. But unless you're feeding your torts fertilizer, which you're not, the chemical fertilizers are not poison. I was pro-chemical fertilizer 20 years ago until a good and knowledgeable friend explained the environmental benefits of organics. Otherwise chemical fertilizers have their good points and the 7 billion people of the world would likely starve without them.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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Kathy
Most chemical fertilizers contain ammonia is toxic to people and torts . That's why every one says wash your veggys and produce packers say wash it . That's why I use compost and / or compost tea . Not man made chemicals .


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Tom

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Letting your tortoise eat actual fertilizer is bad. Like the type that is in granule form. I wouldn't use that in a tortoise pen where the tortoise would be able to walk over and eat it. But it should be fine as long as it was used in a pot or table or plot where the tortoise would have access.

You do have to look out for the ones with other stuff in it like pesticides or weed killers. Those would be bad to use in any way with tortoises.
 

ascott

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It is common for there to be very high levels of salt in fertilizers....

Add water and sun and let those two perfect ingredients do their job....
 

kathyth

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Was just wondering the actual reason.
I completely agree with water and sun! Nothing like letting nature handle it.
Thanks everyone.
 

ascott

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Nothing like letting nature handle it.

She just happens to be the most perfectly designed gardner.....

There are many parts of the environment that are negatively affected by these fertilizers, people overuse/improperly use them which causes more chemicals than the root system can take in...the excess is then moved deeper into the earth and can leach into waterways, or it can be moved into waterways by rain run off....and also remember, WE are part of the environment and are also exposed to consumption of large amounts of the chemicals used in fertilizers every time you eat produce grown with fertilizer....long term, there is no way to know what actual things are going on to our population as a result of this....I do know that while we as humans are living longer---we are also gaining alot of diseases in the process....things that can be related back to diet....food items.

Fertilizing plants causes them to grow more rapidly....and in a world that wants "instant" everything, this sounds like a great win....when in reality it is likely a slow festering negative factor....

I mean, if you take a strawberry grown without artificial/manufactured fertilizers and lay it on the ground, then take a strawberry grown with artificial/manufactured/genetically modified methods you will see that the natural grown fruit is of "normal" size/appearance...however, the one grown with artificial methods is unnaturally huge....a strawberry should not nearly be mistaken for an apple because of the size...lol...

So, I believe that fertilizers are just as toxic to humans as to tortoise....both of our species are designed to live for some time....and with the advent of these artificial materials and the increase in diseases, I am not any more convinced that it is a good thing to use them.
 

Tom

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But it should be fine as long as it was used in a pot or table or plot where the tortoise would have access.
The above sentence should read, "But it should be fine as long as it was used in a pot or table or plot where the tortoise would NOT have access."

Somehow the word "not" got left out. I think it was a faulty proofreader named Tom.
 

Tom

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Angela, to all of that I say, "Everything in moderation." Fertilizers should not be over used, improperly used, or used recklessly, but being that some soils are nutrient poor or calcium deficient, I have no problem with the careful and judicious application of some soil amendments, be they man made chemicals or natural compost type things. Each type has their good and bad points.
 

zenoandthetortoise

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I know that fertilizer is toxic to tortoises.
Can someone explain why? I'm simply, curious.
Thank you!
:)

Hi Kathyth,

It helps to understand that 'fertilizer' is a functional and not structural term, so it describes what a material does, not what it is. In this case, what it does is add nutrients to the soil. Because it is a functional definition, cover crops, compost, and anhydrous ammonia are all fertilizer, and vary greatly in level of potential toxicity because of the discrepancies in concentration. So the short answer is, fertilizer can be dangerous because it is comprised of concentrated biological active materials. Hope that helps.

Cheers!
 

Abdulla6169

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Angela, to all of that I say, "Everything in moderation." Fertilizers should not be over used, improperly used, or used recklessly, but being that some soils are nutrient poor or calcium deficient, I have no problem with the careful and judicious application of some soil amendments, be they man made chemicals or natural compost type things. Each type has their good and bad points.
Our gardening "soil" is basically a more fertile version of sand... Plants grow very well in it though! :confused: is "potting soil" OK? It doesn't state that it has fertilizers, just says "nutritionally complete"... I'll probably use it when I get home (I'm traveling)!
 

Tom

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Potting soil is fine if the tortoises don't have access to it, and they haven't added any funky chemicals to it. The problem with "potting soil" in an enclosure is that they add things like vermiculite or perlite, which you don't want your tortoise ingesting.
 

Abdulla6169

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Potting soil is fine if the tortoises don't have access to it, and they haven't added any funky chemicals to it. The problem with "potting soil" in an enclosure is that they add things like vermiculite or perlite, which you don't want your tortoise ingesting.
There's no perlite in the mix, here is the packaging info:

ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1407515712.927805.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1407515729.360945.jpg
 

Tom

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That is "Planting Soil" not "Potting Soil". And it appears to be peat and not soil. I don't see anything in there that would hurt a tortoise.
 

Abdulla6169

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That is "Planting Soil" not "Potting Soil". And it appears to be peat and not soil. I don't see anything in there that would hurt a tortoise.
Oh ok, there were 2 bags of soil so I was getting confused!
 
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