High nitrogen content is found in most lawn fertilizers because of the three nutrients supplied by fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium), which are what grass needs the most. Nitrogen is essential to the health and green color of grass blades, and it is rapidly evaporating from the soil. Because nitrogen moves through the soil so quickly, a soil test’s readings are only a snapshot in time. By the time seeds or plants are planted, nitrogen levels may have significantly shifted. Soil testing for phosphorus and potassium can and should be done, even though testing for nitrogen (N) cannot be relied upon. If the soil is deficient in either of these elements, a fertilizer mix containing those elements should be used.
Since nitrogen is the most important element in fertilizer, the N-P-K ratio displayed on a fertilizer bag tells you the percentage of each element in the fertilizer. This percentage should be noted when determining the amount of fertilizer you need per acre of grass. The application rate, which is typically displayed on the bag in pounds/1,000 square feet, is also important to know. Calculate the number of pounds and bags of fertilizer needed to fertilize an acre-sized lawn using the conversion 1 acre = 43,560 square feet.
Finding out how many people apply
Fertilizer application rates are determined by a number of factors, including:
- Your fertilization schedule.
- Your lawn’s type of grass.
- It doesn’t matter whether or not you leave the grass clippings on the lawn, which are a source of nitrogen.
- Grass health in general.
If you overdo it with the nitrogen, your lawn will grow faster and require more frequent mowing. As long as you don’t end up with an overgrown field in a matter of weeks, you don’t want to overdo it with fertilizer. Rhizoctonia species fungal pathogens, for example, can thrive in environments with high levels of nitrogen.
One pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn is a good general rule of thumb. It’s a good idea to cut the lawn fertilizer manufacturer’s recommended rate in half if you decide to follow their advice on the label. The grass may not respond, but you can always add more.
Making an Accurate Assessment of the Level of Nitrogen
It’s easy to tell how much of each element is in the mixture by looking at the N-P-K ratio on the bag, which for Pennington Ultragreen is 30-0-4. For a 1,000-square-foot lawn, you’ll need 3.33 pounds of this product to apply 1 pound of nitrogen. This number is obtained by dividing the container’s percentage by 100 percent. A 5-0-2 fertilizer like Dr. Earth Nitrogen Fertilizer would require 100/5 = 20 pounds to provide 1 pound of nitrogen, by the same token.
To figure out how many bags you’ll need, weigh the product and divide the weight by the number of pounds of nitrogen it contains. Considering that one bag of Dr. Earth weighs 18 pounds, that’s about 0.9 pounds of nitrogen. Your pound of nitrogen actually requires 1.1 bags. When compared to Pennington UltraGreen, which has a higher nitrogen content but is lighter in weight (12.5 lbs), you can find that one bag contains almost 4 lbs of nitrogen, so you only need 1/4 bag to get one pound.
The Lawn Fertilizer for an Acre
Your lawn covers an acre, so all the calculations so far have been based on 1,000 square feet. It is possible to determine that an acre is composed of 43.56 parcels, each of which is 1,000 square feet in area, using the conversion 1 acre = 43,560 square feet. Calculate how many bags you’ll need for an acre by multiplying this number by the number of bags you’ll need to cover 1,000 square feet. (1.1 x 43.56) = 48 bags of Dr. Earth, and (0.2 x 43.56) = 11 bags of Pennington UltraGreen.
