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Dry and Liquid
Synthetic Fertilizers
On this page find how to choose and properly apply dry and liquid formulations of synthetic or manmade fertilizers to vegetable plants in home vegetable gardens, including:
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- How synthetic fertilizers are made and what they contain.
- Whether plants grow differently when fed natural, organic, or synthetic fertilizers.
- The nutrients and other important ingredients that most synthetic fertilizers lack.
- A step-by-step demonstration of how to apply dry or granular synthetic fertilizer to plants in a home vegetable garden
- A step-by-step demonstration of how to apply liquid synthetic fertilizer to plants in a home vegetable garden.
About Synthetic Fertilizers
All plants grow equally well with both organic, natural fertilizers and those synthesized from petroleum by-products.
It makes no difference to your vegetable plants whether they receive their nitrogen, phosphorous or potassium from manure, organic compost, or from synthetic (or naturally occurring) chemical fertilizers.
In other words, vegetables fuel the growth of their foliage and fruit in exactly the same biologic processes. The compounds and elements they use are the same, whether they come from organic chicken manure or manmade pellets.
Further—despite many claims and thousands of pages of scientific research—the leaves, roots, fruit, and berries from plants fed by either fertilizer have no detectable nutritional differences.
Organic or Synthetic
Synthetic fertilizers may be mixed by manufacturers to contain specific amounts of nutrients—even at far higher concentrations than would be possible for an equal weight of organic fertilizer. They also are inexpensive and convenient.
So, you may be asking, what’s the organics-versus-synthentics fuss all about? In the end, it comes down to the long-term, sustainable health and fate of garden soil.
Synthetics seldom contain the full range of nutrients, micronutrients, or trace elements found in their natural fertilizer equivalents. They lack living soil microorganisms usually present in organic fertilizers. Plants use all these other nutrients in their growth processes, too.
Other Considerations
Studies do show that long-term application of synthetic fertilizers seems to produce poorer soils with fewer soil organisms than those that are farmed sustainably through regular additions of both decomposed animal and plant waste.
It’s also important to never over-fertilize your vegetables. Proper application and amounts applied prevent runoff of water from your property containing nutrients that might pollute nearby waterways.
Since we’re home vegetable gardeners, not farmers cultivating vast acreages, the choice ultimately falls to each gardener’s own preference.
Make up your own mind about dry and liquid synthetic fertilizers. We’ll show you how to safely and effectively apply them to your home vegetable garden.
Step-By-Step Instructions
The step-by-step demonstrations that follow show how to apply dry and two forms of liquid fertilizers to vegetable plants in a home garden.
Dry granular formulations of synthetic fertilizers are convenient, inexpensive, and effective.
Liquid concentrate fertilizers are easy to apply and take effect quickly. They must be repeated more frequently than dry granules because the granules dissolve slowly and release new nutrients over a longer period of time.
The second type of liquid fertilizers are foliar formulations. They are a special-need fertilizer that gives a rapid boost to struggling vegetable plants, including those with damaged roots.
Gather your choice of dry granular or liquid synthetic fertilizer, measures, mixing containers, , a cultivating tool or hoe, a hand spreader or spray applicator bottle, or a hose-end applicator.
Perform each of the steps shown in the applicable demonstration that follows.
How to Apply Dry or Granular Synthetic Fertilizer
Shallowly cultivate the soil surface around each plant to remove any crusted soil and prepare the the surface to receive an application of granular synthetic fertilizer.
Sprinkle granular fertilizer around each plant at the label-specified rate of application.
Mix the applied fertilizer into the soil surface to a depth 3–4 in. (75-100 mm).
Apply mulch on the soil’s surface in the area above each plant’s roots.
Adjust irrigation emitters to apply water to the treated area or water manually.
Applied water will dissolve and carry the diluted fertilizer deep into the soil where it becomes available to each plant’s roots.
How to Apply Liquid Synthetic Fertilizer
Dilute and thoroughly mix the concentrate of liquid synthetic fertilizer as directed.
Read completely and follow exactly the mixing instructions on the fertilizer package’s label.
For regular liquid synthetic fertilizers, drench the soil area around the plant with dilute fertilizer solution as directed on the package label.
Foliar fertilizers are applied to and absorbed directly by the plant’s foliage and stems.
Apply foliar fertilizer immediately after planting nursery starts and transplants. Spray the dilute foliar fertilizer onto the tops and undersides of plant leaves and stems.
For established plants that are struggling or have damaged roots, foliar fertilizers may nurse them through difficult growth until they recover.