Breaking Down Thai Fertilizer Codes

[jcw]

I see 16-16-16

and 0-0-16

or 16-0-0

What is each one?

Thanks in advance, please do not say 16 of something !!! Just trying to pick your brains.

[Bpraim1]

you have 3 base numbers, others are trance nutrients

N = Nitrogen and the percentage in the bag

P = Phosphorus again percentage in the bag

K = Potash again percentage in the bag

N = green leaves , dense foliage

P = strong stalk and root,promotes flower seeds.....

K = keeps the plant strong, resistant to disease,

Hope that helps you

[David Peters]

!6:16:16 means that amount of N (Nitrogen); P (phosphorus) and K (Potassium) in the fertiliser. For nitrogen N ii is clear at 16%. But for P not so clear because it is P₂0₅ and therefore less than 16% for the P and with K it is K₂Owhich is also less than 16% for the K.

By percentages I mean the percentage amount in the fertiliser mix. Get it?

Where the label says 0:0:16 it means no nitrogen or phosphorus - only potassium. Where the label says 16:0:0 it means only nitrogen. Urea only has N 46:0:0.

Also be careful in choosing which fertiliser to buy. Top One is the best brand followed by Rabbit. Other fertilisers are not of the same quality even if they are cheaper. Pay more to get better benefits. Many of these fertilisers also have added sulphur (S) and maybe Mg (Magnesium).which are beneficial to many crops.

[Khonwan]

You possibly know that the main plant nutrients are NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium – if you recall your periodic table from school, these are labelled as NPK, not NPP since they need to be differentiated).

The first pair of numbers is the percentage of N; the second pair is the % of P; the third pair is the % of K (potassium). We could complicate things by saying that the second and third pair actually show the percentages of phosphorus salt (P₂O₅) and potassium salt (K₂O) but it is “normally” sufficient in common usage to refer to them simply as P and K.

A fully comprehensive explanation can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPK_rating

Rgds

Khonwan

PS Just noticed you have 2 replies already.

[jcw]

Wow, thanks for the great information chaps.

[xen]

All good info above and is what i would have said too .

[WatersEdge]

Some time ago there was a thread on Fertilizers on this forum,

initiated from a member who wanted to know prices in different regions of Thailand

on which I posted an Excel spreadsheet to calculate this and that,

comparing component costs from bag prices of the common NPK formulas.

The responses above are accurate...go with it.

If you have further questions...I'm ready with the answers,

even though nowadays I'm far far away in the oil field at Williston, North Dakota.

[loong]

I see some fertiliser bags have a list of secondary/micro nutrients printed on them, but with no indication at all of the amount.

Is there some sort of industry standard for the amount? It could be 0.0000000000000001 % for all the packaging tells you.

[somo]

Hi Loong.

You should also know that cassava uses up very little of the P in the soil. Mostly it needs N and K added. With that in mind I buy urea 0-0-46 and 0-0-60 and mix them half and half giving me 23-0-30 usually at a cheaper price than buying a less concentrated fertilizer. Even better if you can find it is chicken manure with some K only added.