If you are a gardener, you may be familiar with the bag of fertilizer. The fertilizer bag comes with some kind of letter and numbers imprinted on it. Have you ever thought about what those numbers and letters truly mean?
The fertilizer letters and numbers have specific meanings and you must be able to decipher them if you are to choose the perfect fertilizer for your needy plants. This guide is determined to help you understand the meanings behind fertilizer numbers.
If you observe more closely you will notice the letter NPK with some numbers associated with it on your fertilizer. Those letters represent the major nutrients incorporated in the fertilizer and the numbers are their percentage constituents.
Fertilizer Letters and Numbers
Fertilizer letters are usually listed in the order of:
N (Nitrogen)
P (Phosphorus)
K (Potassium)
To make it easier, if you happen to notice 10-10-10 fertilizer, which is also an all-purpose fertilizer, you should know that the fertilizer is prepared using 10 percent of each of the three major NPK elements while the remaining 70 includes other micronutrients.
NPK is the major nutrient for plants and each of these elements is found to play a different role in helping your plant grow healthier and more vibrant.
Scroll down to learn more about the specific role played by each of the elements.
N (Nitrogen): Nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for your plants. It has been found to give a boost to the leafy green growth, often referred to as the green machine.
P (Phosphorus): Phosphorus is directed toward the root development, energy transfer, and flower and fruit production of plants, crucial for achieving vital photosynthesis and respiration processes.
K (Potassium): Potassium is essential for ensuring the hardiness and well-maintained overall health of the plants. It helps your plant to grow vigorously and healthily regulating the water uptake and supporting enzyme activation.
Well, different plants at different growth stages may require different nutrients and you must know about the roles played by all the nutrients.
You need to choose fertilizer with specific nutrients depending upon the type of plants you have and the goal you anticipate to achieve. Learn more about how to use fertilizer!
You should know that there are several important micronutrients along with the major NPK in the fertilizer. Scroll down to get familiar with some of them below:
Magnesium: One of the major contributions of magnesium is that it plays a crucial role in photosynthesis. To be more specific, magnesium is a chief component of chlorophyll.
Yellow leaves, slow growth, and obstacles in cell development are some of the few probable issues resulting from the inadequate magnesium content in the plant body.
Calcium: Calcium is another unsung micronutrient that is often found to influence the overall growth of the plant.
Calcium deficiency may cause poor bud growth, rotting of the roots and blossom ends, and weak growth.
Zinc: You might be aware of zinc as a building block of life. From growth, root development, and flowering, zinc has an important influential role.
Manganese: Manganese is a crucial element assisting in the photosynthesis process of the plant. Your plant's germination and maturity potential are highly affected by the presence of manganese content in the nutrients.
Copper: Copper is an inseparable element during most of the plant-growth processes. You should know that the presence of copper in the fertilizer is directly related to Vitamin A production, helping to achieve successful protein synthesis.
Choosing the right fertilizer number depends on several factors, some of which are mentioned below:
1. Soil Test
For every growing season, you need to assess the soil using the appropriate inspecting tool to determine the pH levels. If you check for the current level of NPK in the soil, only then you would be able to choose the right fertilizer.
Make sure to assess your soil before using fertilizer on your plants so that only the required fertilizer is applied to them, identifying the gap in the nutrient constituents.
Different plants have varying nutrient requirements. Scroll down to understand the basic fertilizer requirements of different plants.
Flowering and Fruiting Plants
You might be fond of growing flowering and fruiting plants in your garden. Especially for such plants, it has been suggested to use fertilizer that is rich in Phosphorus (P).
If the time to fertilize fruit trees and flowering plants has arrived, you can go for 10-20-10 fertilizer which has a slightly high phosphorus content for more healthy blossoms and produces.
Lawns and Leafy Plants
Many gardeners prefer growing leafy shrubs and bushes along the edge of the yard or their growing space. If you are looking for more lush greenery through healthy green foliage of your plants, nitrogen-based fertilizer is an ideal fertilizer.
Make sure to choose the one having a high nitrogen content in the NPK ratio such as 10-5-5 for the leafy green growth of the plants. If you have a lawn on your property, you must be aware of when to fertilize the lawn for lush greenery.
Roots and Stems Development
Similarly, for plants that need to have robust root systems and stem development, fertilizer rich in potassium such as 10-10-20 should be used.
Balanced Fertilizer
Balanced fertilizer is often used for the healthy growth of plants. If you are just beginning to fertilize your plants, you can choose 10-10-10 fertilizer.
3. Plant Stage
Young plants might need more push on Nitrogen for initial growth while mature plants might benefit more from potassium for overall health.
I have highlighted some of the important aspects you need to consider while choosing the right fertilizer number here below:
You need to first look out for your plants whether they need balanced fertilizer or any specific fertilizer for the boost on the specific area.
Similarly, the type of fertilizer is another important thing you need to consider. Dry fertilizer is rather a slow-releasing fertilizer while liquid fertilizer is a quick-serving fertilizer.
Make sure to detect the specific needs of your plants. Closely observe the flowers, seeds, leaves, and roots to assess the specific fertilizer requirement.
Before buying the fertilizer, ensure reading the label properly. You may not get the exact fertilizer ratio but being aware of the fertilizer number can help you decide on which fertilizer would do good for your requirement.
