Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Although plants don’t care if the nutrients they receive are from organic or inorganic sources, the availability of nutrients in the fertilizer you apply is important. Traditional synthetic fertilizer, such as the iconic ten-ten-ten, is water-soluble and considered quick release fertilizer.
If you apply all the fertilizer your centipede lawn needs with a quick release fertilizer and we get a gully-washer, that highly soluble nitrogen is all going to be washed away, possibly causing off-site pollution. Although it is more expensive, many homeowners and commercial growers are moving towards slow release fertilizers – called controlled slow release or CSR. These formulations are also much less likely to burn your plants – remember most fertilizers are basically salts -- and can assure that nutrients are available throughout the whole growing season.
