Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

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osuturfman
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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by osuturfman » January 28th, 2019, 10:01 pm

So here's a label from a Turf Care Supply "hybrid" fertilizer.

https://www.turfcaresupply.com/upload/d ... 900994.pdf

As you can see, the label is vague in listing the available N however, the derivatives show that Biosolids comprise the highest amount of any raw material. So what can you do in this case? If you're buying a product from any reputable manufacturer they should also have a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) listing out all chemicals (see derivatives) in the fertilizer. See below for Exhibit B - the SDS for Turf Care Supply 25-0-2:

https://www.turfcaresupply.com/upload/d ... 900994.pdf

So now we get a clearer picture whereby 42.9% of the product is derived from biosolids.

As I said, this method should work with reputable manufacturers as it's the law to furnish a label and an SDS with each formulation.

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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by Green » January 28th, 2019, 10:26 pm

andy10917 wrote:
January 27th, 2019, 8:49 am
Green, do you have specific questions about "hybrid" products, or should I start a general discussion of them?
Hi Andy. Sorry, I wasn't on for a couple of days. But yes, I have several. One of the ones that gave me a lot of difficulty was Screamin' Green (yes, "Green", lol...) 16-2-3. I've been using it for about 5 years for the September app, and the biosolids are not itemized. I like it because it has biosolids, chicken manure, SOP, urea, AMS, coated urea, etc. all in one.

Same with Lesco 28-0-3 (they have about 5 versions...I'm talking about the one with Biosolids).

I have gotten so frustrated with the lack of info on these lables. To the best of my knowledge, the biosolids in the SG are OceanGro. I remember pulling OceanGro specs and trying to account for all the other N sources to try to figure out by process of elimination how much N was from the biosolids. I even tried eyeballing it! I don't remember exactly, but I think between the rough calculations and the eyeballing, I figured out that there could not be more than 2/3 bag of OceanGro in it, max. But none of the percentages came out right when I tried doing the calculations...they were always off.

I had a similar issue with an Espoma product I saw in the local garden center. It claimed to have some chicken manure in it. But the P number was 0, which made no sense to me.

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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by Green » January 28th, 2019, 10:29 pm

andy10917 wrote:
January 28th, 2019, 11:27 am
It is pretty hard to figure out the proportions of nutrients coming from organic/natural ingredients from the label - when the laws were created for fertilizer labeling, the focus for the most part was inorganic fertilizers - so "hybrid" products can be difficult to discern.
I'm going to reread this whole post and see if I had considered all of those points or not when I originally went through the process. But now you know which products I was talking about...if that helps.

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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by Green » January 28th, 2019, 10:39 pm

andy10917 wrote:
January 28th, 2019, 11:27 am
The label listed Ammonium Sulfate as the primary source of Nitrogen, and Ammonium Sulfate is 21-0-0 NPK (and 24% Sulfur). Most organic/natural nutrients are much less-dense (lower in NPK concentrations), from Alfalfa down at 3% to Soybean Meal at maybe 7%. Blood Meal is an outlier at 13% Nitrogen. So, if Ammonium Sulfate is the primary Nitrogen source at 21%, any other ingredients would be diluting the percentages and certainly not raising them.

So, how was the hybrid fertilizer product listed at a HIGHER Nitrogen number than 21%? There had to be another even higher/denser Nitrogen fertilizer that was raising the Nitrogen content percentage - but it wasn't in the label info.

It turns out that there was an (probably accidental) omission on the label, and the product contains Urea (46-0-0). That would do it - Urea at 46% would raise the mixture ABOVE the 21% Nitrogen percentage overall. I believe that the vendor corrected the label.

So that's a way of thinking about the label info in a "hybrid" product - they generally will not be as high in NPK percentages, because the lower density of nutrients in organic/natural sources "dilutes" the higher nutrient density of synthetic/manufactured products.
Thanks. Btw, was the product in question relatively new, made by the same people who make AIR-8, and purported to use a different delivery method than the existing products? Because if so, I know which product you mean. I remember I was trying to get some info about it for a local pro in my area. So, I actually contacted one of the product creators to ask about some of the labeling specifics (and in return, got some answers...I'd have to go look it up in my notes for specifics, but I do remember the product was a 24-X-X, and yes, it has urea in it. That was one of the questions I asked).

