Fertilizer bags tell you the percentage, not how much to spread. Enter your area, how much nitrogen you’re targeting, and your fertilizer’s N-P-K grade, and this calculator gives you the exact pounds to apply. And remember — feeding your soil with compost is the long game that synthetic fertilizer can’t replace.
Fertilizer labels tell you the percentage — not how much to spread. Enter your area, how much nitrogen you want, and your fertilizer’s N-P-K grade to get the exact pounds to apply.
How it’s figured
Product needed = (target nitrogen × area ÷ 1,000) ÷ (N% ÷ 100). A common maintenance rate for vegetables is about 1 lb of actual nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft per feeding — but a soil test is the only way to know what your soil actually needs. Never exceed the label rate.