One reason the commercial branded organic fertilizers are not so well reviewed is more people are learning that they can buy the ingredients of those fertilizers at their local feed store for about 1/6 the cost of the fertilizer in the fancy bag. You would have trouble finding feather meal but fortunately it is not nearly as good a fertilizer as is alfalfa, soy, milorganite, cottonseed meal, corn meal, or even common flour. Any and all of these can be had for much less than you paid for not such a good fertilizer. If you have not opened it, I would suggest returning it and using your money to buy two, 50-pound bags of alfalfa pellets (rabbit, fish, or chinchilla food).

Here is a picture taken by a former member here at GW who took the time to test the alfalfa concept.

{{gwi:79339}}

It is easy to see the improved color, density, and growth of the grass. The alfalfa was applied in mid May of 2010 and the photo taken a month later in mid June. It takes about that long to see the improvement. Had he applied over the entire lawn you would not be able to see the effect as clearly.

Alfalfa costs about $12.50 per 50-pound bag. The application rate is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. After you apply, moisten the pellets with a light mist of water. They absorb the moisture over the next few hours, swell to look like fat green worms, and then fall down onto the soil at the next disturbance. Once on the soil, the soil microbes will take over and convert the food into plant food. Again, that is a biological process that takes 3 weeks.

The problem with the ingredients of your fertilizer is that feather meal takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R to decompose. The blood meal is good and gives an immediate blast of food to the plants but after that effect wears off, you have to wait and wait for the feather meal to kick in. Alfalfa is a common ingredient in better organic fertilizers and you can have it for a fraction of the price by buying in a plain, brown bag. The other problem I have with commercially bagged organic fertilizers is they all seem to have potassium sulfate, a chemical, in them. They call it sulfate of potash. Different name for the same chemical. Unless you have a soil test which shows you have a potassium deficiency, then you might not need the 'potash.' And then the last problem is the cost. Your 20 pound bag probably covers 1,000 square feet. The cost is then $25 per 1,000 square feet. When you use plain alfalfa, the app rate is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. The cost, assuming the cost I stated above, is $5 per 1,000 square feet.