# How do you measure your fertilizer?



## Tex86

Good Morning,

On the 4th of July we had a massive block party. A few neighbors came up and were asking me questions about my lawn and how I keep it healthy. I told them the basics that I've learned on here, but I also asked if they had a soil test done. They told me no. They just go and buy Scott's products, guesses how much square feet they have, pour half the bag in the spreader and goes at it. I instantly felt a pain in my gut for the grass, and recommended a soil test. After some discussion they asked how I measure my fertilizer. I told them I measure it by cups until I get my required weight, and I pre-weigh them into baggies for future applications. They looked at me like I was crazy and one of them said I had issues. My wife laughed and replied "you have no idea, but this is why his grass looks the way it is." They asked me for my contact information, but after that I recommended they check out this site as I gave credit to all of you for helping me.

However, after they left I couldn't help but think that I maybe I could have offered them more suggestions on weighing their fertilizer as that is what I have done in the past, so I'm not sure what else works. So I wanted to come on here and see how everybody does it. Additionally, this may help those who are new to lawn care, and this forum, to give them some ideas on how they can go about giving their yard the proper care it needs, rather than searching the net endlessly like I did in the past.

Chime in when you can!


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## wardconnor

I use their method. Works great for me.


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## Tex86

wardconnor said:


> I use their method. Works great for me.


Hey Ward

Are you regarding to the cup method?


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## high leverage

Digital scales, properly calibrated spreader, square footage of turf, NPK numbers


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## J_nick

I'm a little less scientific about it. I'll do the math and know how many pounds I need to put down. Say I need 30# of a 40# bag then I'll just pinch the last 1/4 of the bag while I'm filling the spreader.

I don't have a way to measure fertilizer weight. I only have a gram scale for Celsius and one in the bathroom, opposite ends of the spectrum. Ones for weighing really light stuff and the other for fat asses :lol:


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## chrismar

I think the first (most important?) step is knowing the square footage of your lawn. Once you know that it's easy to figure out how much fert to put down. Google Maps is great for this.

I created this for my yard, which I keep handy for reference when I'm spraying or fertilizing:










Each shaded area is 4,000 SF, so I know, at a quick glance that my front yard is just about 10,000 SF and the back is about 12,000 SF.

As far as actual weighing, I use a large bowl and a kitchen scale. Gets the job done for me.


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## wardconnor

Tex86 said:


> wardconnor said:
> 
> 
> 
> I use their method. Works great for me.
> 
> 
> 
> Hey Ward
> 
> Are you regarding to the cup method?
Click to expand...

No. I am super lazy that way and put it down like your friends do. I know my sq footage like you have above with your google image with your block, which is awesome by the way. So I know about my sections and how large they are. Knowing this I look at the bag and see what it covers. I try to put down at about bag rate knowing my footage. I have 20k so I put down a lot of fert at times. I then throw it into the hopper and go for it. I look at the fert as its coming out of the spreader and say...."that looks about right." It is very un scientific but it works for me. If it does not look right I adjust. I like to go light as it is coming out of the hopper and then go over it a second time at a 90 degree angle. I just keep walking until the hopper is empty being that its 20k.

A lot of times I just put it down not looking at bag rate or anything. I did burn my lawn one time with ironite doing so. I would never do this on a newly seeded lawn.


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## Ware

For my ~7k ft2 lawn, I prefer to buy lower Nitrogen content products so I don't have to deal with applying anything less than a full bag. For example, I often drop two 36lb bags of Milorganite (5-x-x) to get about 0.5 lb of N per thousand - or three bags if I wanted 0.75 lb. My first app this year was a 50lb bag of 12-6-6 w/micronutrients - that full bag gave me about 0.85 lb of N per thousand. I don't pay much attention to _exactly_ what the N application rate is - just that it falls somewhere within my desired range. If I apply something on the lighter or heavier end of that range, I just adjust the timing of my next app accordingly. There's nothing wrong with being as OCD as you want to be, but for me it's much easier than dividing, weighing and storing partial bags of product. :thumbup:


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## wardconnor

Ware said:


> There's nothing wrong with being as OCD as you want to be,........:thumbup:


This is soooo true. I am not that OCD about fert but very OCD in many other ways with yard.


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## Ware

wardconnor said:


> Ware said:
> 
> 
> 
> There's nothing wrong with being as OCD as you want to be,........:thumbup:
> 
> 
> 
> This is soooo true. I am not that OCD about fert but very OCD in many other ways with yard.
Click to expand...

