What the Numbers on Fertilizer Mean

Even after gardening and running a nursery for years, I sometimes have to put on my thinking cap to remember what those numbers stand for on fertilizer. I found this nifty little piece of info and thought it might be helpful for others.

All fertilizer labels have three bold numbers. The first number is the amount of nitrogen (N), the second number is the amount of phosphate (P₂O₅) and the third number is the amount of potash (K₂O). These three numbers represent the primary nutrients (nitrogen(N) - phosphorus(P) - potassium(K)).

N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services