Watch This Before Buying Fertilizer 🛑🚙🏬 Understand What NPK Really Means

Understand NPK before you go shopping so you buy the right fertilizer.
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Watch This Before Buying Fertilizer 🛑🚙🏬 Understand What NPK Really Means
List of Credits:
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All slides and videos belong to GardenFundamentals.com or are public domain images, except for the following:

[@archimedes1077]

Someone asked me the other day what I do to make my garden so nice and I took them out there and scooped a shovel full of dirt out spread on the ground and there was about thirty red wiggle worms in the one shovel full. I said to the person look at the life and consistency of the soil that's what makes it good. I very rarely use fertilizer at all. Just good compost and manure with a few other organic amendments. My secret is I have access to a compost pile that is absolutely amazing. It has been added to from a camp that has horses and a commercial kitchen that has been adding to it since 1950. It is some of the richest best soil I have ever seen and I'm so blessed to be able to use it.

[@jeil5676]

This video absolutely, definitely 100% confirms that I have no idea how to proceed with fertilization..

[@northernpike56]

He does make it unclear and complicated

[@brettdman2908]

yeah, I sure stayed up with him until he started talking. I should have stayed awake during my college chemistry classes

[@Jamescityboygardening]

Personally I'm goongto stay with quality worm castings & fish emulsion. Grow on baby grow on...

[@incanada83]

@@brettdman2908 Could be because your teacher (like mine) was Booooring? Just drilling formulas to memorize for written tests without any interesting demonstrations or...nothing interesting at all. This man's videos are gold.

[@Carlo_B]

the only way to proceed with fertilization is to get a soil test. but if you have many different plants in the same area it is impossible to give the correct amount of fertilizer for each plant, even with the soil test. You'd better spread wood chips or compost, or both. Soil tests and specific fertilizations are useful for agricultural purposes only, when you have the same type of plants in one big area, eg. a vineyard

[@kimmanning4989]

2 winters ago I bought your book. That spring I stopped thinking about the plants and started focusing on the soil. ❤️

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

Thank you very much.

[@thehermitmonk081]

Love this guy and his herculean efforts to provide valuable infromation without catering to the lowest denominator. So tired of gardening/homesteading/permaculture videos targeted at people who don't have high-school level math intuitions and rely mostly on magical thinking.

[@ben-fe3zy]

Thanks for the info. But i'm going to skip the Canadian beer, and go for a 40 per-cent scotch to be even more efficient. After that, I won't even care which npk the plants are getting

[@jeffreydustin5303]

Solid gold comment!

[@proudboxermom3104]

😂😂😂Good one!!

[@jordanxfile]

Smart thinking; cheers 🥃

[@williamwaters4506]

Great video, your final comment sums it up - before you pour/spread fertilizer on your soil, have it tested. You might not need any NPK, you might need (for example) calcium or your pH might be out of balance.

[@TheGrilledCheeseSandwich]

Your advice is gold. 🥇

[@thepolishreefer4135]

It reminds me of the greenest lawns my Polish grandma had using Schlitz beer in an old sprayer. Think she used to get a case of it for like $4.99. Could drink a 6 pack and water the whole lawn.

[@thepolishreefer4135]

The best lawn in the neighborhood!! That’s true talk

[@UNDERGROUNDHITRADIO]

i have 12-10-18 and for a 3-1-2 ratio i might add fish mix and wormcastings for my potting soil, thanks!

[@leonsus9317]

I really like your voice. I could listen to you all day, LoL.

[@Bluebirdiran]

It would have helped a lot If you had clarified when you say 3-1-2 are you talking about N - P2O5 - K20 content OR N - P - K, the pure elements content?

[@cy1196]

YES, things get CONFUSED.

[@nickangelovski4358]

There are not enough words to explain how much I love your channel 😁

[@kenkerr7048]

I have often Sean this in directions and it’s a guessing game on the amount because the lack of information. So I’m basically scratching my head and guessing.

[@ersineser7610]

Hi, do you have any video for Hydroponics growing and fertilizer? Thanks.

[@ROlson-dx2jc]

Would I need to get a fertilizer of 3N-3P-2K then to get the correct ratio? Can you supplement organic material with something like miracle gro for heavy feeders like roses? Love your channel and blog, your information has saved me a fortune by steering me away from all the gimmicks out there!

