Most organic fertilizers contain relatively low concentrations of actual nutrients. In fact unlike traditional fertilizers, organic materials are often sold as soil conditioners or soil amendments and don't even have a nutrient guarantee on the package.
Organic fertilizers use nature's own slow release process to make nutrients available.
They are less likely to burn plants because it usually takes a longer time to release the nutrients they contain. Unfortunately, these same slow release properties can be a drawback because organic fertilizers may not release enough nutrients when your plant needs them for best growth. Before you apply any fertilizer, run a soil test and use these test results to calculate your crop's fertilizer needs. In addition to the nutrients they supply, organic fertilizers perform many important functions that synthetic fertilizers don't. They increase the soil's water holding capacity, which is especially important in summers like 1999.