Herself's Houseplants

Rising fertilizer prices have been effecting farmers and home gardeners all year.  Prices doubled then tripled in 2008.   Most of the rise in prices is due to the idiotic ethanol fiasco.  Another reason is that natural gas prices have been rising which is the main source of nitrogen in many fertilizers.  So you would think a company that makes organic fertilizers, would benefit from the rising market.  Instead one company California Liquid Fertilizer spiked its organic fertilizers with ammonium sulfate.

California Liquid Fertilizer claims to make organic fertilizer from fish and chicken waste and by products.  The rising price of gas would not have effected their costs, yet make it able for them to charge more keeping with current prices.  So it is difficult to understand why they would do such a stupid thing.

Many organic farms are now at risk of losing their organic status.

The California regulatory agency was informed of the problem by a whistleblower in 2004.

More information:
Organic Farms unknowingly used a synthetic fertilizer
Rising fertilizer prices causing quite a stink

Another, yet unamed organic fertilizer company is also under investigation.

As the world gets more urban and more of us move to cities the plant life of cities has a bigger impact on us all. The diversity of conditions in the city as opposed to the countryside gives us a larger selection of plants in the city. But the plants that can handle the urban environment tend to be very similar to each other. This means changes in climate and other city conditions may have a far greater detrimental impact on urban plants.

More plant species grow in German towns and cities than in the countryside, but those in towns and cities are more closely related and are often functionally similar. This makes urban ecosystems more susceptible to environmental impacts. . .. [ read more Similarity Of Urban Flora: Plants In Towns And Cities Are More Closely Related Than Those In The Countryside]