[@dahutful]

I like the ratio info. Thanks Robert

[@larryherbert4317]

enjoy your learning vids and your books!😁

[@Juan-getithowyouleave]

Thanks for your knowledge

[@tonywoody5696]

Very informational! You are a very wise man Thank you for passing your knowledge and wisdom.

[@GregDunne-zf2ep]

Leant so many things from you thank you

[@judymckerrow6720]

Thank you! 🌷💚🙃

[@ellellbee]

Excellent explanations, Thank you.

[@johnr990]

Some of the fertilizers you only need around half or more of the recommendation. They are selling a product and want you to use the hell out of it and buy more. The University of Florida IFAS has a study that was aimed at lowering nitrates in the ground water because everybody seems to over fertilizer and also nutrient lock the medium. I worked on that project with them.

[@1965Haval]

Brilliant thank you

[@rickrhoduscarolefrazier-rh565]

I was going to ask about beer - saw a "hack" using Blue Moon wheat beer. I need to read your book. Love this channel! Great info

[@Chris-op7yt]

i mostly use 20:20:20 +TE. people have been fooled by organic movement and domestic fertilizer companies, to buy mostly water/filler, as long as it smells like it does magic. you can water down the 20:20:20 to whatever strength you want. on the other hand, weak domestic grade fertilizer typically does not much at all, at the recommended dilution, so there's no danger of ever burning the plant or actually fertilizing it for growth.

[@brettdman2908]

why does gardening get more complicated the more I do it? It is supposed to be relaxing *bangs head on wall*

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

The more you learn - the more you will ignore most advice, except mine - and the easier it gets.

[@yallowhill]

Excellent. Really hope people heard that if you use compost you don't need artificial fertilizers

[@proudboxermom3104]

Yes, I didn't know that!!

[@i.r.j5196]

Here in canada we have the most potash good stuff

[@ASpinnerASpinner]

I have never seen a recommendation to use X quantity of fertilizer to "your garden". Though, I can believe such recommendations are out there because MOST gardening sites and blogs, be they owned by some random person with a blog or a large company with a large budget, spread junk info. There is also much junk gardening/plant info spread by universities.

[@hugolozada9192]

Hi can l mix the garden soap with oil thank you

[@jimsparks-pw9tq]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. You always know if a person knows his stuff by how simple they explain it, and you are that man. I assume your name is Robert and you live in BC.

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

I am Robert - live in Ontario.

[@Scott-jf1nh]

if 3-1-2 is a good ratio and N is 3 then do we want to actually end up with 3-0.4-0.8? P being phosphate not pure phosphorus and K being potash not pure potassium. Thank you for explaining this “math” problem. Traditional measures can screw things up to the layman. A two x four” piece of lumber is another example.

[@ceaseanddesist8036]

For palm trees the fertilizers are often highest in pottasium a ratio like 6 2 8 is a common fertilizer. Do palms like more pottasium or are these fertilizers high in potassium since I heard the soil in Florida often lacks pottasium.

[@dustyschwartz1576]

Your awesome dude. Lol. 6.2 is fine with me on my beer. Not big on that high gravity. If I want gravity I will gravitate towards an 80 to 90. But that's usually when I'm deficient. A 6 maintains well. On a serious note learn to grow good weed and you will be able to figure all the others out.easy peasy lemon squeezy. Fyi. I haven't grown weed since I got busted for it.

[@youwhobaby]

Is the ratio the same when they're flowering?

[@kimberlyluikart819]

Thank you for all of your basic info. I have to admit that I do find it alarming that people might not be able to do some simple math conversions.

[@digicandy70]

I like the video and I think I'll give Just Use Compost a try. My problem is finding one that is truly compost. Many I find have so much uncomposted material in them. Some say manure compost, but I wonder if a cow had anything to do with it, given it is obvious that much came from plants, trees, etc.

[@blowitoutyourcunt7675]

Horse compost is better from what I've heard from my mate who uses it to "innoculate" her compost pile. Her compost Temps very warm in the middle of winter, in the middle of the compost pile despite the snow! Organic poo only, dewormers that are given to horses could have a very negative impact on your compost pile for example.

[@jeil5676]

OK. From what I've been told, N:P:K ratios on a container, explain the percentage of immediately available nitro, phos, potas. by dry weight....so how does that factor into a bottle of fish emulsion? Its not dry and I have no way of knowing how much water is in it. There may be nitrogen thats not immediately available but microbes will eventually do so. And, this is all dependent on how much water i dilute into and, how much soil I spread it over....This is just too much for me to handle lol.

