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Just wonder why most of the organic fertilizer are in granules. Yes, fish emulsion is liquid but there are no organic fertilizer is in powder form.

Wouldn't it be easier if they crush the granules into powder so that we can simply mix them with water and pour them to the soil?

Although I can think of an exception of bonemeal, which need to be mixed with the soil completely because it doesn't move around in the soil.

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My bet is because of the slow(er) release of the nutrients in the granules over time.

When the granules become wet, the substance will release a bit. After some other rain it will release some more etc.

Releasing too much fertilizer at once can burn the roots etc. It can make your soil too acidic and 'scare' away micro-organisms that way.

That's why you should take 2 weeks between putting manure on the soil and planting new plants into the soil. Root burns are one of the most damaging things that can happen when plants get a new environment.

Bonemeal and fish emulsion don't burn that much.

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I have used a powdered fish/seaweed product for tropical plants. It was hard to mix with water. I have also seen protein powders that are hard to mix as well. – kevinsky May 3 '12 at 12:52
Fish emulsion isn't powdered. It's like a tea, you get the proteins from the fish into the liquid. Then a tiny bit of this liquid mixed with water to spray it. Lookup Fermented Fish Amino Acids (FFAA) on Korean natural farming sites, for more information how to make FFAA. – Aschwin May 31 '12 at 12:56

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