What are the two main kinds of plant fertilizers?

Answer 1

Organic fertilisers - those that originate from the processing of organic or vegetative materials. Examples are bone meal, humus, blood meal, urea (although urea is part processed). organic fertilisers are normally much more diluted than chemical fertilisers and take a longer time to affect the growth of the plant, they are however longer acting and normally add to/ improve the structure of the soil.

Chemical fertilisers - these are compounds that are manufactured from chemicals or chemical byproducts (eg. through the gas and petroleum industry). They are concentrated, fast acting and come in a wide variety of formulations. They can however damage crops if they are incorrectly applied, leach easily from the soil (contributing to the pollution of ground water) and they (normally) have no long residual action in the soil. Examples of these are: NPK formulations, ammonia nitrate, ammonia suphate etc.

Answer 2

The two main kinds of plant fertilizers are organic fertilizers, which are derived from natural ingredients like compost or manure, and synthetic fertilizers, which are manufactured chemical compounds specifically formulated to provide plants with essential nutrients. Organic fertilizers tend to be slower acting but improve soil health, while synthetic fertilizers offer a quick nutrient boost but can lead to nutrient runoff if not used correctly.