What Do the Numbers MEAN?! How to Read Fertilizer Labels

Every bottle or or bag of fertilizer you buy for your plants will likely have three numbers on the front. This is the NPK value, which denotes the levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer. Knowing these numbers is essential to giving your plants the right nutrients at the right time. For example you want more nitrogen during early stages of growth, and more phosphorus during the flowering stages. Different plant fertilizers will provide these essential nutrients when you need them, and more nutrient lines have a fertilizer product that will contain the desired NPK values for every stage.

In this video, Travis breaks down what the NPK values on your fertilizer bottle mean and how to read them to ensure you give your plants the right nutrient at the right time in the grow cycle.

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[StumpyTales]

What used to confuse me is I thought the numbers were a ratio, but I'd see products with for example "20-10-10" and wonder, why don't they just say "2-1-1". Turns out the numbers are actually not ratios, they're percentages of the total volume, which makes much more sense.