How to Read a Fertilizer Label
- 1). Look near the top of the label and locate the three numbers that are written with dashes between them, such as 10-10-10. This number is also usually printed on the front of the fertilizer package, too.
- 2). Examine the first number, which also sometimes has an "N" next to it, to determine how much nitrogen the fertilizer contains. The number is represented as a percentage of the total weight. Thus, if the number is ten, 10 percent of the weight of the fertilizer bag is made of nitrogen.
- 3). Examine the second number, which also sometimes has an "P" next to it, to determine how much phosphate the fertilizer contains.
- 4). Examine the third number, which also sometimes has an "K" next to it, to determine how much potassium the fertilizer contains.
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