Difference Between Liquid Fertilizer & Slow Release

Composition

• The most obvious difference between liquid and slow-release fertilizer is that liquid fertilizer comes in either a concentrated liquid or water-soluble powder form, while slow-release fertilizer is packaged only in solid form, either as a powder or in granules. Slow-release fertilizer does not require mixing with water to be used, while its counterpart is usable only in liquid form.

Features

• Liquid fertilizer is designed to make the nutrients it contains available to the plants immediately on application. Slow-release fertilizer, on the other hand, is designed to release nutrients over a specific period, often as the granules containing the nutrients break down. This allows the different fertilizers to achieve different purposes: immediate provision of nutrients, or provision of nutrients slowly over a longer period.

Advantages

• Because liquid fertilizers act promptly, they are advantageous when an immediate need for nutrients has been discovered, such as where a houseplant has developed a nitrogen deficiency. Conversely, a slow-release fertilizer's gradual supply of nutrients over a longer period provides healthy plants with a steady supply of nutrients as they are needed, rather than all at once.

Warning

• Not all plants will benefit from both types of fertilizer, and using the wrong kind may cause harm. For example, tulips grow better when a liquid fertilizer is used because they are active in cold soil, whereas a slow-release fertilizer is ineffective at low temperatures. Many perennials, on the other hand, can be harmed by taking up too many nutrients at once, which liquid fertilizers can cause. They benefit from slow-release fertilizers.