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i have a tank where the bottom is only gravel i want to put some fertilizer on the plats but i dont know what to get as it is only gravel. i like the look of FertiliZer sticks where you push them under the roots of the plants but i dont know if this is what i need. The tank is 180 liters at 26 C the tank has low light in it about 1.5 WPG can any one help

What kind of plants do you have?

If you have a lot of stem plants (plants that you can trim and plant the trimmins and they will sprout roots) like hygro, rotala, wisteria, ets., they take most of their nutrients out of the water, so substrate fertilizer will not help them as much and you'll want to look at liquid ferts. If you have a lot of rooted or rosette plants (plants with a definite root system that do not sprout from cuttings) like crypts and sword plants, then substrate fertilizer can be of help.

The first thing to consider is really what your plants need. How many watts of light do you have over how large a tank? What is the bio-load of the tank? How are the plants growing without fertilizers? Are there any signs of nutrient deficiency such as yellowed or browning leaves, holes in the leaves, or stem rot?

If you're not seeing any problems and have good plant growth, I'd leave well-enough alone. If you do think you need ferts, the trick is balance. Most all-in-one liquid plant supplements are often not sufficient, and root-tabs alone are rarely sufficient, either. your plants need a balanced diet or nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, Iron, carbon, and a host of trace minerals. Frequent water changes are usually enough to supply all of this in a low-light tank, but higher light makes for more demanding plants, and you may need to add some or all of these supplements.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

thanks it is realy a 50/50 mix. The main plant that is suffering is my java furn which is on a rock but it has now grown over the rock and on to the gravel. Some of the pants do have yellowing on the leaves and some have hols and some are turning brown. What from the link would u recommend http://www.tetra-fish.co.uk/tetratropical/products/tetraplant.asp#

Honestly... I wouldn't recommend anything from the link... Mostly because I have no experience with those products, but also because they seem to be mostly all-in-one type ferts, which I would not recommend.
I have been using the Seachem Flourish line of plant supplements, with very good results. I Use regular Flourish (a general fertilizer full of micronutrients), Flourish Excel (a carbon supplement used in place of CO2), and their line of macronutrients: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Iron. I also use Seachem Equilibrium which is a powdered calcium and magnesium supplement, but only because I have very soft water.

Now, that might sound like a whole lot of bottles, and wouldn't it be easier and less expensive to just use an all-in-one? Well, cheaper maybe, and certainly easier, but the results would not be tailored to your particular tank needs. For instance, I have a large bioload in my planted tank, so I use less of the Nitrogen then the recommended dose. I also have some finicky red plants, so I use more of the Iron than recommended on the bottle. It sounds like you need some potassium and nitrogen, and some carbon wouldn't hurt.
The Seachem ferts are concentrated enough that you don't need very much. I dose ferts 2-3 times per week, and an 8.5 oz. bottle of each lasts me almost a full year.

The thing to remember with ferts is balance. Over- or under-doing any one componenet can compromise your plants abaility to use everything else. For instance, in your low light tank, you are probably only going to need a minimal dose of ferts. If you had high light, your plants would be absorbing nutrients much faster. Also, certain nutrients effect a plant's ability to absorb other nutrients, so don't skimp on a particular supplement unless you're sure your plants already have enough from water changes or whtever. Also, if you use root tabs, be careful when you do gravel vacs. Digging around where the root tab is can release a cloud of dissolved fertilizer than can wreak havok with the balance of your tank.

For your Java fern, it sounds like it has simply outgrown the rock, not a fertilization problem. You can take it all out of the tank, then remove the ferns from the rock and cut the rhizome (the thick stem that connects all of the leaves) into shorter bits (make sure each piece of rhizome has at least 3 leaves) and reattach some of them to the rock and put it back in the tank. You can attach any remining bits of java fern to other rocks or wood in your tank. They're just spreading out.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

thanks for the help i will start with a fertilizer that the leaves absorbe and then if that works but not to a great extent i will put in some tablets as well. I think it will be a case of exploring new things along the way