[@antoniomatos1980]

Its much simpler: if you clearly see that your soil is not fertil (plants dont volunteer to grow, andmost things dont grow, or grow small and slow), which is not common at all: 1- aplly as much of organic manure and compost and /or mulch as like. Usual a bit every year is good and enough. 2 - if you go sintetic just spread a bit by hand, a slow realease its enough for at least a year or 2. 3 in doubt dont aply or aply very litle amount.

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

" N:P:K ratios on a container, explain the percentage of immediately available nitro, phos, potas. by dry weigh" - that is not true. It is mostly true for synthetic fertilizer, but take urea for example. It is a 45-0-0, but most plants can't use urea, at least not in large amounts. Urea does turn into nitrate fairly quickly which plants can use. NPK on organic fertilizer, like fish emulsion, is usually the total amount of nutrients and they might not be available for months or even years. Liquids are mostly water, so as a rough guide you can assume 1 gram per ml of liquid - which is the density of water. If the N is 10%, then there is 0.1 gram in 1 ml.

[@jeil5676]

@@Gardenfundamentals1 thanx for clearing that up.

[@theColdFramer]

Question - Beyond the ratios...I have a bunch of older (several year old) synthetic liquid Ferts still in the bottle..how long do the molecules stay plant viable? I'm guessing there is no expiry date...but that's a guess, and not very sciency.

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

sort of. Plant nutrient molecules will not decompose and they stay viable. What can happen over time is that some precipitate out and form a solid. But they can still be used.

[@jaimeferreira81]

I bought your books #1and#2 I have a question, for pot tomatoes and peppers the ratio 3-2-1 is good for all growing stages? Tanks

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

Yes. Unless you are doing hydroponics and have a lot of testing equipment you can't fine tune the ratios any better.

[@plur_ndbn]

Imagine you drink 33 bud beer, you literally drink 99% alcohol, very true

[@josethunder6016]

Hi and thanks for that helpful video about NPK . I am beginning in hydroponic and want to know more about a good formula . So question I want to ask may be not in the field of that video , but I am sure that you do have the knowledge about how to feed plants without soil . So my first question is " if I have nutrient bag with 9-9-39 and by adding mono ammonium phosphate ( MAP) with 12-61-0 , will I get an NPK 21-70-39 ? and if I divide the ratio of the MAP by 2 , will I get a 15-39.5-39? And what's about the Epsom salt that has 0 NPK and the Calcium Nitrate that has NPK of 15.5-0-0 which boost more the Nitrogen to finally give me a solution of NPK 30.5-39.5-39 . Will this be a good mixture? Thanks in advance for a reply 😊

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

"if I have nutrient bag with 9-9-39 and by adding mono ammonium phosphate ( MAP) with 12-61-0 , will I get an NPK 21-70-39 ?" - NO. Assuming you mix 50/50, you would get a 10.5-35-19.5. If you then mix this with a 0-0-0, in a 50/50 ratio, you get 5-17.5-10. The NPK numbers are % numbers - need to do the math using percents.

[@josethunder6016]

@@Gardenfundamentals1 Thanks for the reply , I was assuming about a 100% , but your answer is about 50/50 then it's normal that 100/100 will give then 2170/39 . By the time ( one month ) I have been making plenty of experience using EC and PH meter for some calculations based on the mixture I stated above , then using more or less some different mixtures to get a good balance for beginning with lettuce and it works pretty fine. Thanks again for your reply , have a nice day 😃

[@Angie-ci1lp]

I totally agree way too much foolishness out there. Research! Research! Then take with a grain of salt

[@das250250]

Is how often required fertilization a fourth factor ?

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

how often you fertilize is important.

[@dmitrimikrioukov5935]

Succulents and most conifers need much less nitrates. In fact, they can get sick and die from the imbalance.

[@ausfoodgarden]

Can someone explain why the Nitrogen is still 10% when I'm assuming most fertilizers would be Ammonia-based, such as Ammonium Nitrate, Urea etc. Wouldn't the actual N be a lower percentage same as the others?

[@Carlo_B]

So if for example I buy a bag of 20 kg of NPK 10 - 5 - 8 fertilizer, I have 2 kg of nitrogen, 2 Kg of phosphorum and 6,4 kg of potassium, is it right? But 2kg +2kg + 6,4kg is a total of 10,4 kg, but the other 9,6 kg inside the bag what are they made of?

