Purposes

• Liquid fertilizers, also known as water-soluble fertilizers, can be placed on either your plant's soil or its foliage. Liquid fertilizers can meet your planting needs whether you need a plant starter, a minor element formula or a high-nitrogen product. In addition, chelated iron liquid fertilizers help treat iron-deficient plants or prevent iron deficiency. Plants that especially benefit from this type of liquid fertilizer include sweetgums, oaks, rhododendrons and azaleas.
  
  

Benefits

• Liquid fertilizers are advantageous because they pose a smaller risk of burning your lawn than does a granular fertilizer. This is due to the fact that you can spread a fertilizer more evenly when it is in liquid form. In addition, a liquid fertilizer allows nutrients to immediately come into contact with your plants' roots. Liquid fertilizers that are mixed with herbicides also are effective at quickly getting rid of weeds in your garden or yard.
  
  

Disadvantages

• A chief drawback to using liquid fertilizers is that they can be more costly than granular forms. This means that the bigger your yard or garden is, the greater the amount of money you must spend on liquid fertilizer products. In addition, you must fertilize your plants more often with a liquid fertilizer because liquid fertilizers are so fast-acting, which means their effects do not last long. Dry, granular fertilizers, on the other hand, provide a more long-term benefit to plants. Also, if a heavy rain occurs before your plants have had a chance to absorb a liquid fertilizer, some of the product's benefits are reduced.
  
  

Application

• Applying a liquid fertilizer is relatively easy. You use a liquid fertilizer typically by connecting a garden hose to a container filled with the fertilizer. You then can spray the fertilizer and water on your lawn or plants. The fertilizer will not work without the addition of water and the power of a hose's nozzle because the fertilizer in the container is a concentrated version.