The Pros and Cons of Various Kinds of Garden Fertilizer

Beginning gardeners can oftentimes be confused about how to best fortify their soil when so many varieties of fertilizers are available. Some are specifically formulated to accomodate the needs of particular plants, and this can simplify matters. Azalea fertilizer, for example, is intended for plants like azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias that thrive in acidic soil. If pH balance is not a concern in one's garden, however - and if it hasn't already been conditioned in the past - then the choice of fertilizer can boil down to personal taste as well as what is conveniently available.

Conventional fertilizers are fast acting: they can condition the soil and make it ready for planting almost instantly. They are also less costly than organic or slow-release types. However, conventional fertilizers can easily burn the roots of budding plants because they have such concentrated amounts of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. They should be applied, and well watered-in to the soil, before any planting is done. Their nitrogen can easily leach into the ground, too, because it is freely exposed to contact.

Because different plants assimilate various nutrients at differing rates, some gardeners opt for slow-release fertilizers. There are a few ways in which these are formulated to release their nutrients over time. Some are composed of materials that dissolve slowly. Others only release their nitrogen after microorganisms in the soil decompose them. Still others are granular materials coated with resin or sulphur to control the rate in which nutrients filter out into the garden. Slow-release fertilizers don't need to be applied as often as conventional ones (because little nitrogen is wasted), and they pose less of a danger to plants' roots. They may be more difficult for one to find, however, and they are more expensive, per unit, as a rule.