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

No. The fertilizer is 23% of the bag (10+5+8), which is 4.6 kg. The rest is filler - it used to be sand. 20 kg of NPK 10 - 5 - 8 fertilizer is 2 kg nitrogen, 0.8 Kg P and 1.5Kg K www.gardenmyths.com/fertilizer-npk-ratios-what-do-they-really-mean/

[@Carlo_B]

@@Gardenfundamentals1 I'm sorry, but I still don't understand. 2kg + 0.8Kg + 1.5kg = 4,3Kg and not 4,6kg And, how did you get the P value and the K value? In your article you wrote: "Let’s say have a 25Kg bag of rock phosphate with an NPK value of 0-32-0. To figure out how much phosphorus you have in the bag, multiply 32 x 0.436, to get the % P = 14%. Since you have a 25 Kg bag it contains 3.5 Kg P (25 x 14%)." It seems to me that you get the P value calculating it on the whole bag, and not on the 32% of the 25kg bag, that it would mean 8kg of fertilizer. Isn't it?

[@waltermcphee3787]

N is just nitrogen. Wrong nitrogen is a gas in fertilizer it will be something like NH3, ammonia,maybe urea,some chemicals high in nitrogen.

[@David-gj3jm]

I thought NPK was a radio station

[@drbrief3699]

Bud Light is 5% alc

[@jeil5676]

Thats canadian bud light

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

But 5% made the math more complicated ;)

[@charlesdavaro8554]

Now I am really confused 😂

[@jenn9579]

Now I'm more confused on how to calculate how much fertilizer to use.. Ill just use the beer for fertilizer.

[@northernpike56]

You cant over feriiize as long as you follow recommended manufactures recommendations according to you?

[@shawnsg]

Not what he said or implied.

[@northernpike56]

@@shawnsg yep he did on a recent previous video.

[@ben-fe3zy]

I'd post the comment under the relevant video, then

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

I never said that in any video. But it is mostly true, provided you know what nutrients are already in the soil when you start.

[@northernpike56]

@@Gardenfundamentals1 Yes you did in the video "when to fertilize seedlings"

[@redhatt69]

Bud Light will turn your lawn gay. 🤣

[@Floridafilipinofruitforest]

How about corona?

[@user-wj9rk8ym4x]

Hahahaahahaaha

[@Juan-getithowyouleave]

What kind do I need for a flowering mango 🥭 tree

[@tvbox6955]

What is the secret to growing oregano? I have tried 3 varieties grown in pots of potting mix and none smelled or tasted like oregano. My theory is that potting mix does not have the minerals needed to make good oregano. What do you think?

[@incanada83]

tvbox 69, not trying to sound like a smart ass but to make it short, true oregano grows only in Mediterranean regions . The one you buy in North America is a variety of marjoram. If you can provide appropriate climate, perhaps you might grow the real oregano :-)

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

did you fertilize with a fert that contains micro nutrients? If you did, it is not the fertilizer.

[@tvbox6955]

@@Gardenfundamentals1 No, I just used basic fertilizer.

[@OldTimerGarden]

Too complicated for me. I'll just continue to lightly fertilize twice per year in the garden and fertilize potted plants once per week.

[@Hutzjohn]

MAN-O-MAN you really messed this video up ----- anyone following real science knows if you fertilize on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday you use 1 tablespoon per gallon ----- BUT if you fertilize onTuesday, Thursday, or Saturday you use 2 tablespoons per gallon Except if its the third thursday of the month you use 3 tablespoons per gallon! ----------> GEEZ

[@Jamescityboygardening]

5-10-5

[@jeil5676]

10-4

[@danielempson9402]

The stuff you preach, I don't see nature. Mixing up Chemicals to make 20 20 20 fertilizers

[@in.der.welt.sein.]

I don't see "nature" making garden beds, hot compost piles, soil blocks, clothes, or cooking food. "Nature" isn't a sentient subject that does anything.

[@rooster3019]

" Ah, beer! The cause and solution of all of today's problems." Homer Simpson

[@oscaruvalle7022]

I wish I could call you and pick your brain

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

I am my Facebook Group every day. www.gardenfundamentals.com/facebook-group/

[@pinesparrow]

Synthetic fertilizer feeds the plant organic fertilizer feeds the soil.

[@Gardenfundamentals1]

Neither one feeds the plants or the soil. They simply add nutrients and other things like carbon to the soil.