Jeff,
Evenly dispersing the 2 Cups of fertilizer throughout the Grow Media would "shock" the plants. By putting it in a condensed strip, the wicking action and moisture movement via capillary action will tend to throttle dispersion of the nutrients as the moisture works its way into the core of the strip during the Season.
Alternatively to the one-time fertilizer strip, you can always use a low dose N-P-K liquid fertilizer on a monthly basis. The strip approach is more of a "set it - and forget it" low maintenance method - - so you can spend more Summertime in the Hot Tub.
Raybo
