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Bone meal is a mixture of crushed and coarsely ground bones that is used as an organic fertilizer for plants and formerly in animal feed. As a slow-release fertilizer, bone meal is primarily used as a source of phosphorus.
Bone meal once was often used as a human dietary calcium supplement. Research in the 1980s found that many bone meal preparations were contaminated with lead and other toxic metals, and it is no longer recommended as a calcium source.
As a fertilizer, the N-P-K ratio of bone meal is generally 4-12-0, though some steamed bone meals have N-P-Ks of 1-13-0. Bone meal is also an excellent organic source of calcium.
Organic fertilizers usually require the use of microbes/bacteria in the soil in order to make the nutrients in the fertilizer bio-available. That can result in irregular release of phosphorous/calcium. In sterile potting soil, there may be no microbes to release the nutrients.
Finely ground bone meal may provide quicker release than coarsely ground.
Phosphates do not easily pass through soil. So mixing the bone meal with the soil or putting it in the planting hole can help.
Bone meal is frequently used in preparing holes for blooming bulbs, for the phosphorous. It may help tomato plants prevent blossom end rot. However, blossom end rot can happen even though sufficient calcium is present if watering is irregular. High phosphorous fertilizers are also useful for transplant root growth.
Health risks
In the 1990s, bone meal was identified as a vector for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") among livestock. It is believed by some that bone meal produced in the 1970s from the corpses of sheep bearing scrapie caused BSE in cattle when it was fed to them, but the pathogen very rarely crosses species, so it is more likely to have spread from cow bone meal. Others believe that organophosphates may have triggered the bovine form of the disease.
See also
Sources
- PDRhealth entry on bone meal
- BSE information from the Centers for Disease Control
- BSE information from the Institute of Food Science and Technology
- An alternative theory
- BSE Enquiry
- Definition, nutrient ratio of bone meal fertilizer
- Pro's and Con's of Bone meal fertilizer
- Answers.com on bone meal and advantages of organic fertilizers
- Opinions on bone meal's suitability as fertilizer
- How much to apply, and on what plants
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- This page was last modified on 13 October 2008, at 00:15.
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