VitaSoil Steamed Bone Meal is a 100% pure and all-natural plant food that is high in phosphorous. It's listed by The Organic Materials Institute (OMRI) for use in Organic Production. What makes VitaSoil unique among other bone meals is the method used to produce it.
Bone meal has long been used by farmers and home gardeners because it stimulates healthy root development. Recently questions have been raised about the amount of meat byproduct remaining in bone meal after processing and whether it is a safe product to handle. Yes, bone meal with 1% or less nitrogen is perfectly safe to use and any bone meal with more than 1% nitrogen should be avoided.
Steaming vs. cooking
Steaming once was the accepted method for producing bone meal. But now most companies have switched to short-time cooking to produce a bone meal with higher nitrogen levels and to increase profits. While there is a perception that a high level of nitrogen is good, it is also the reason these bone meals can become rancid and provide an environment for the formation of harmful bacteria. All bone meal products have some meat byproducts remaining since it is impossible for all of it to be removed during processing. That's why any product showing more than 1% nitrogen can be considered "unclean".
The bones used to produce all VitaSoil bone meal are processed under 43 pounds of steam pressure for three hours. At this point all protein is decanted off and the bones are steamed for an additional hour to sterilize them and destroy remaining bacteria. VitaSoil Bone Meal is derived from a food processing plant where all bones are 100% USDA inspected. Few, if any, other bone meal brands can make this statement. An added benefit to steaming over cooking is that the process makes the phosphorous more readily available to a plant's roots. And you will use less VitaSoil Steamed Bone Meal in your feeding program because it contains a higher amount of available phosphorous than other bone meals.
Easy to use granules
After the steaming process, the bones are reduced to a fine powder and then formed under pressure into granules of varying sizes. This process produces a bone meal with an extremely low dust content for easy application and ensures a continuous time-release of phosphorous. When purchasing bone meal always check the Guaranteed Analysis which is shown as percentages, such as 1-25-0, on the package. The first number represents Nitrogen, the second Phosphorous and the third Potash. Since bone meal does not contain potash naturally any percentage given for this nutrient indicates that it has been artificially added.
