When fertilizing plants, whether crops or lawn, or anything in between, choosing the right fertilizer is critical. The two main types of chemical fertilizers are granular and liquid fertilizers. Each type has its own advantages, so can you use both liquid and granular fertilizers?
You can use both liquid and granular fertilizers as long as the fertilizers are compatible. Keep to using two fertilizers that are intended for the same purpose. This method can be beneficial to plants if done carefully, but it can be damaging if it is not done correctly.
Using liquid and granular fertilizers simultaneously can have benefits for growing all kinds of plants due to the individual properties of each type of fertilizer. However, it must be done well to benefit the plants. Let’s look more closely at combining liquid and granular fertilizers.
Can You Use Both Liquid And Granular Fertilizer?
Chemical fertilizers have many benefits, as they are designed with specific nutritional content for maximum benefit for the plants that they are developed for.
Part of the benefits of chemical fertilizers is that the fertilizer delivery method can be altered depending on the requirements of the plants.
This is where liquid and granular fertilizers come in. the only difference between these two fertilizer types is how quickly they are absorbed into the soil and how quickly they can be utilized by the plants that receive the fertilizer.
Liquid fertilizers are absorbed and utilized very quickly by plants, and granular fertilizers take longer to be broken-down and used by the plant that receives them.
Other than the delivery system of each type of fertilizer, there is no real difference between them. This means that if the correct types of fertilizers are used, you can use both liquid and granular fertilizers simultaneously.
When these two types of fertilizers are used in tandem, there can be benefits for the plants that receive them.
That being said, while you can use this method to fertilize plants if the wrong types of fertilizers are used in conjunction with one another, it may cause serious damage to the plants that receive it.
Mixing and combining these two types of fertilizers can be done, but it must be done carefully.
What Are The Benefits Of Using Both Types Of Fertilizer?
Combing liquid and granular fertilizers may not have the benefits that you expect, but nonetheless, there are some benefits to using this method.
Using both types of fertilizer is beneficial if done correctly due to the way the two types of fertilizer are used by plants.
Liquid fertilizer is very fast-acting and can be applied to plants in multiple ways. This type of fertilizer is absorbed very quickly by plants and therefore provides a quick boost of nutrients for the plants that receive it.
However, the quick-release nature of liquid fertilizer means that it is broken down very quickly and does not sustain the soil for very long. This means that it must be applied more regularly than other fertilizer types to remain effective.
Granular fertilizer, on the other hand, is much longer-lasting than a liquid fertilizer and is broken down and used by plants much more slowly. This means that granular fertilizer remains in the solid for much longer and sustains plants for a much longer period.
The benefits of using these two types of fertilizer are that the plants that receive them will experience an instant influx of nutrients from the liquid fertilizer and will be sustained over time by the granular fertilizer.
This effectively counteracts the drawbacks of each type of fertilizer and makes them a very effective combination if used correctly.
Can Using Both Types Of Fertilizer Be Damaging To Plants?
If both liquid and granular fertilizer are used simultaneously, it can be dangerous to plants if not done correctly.
The issue with combing fertilizers is that they may have different nutritional contents that are not designed for certain plants.
If the plants that receive the fertilizer should not be receiving more than a certain amount of nutrients, but one of the fertilizers in the combination exceeds that amount, it could cause serious damage to the plant.
Another example is if a granular lawn fertilizer and liquid vegetable fertilizer are combined. If the lawn fertilizer contains a herbicide to kill weeds, it will also kill the vegetable plants that receive fertilizer.
For this reason, it is necessary that the two combined fertilizers have complimentary nutritional content and contain no herbicides or pesticides whatsoever.
What Is The Best Combination Of Liquid And Granular Fertilizer?
When using both liquid and granular fertilizer simultaneously, there are some methods that work better than others.
The best way to use both of these types of fertilizers is not to use them individually, as you may expect, but to rather mix the two together and allow the liquid fertilizer to soak into the granular fertilizer.
This method s particularly effective, as the two types of fertilizer, can then be applied simultaneously, and the plants that fertilizer is applied to instantly receive the nutrients from the liquid fertilizer, while the granular variety is broken down and absorbed over time.
Once the two fertilizers have been allowed to soak overnight, strain the liquid from the grains, and apply the fertilizer combination to your plants.
There are many commercial brands of fertilizer that have pre-combined the two fertilizer types if you would rather not go through the process yourself.
This method is very effective and highly recommended.
Conclusion
Liquid and granular fertilizers are both effective products, and they both have their own advantages and drawbacks.
Liquid fertilizer is absorbed by plants quickly, but it does not have a lasting effect on the plants that receive it. Granular fertilizer is broken down more slowly, but it lasts far longer in the soil and has a longer-lasting effect on plants.
Combining the two types of fertilizer allows for the effective use of both without the drawbacks. This means that you can use both liquid and granular fertilizer as long as it is done correctly.
Combining these fertilizers incorrectly or combining the wrong fertilizers may cause damage to plants, but as long as it is done carefully, this method may work very well for your plants.
References
http://northcoastgardening.com/2015/06/make-liquid-fertilizer-from-granular/
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