Key Difference: Fertilizers are organic or inorganic material that is used to supply soil with extra nutrients not easily available otherwise. Turf Builder is a brand of fertilizer sold by The Scotts Miracle Grow Company.

Home owners who love the pretty picket fence with the lush green grass and a swing set, most commonly know about dealing with dying grass or weeds. In order for grass to stay green and grow healthy, it requires certain types of nutrients. These nutrients are received from fertilizers.

In order for a plant to grow and thrive, it requires Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The former three are easily available from air, water and other sources, while the latter three are hard to come by. These nutrients are often found decay of plants or living organisms, while nitrogen is only available by recycling nitrogen from dead to living plants. That’s where fertilizers come into the picture, these provide the necessary nutrients in order to make the plants strong and thrive better.

 There are two kinds of fertilizers, organic and synthetic. Organic fertilizers are fertilizers that are created using natural products such as manure, compost, litter, bone meal, etc. These are created using organic materials and are more beneficial to plants as they do not cause harm in the long run. Inorganic or synthetic fertilizers are fertilizers that use inorganic compounds or chemicals in order to provide the nutrition required for the grass. Inorganic fertilizers are popular as they show results quickly and can also be absorbed by the plants faster. Inorganic fertilizers are frowned upon as they can run off into human water reserves and contaminate the supply. Other reasons also include that in the long run the chemicals are believed to dangerous of the soil and the earth.

Fertilizers typically provide macronutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S) and micronutrients such as boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni). The numbers on the bag of the fertilizer can tell the buyer the percentages of available nitrogen and the ratio of the different chemicals. For example a 12-10-8 would signify that the bag has 12% nitrogen, 10% phosphorous and 8% potassium. The rest is made up of the other nutrients and various different percentages.

Turf Builder is a brand of fertilizer that is sold by The Scotts Miracle Grow Company. There are various different types of Turf Builders including Weed Control, Summer Guard, Fertilizer with Built-in Spreader, 2% Iron, etc. These are all types of inorganic fertilizers. The instructions provided on the website suggest that fertilizers should be applied to a wet lawn during late spring. Turf Builder is also available in liquid form, which can be sprayed on to the grass directly.

Depending on the owner’s needs, requirement and wishes, he/she should opt for which fertilizer is best for their own needs. They could go with organic fertilizers which stay in the ground longer, or they can go with a faster acting synthetic fertilizer.

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