How Do You Make Sense Of A Fertilizer Label?
You want to make sure your plants are getting the nutrition they need to do you proud, but there are so many choices when it comes to selecting fertilizer. How do you know what is really in the bag? There are certain rules that all fertilizer makers must follow when they label their products and understanding these rules can make comparing fertilizers much easier.Difficulty: AverageTime Required: 10 MinutesHere’s How: • Major Ingredients: Most commercial fertilizers have 3 numbers on the front label, separated by dashes. For example: 5-10-5. This is the fertilizer analysis or percentage by weight of the 3 major nutrients plants need: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in that order. These are abbreviated as N-P-K. So if you purchased a 10 pound bag of fertilizer labeled 5-10-5, it would contain 5% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 5% potassium. The remaining 80% could be comprised of other nutrients and filler. • 1st Number = Nitrogen: The first number gives the concentration of nitrogen i
