| Fertilizer Group | pounds per cup | pounds per 2 liter |
| Organic meals, blends and wood ash | 1 cup = 1/3 lb | 2 liter = 3 lbs |
| Ground Rock Dusts (Limestone, Rock Phosphate, Greensand) |
1 cup = 3/4 lb | 2 liters =6 lbs |
| Coarse & Medium Granulated Synthetic Blends (ex. 5-10-10 garden fertilizer) | 1 cup = 1/2 lb | 2 liters=4.5 lbs |
| Fine Granulated & Flaked Synthetic Blends (ex many turf fertilizers) | 1 cup = 1/3 lb | 2 liters=3 lbs |
| Composts | 1 cup = 1/6 lb | 2 liters =1.5 lbs |
| Powdered Sulfur | 1 cup = 1/2 lb | 2 liters = 4.5 lb |
| Urea and other High Nitrogen Fertilizers | 1 cup = 1/3 lb | 2 liters = 3.5 lbs |
Common measurements
12 oz coffee can = 1 liter
cut off top of 2 liter soda bottle = 2 liters
cut off top of 1/2 gallon milk bottle = 1/2 gallon
Common household containers to use for measuring
1 lb = 16 ounce
4 quarts = 1 gallon
4 cups = 1 quart
1 pint= 2 cups
1 acre = 43,560 square feet
12 inches= 1 foot
How do I figure out how many square feet my garden or lawn is?
Length in feet X width in feet = square feet
5 feet x 20 feet = 100 square feet.
What if my garden is not square?
Estimate the length and the width. As this approach overestimates the square footage, apply a little less of the recommended amount of fertilizer so as not to over fertilize.
My garden is only 100 square feet and your recommendation is for 50 pounds per 1000 sq feet of limestone. How do I figure how much limestone to use?
100 is 1/10 th of 1000, so you will need 1/10 th the amount of limestone or 50 divided by 10 which equals 5 lbs of limestone.
How do I know how much 5 lbs of limestone is? (See above for lists of conversions)
1 cup of limestone weighs about ¾ lb (.75 lbs).
0 .75 lbs goes in to 5 about 6.6 times. 6.6 times 1 cup equals 6.6 cups
So 5 lbs of limestone would be a little over 6 ½ cups.
How much fertilizer should I use if the recommendation is for 20 pounds of 10-10-10 per 1000 sq feet and I have 100 sq feet?
100 is 1/10th of 1000 so…
1/10 of 20 lbs equals 2 lbs. So I need 2lbs of fertilizer per 100 sq feet.
1 cup of garden fertilizer weighs about ½ pound. So for 2 lbs you would need 4 cups of 10-10-10 fertilizer