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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by andy10917 » January 29th, 2019, 10:55 am

I don't remember the product company, but I remember thinking that it wasn't possible with the components they originally listed - it was missing the Urea, which would explain the Nitrogen boost over the 21% that Ammonium Sulfate would give it.


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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by Green » January 29th, 2019, 4:53 pm

Andy, real quick while I have a moment...
Here is the analysis of the fertilizer for which I am trying to figure out how much of is biosolid, that I mentioned above...

16-2-3, 1%Fe

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
PLANT NUTRIENTS DERIVED FROM
Poultry Manure, Biosolids, Ammonium Sulfate,
Sulfur Coated Urea, Urea, Sulfate of Potash
*7.25% slowly available urea nitrogen from sulfur coated urea.
**2.40% slowly available water insoluble nitrogen from
poultry manure and biosolids.
Total Nitrogen (N)........................... 16.0%
3.0% ammoniacal nitrogen
10.6% urea nitrogen*
2.4% water insoluble nitrogen**
Available Phosphate (P2O5).............. 2.0%
Soluble Potash (K2O)........................ 3.0%
Calcium (Ca) .................................... 1.0%
Sulfur (S) .......................................... 4.0%
4.0% Combined Sulfur (S)
Iron (Fe)............................................ 1.0%
NET WEIGHT
50 LB (22.7 kg)

I took the 1% Fe as a hint, because if all of that was from Biosolids, it would tell us or at least help us figure out how much was biosolids...or so I thought. Also, it's clear all of the 3% K comes from SOP. And the 2% P is lower than the 3%,and it all has to be from biosolids/manure, because there's no ammonium phosphate or other inorganic phosphate listed as being in the product.

And I forget where, but I found out a while back that they're likely using OceanGro as their biosolids.

Here is the OceanGro analysis for comparison:

Total Nitrogen (N) 5.00%
Ammoniacal Nitrogen 0.1%
Nitrate Nitrogen 0%
Urea Nitrogen 0%
Other Water Soluble Nitrogen 0.4%
Water Insoluble Nitrogen 4.50%
Available Phosphate (P2O5) 5.00%
Calcium (Ca) 2.50%
Total Iron (Fe) 2.50%
Organic Content 65%
Sizing Guide Number 150
Product Size Range 1.5mm to 2.5mm
Uniformity Index 60%

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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by Green » January 29th, 2019, 6:02 pm

osuturfman wrote:
January 28th, 2019, 10:01 pm
So what can you do in this case? If you're buying a product from any reputable manufacturer they should also have a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) listing out all chemicals (see derivatives) in the fertilizer. See below for Exhibit B - the SDS for Turf Care Supply 25-0-2:

https://www.turfcaresupply.com/upload/d ... 900994.pdf

So now we get a clearer picture whereby 42.9% of the product is derived from biosolids.

As I said, this method should work with reputable manufacturers as it's the law to furnish a label and an SDS with each formulation.
Osuturfman,

That's a very interesting idea. To be honest, the thought crossed my mind at one point to look at the SDS for clues, but I'm not sure if I ever followed through on it for any of those products I was wondering about. I will have to take a look. Thank you for the suggestion. It's a great one.

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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by Green » February 18th, 2019, 10:45 pm

Andy,

Here is another label that's throwing me off. Do you see why I'm a bit confused with their labeling? Note the position of the asterisk, and the percentage listed in the footnote under it. That magnitude (30%) is higher than the total N (16%). All I can figure, is they must mean 30% of 16%, in other words: 0.16 x 0.3. Who does that?!

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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by llO0DQLE » April 26th, 2019, 3:36 pm

1. Ureaformaldehyde, urea, ammonium sulfate methylene urea
2. None
3. SOP
4. 4.17 lbs of fertilizer
5. 0.5lb N/M
6. 6lbs of N in a 50lb bag of 12-0-24

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Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Post by llO0DQLE » April 26th, 2019, 3:46 pm

lol I know I'm late to the party but I'm just putting my answers above to the OP as a way to subscribe and bump this thread up. I'm currently reading and learning as a lot of the discussion is over my head. Lots to learn!

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