+1 :thumbup:


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## dfw_pilot

Remember too, that coverages listed on a fertilizer bag is worthless. The bag doesn't know if you want to put down a 1/2 lb of N per 1,000 or 2 lbs per 1,000, which would vary the bag rate coverage by a large margin. Decide how much you want to put down per 1,000, then do the math based on how much N is in the bag.

Also, I've found, that for my spreader, a certain setting works best for what I put down: Lesco 39-0-0. I always add _more_ fert than I need to the hopper and then just use the proper setting. The reason, is that when the hopper gets down the last few ounces of product, it doesn't flow very well or evenly. Then it's just easy to pour the amount that remains in the hopper back into the dfw_buckets I keep in the garage.


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## Tex86

Great info guys. Thanks!


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## Virginiagal

I hold an empty bucket and weigh myself holding it on my scales. I then put product in the bucket and weigh myself holding the bucket. Add or take away product until the required weight is reached.


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## Crimson2v

I measures my yard and have it in my notebook. I have it broken down into sections and how many square feet per section. I just bought a kitchen sale and measure the amount of fert to put in my spreader. I use an old 2lb yogurt container to fill the spreader. Depending on the fertilizer I'm using I can actually get 2lbs of fert in the container which makes it easier.


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## Mightyquinn

I too use a kitchen scale and just measure out the amount of fertilizer I need for the front and the backyard. I just turn it on, put the bucket on it, TARE it out and then add the correct amount of fertilizer to the bucket and then transfer the bucket to the spreader.


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## CH-Johnson

I use a postage scale and measure out for sections of my lawn. I've broken it down to 3 sections of 4K square feet. I put a bucket on the scale and tare it, then start adding as much as I need for each section, depending on the N.

This is the scale I use:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W7IOV4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_mLWyzb6H93FBK


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## Tex86

It's cool to see how many ways there are to skin a cat.

Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming if you haven't chimed in.


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## ArtOfWar626

Im glad I came across this post. I was wondering myself... After reading some of the comments I am going to purchase a scale. Then use the scale in combination with this website to know how much to measure out.

http://agebb.missouri.edu/fertcalc/


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## BubbaGrumpus

Luggage scale and a 5 gallon bucket?

Honestly though I just drop bag rate and guesstimate amount and spreader settings.


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## Mightyquinn

I have now started pre measuring my Urea into 1 lb ziploc bags to make mixing up my applications a faster and easier process. I store the bags in a Ziploc container that has a seal. I have also pre-measured FeATURE into my used wetting agent pellet containers as they seem to hold 8oz perfectly which is perfect for my application rates. I do spray all my fertilizer applications except for Potassium Sulfate(the kind I bought is not water soluble) which allows me to really control what and how much I am putting down.


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## Rucraz2

With my large yard, spreading granular, I usually just go by the closest number. My 50# bags cover roughly 16k. So I go just a hair over 1lb with my 43k yard. Soil amendments I use my kitchen scale. I buy in bulk. I can get very large heavy duty 4gal ziplock bags from work. I store all my solubles in them.


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## mytmouse

For my granular, I use a fishing scale I won at a fishing tournament and a 5 gallon bucket then I weigh what I need for 2k and then I spread over the area I know is 2k. See how much I have left in the hopper and make a small adjustment. Then I measure out what I need for the other 4k and throw it down. I really need to start writing down my spreader settings, but I'm hard headed like that. LOL


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## Gibby

Scale and https://www.greenkeeperapp.com/home.php


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## Methodical

Once I've calculated the spreader with the product, it doesn't matter the square footage of the lawn, other than needing to know size of the lawn to get the right amount of product. For example, I know setting 14 on my spreader gives me the required lbs on the ground for 46-0-0, so no matter if I am doing my 7k lawn, my parents 12k lawn or the lawn down the street, setting 14 will give the proper application. Also, it doesn't matter how much product I put in the spreader, because setting 14 is going to give me what I need. For example, if I put 15lbs in the spreader, but the lawn only requires 12lbs, it doesn't matter as I will have 3lbs let over. For me, it's just too time consuming to sit and measure the exact weight of fertilizer to apply, as I said, once calibrated it doesn't matter. Calibrate your spreader with the product you use and free yourself from all of that misery.

For those that use Scotts and have a Scotts spreader, their suggested setting should be ok.


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## MJLawn

Try an empty 28oz UTZ Pretzel container--the large clear plastic jug. Pic attached. It weighs 5oz (with lid) and full to brim holds exactly 10lbs of Lesco fert. (10lbs, 5oz total weight)

I filled, ran spreader over 10'x100' section of lawn, poured remaining fert into UTZ jug, estimated amount used, and adjusted spreader accordingly. You could re-weigh, but that seemed like over kill.

Hope this helps.


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