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How do I know which fertlizer to use?

15 years ago

I'm a lawn newbie and I may, or may not have made a mistake. I fertilized my lawn yesterday with an organic fertilizer. I asked someone at Home Depot which fertilizer I should buy, pointing out the numbers on the bag. She told me "higher numbers are better". A little reluctant to believe that I just went with 11, 2, 2. Now that I understand what those numbers actually mean, I'm not sure if I bought the right fertilizer. How can I tell which fertilizer I need to throw on my lawn?

This is the first time I've had to take care of a lawn, so please excuse the extreme newbism :)

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Comments (2)

bpgreen
15 years ago
The only way to know for sure what your lawn needs is to have a soil test done. The three numbers on fertilizer bags are the percentages of nitrogen phosphorous and potassium (sometimes called potash) or NPK.

Depending on your soil, you may not need the P or K. N doesn't stay around, so you probably do need that. Around here, the soil is naturally fairly high in P and K, so it's common go see 21-0-0 or 46-0-0 fertilizer used.
grayentropy
15 years ago
Did you buy the scotts organic choice fertilizer? With organics you usually don't worry about NPK. I change fertilizers throughout the season starting with corn in spring, moving to alfalfa (bunny food) in summer and soybean meal, milorganite, compost, other organic choices in fall. (I increase the protein/N percent from spring through fall).

If you want to go organic it is easy but does take time. The first year apply these materials monthly at 15-20 lbs/1000 ft^2. Over time you can decrease frequency and quantity as the soil builds (buffers) over time. I'm in my third year and still spread 10 lbs/1000 ft^2 monthly.
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