Your question isn't stupid at all, but the information you received is. Let's reword it!

Most organic based fertilizers tend to have low concentrations of NPK. That is because the elements are bound up in what was once living organisms. So that part of the statement is more or less true.

There are PLENTY of chemical products, though, that are formulated with low NPK, as well. You can go into any store today and purchase hundreds of such products: 5-5-5, 10-10-10, 16-16-16, 14-0-14, 13-0-4, on and on and on and on.

Read the label for 'organic' labeling and you can't go wrong.

Hello,

"Organic" means it has carbon in it. That's it, nothing else. It doesn't even mean it is a natural product. Natural, on the other hand, means it was made from non chemical products and by-products.

Thanks Madison Ave.,
Ken

actually Ken, the word "Organic" on a label nowadays is regulated, and while in the science of chemistry 'organic' has to do w/ being a carbon based compound, "Organic" w/ reference to consumer goods means it isn't a synthetic [mostly petroleum-based] product, but has been made from animal, vegetable, or mineral components - petroleum is a "natural" product, as are many of the chem based fetilizers and pesticides

organic fertilizers depend on soil organisms to break them down to release nutrients in a mineral form; chemical fertilizers are already in the readily available mineral form that 'bypass' the soil organisms, not to mention outright killing them, but that doesn't mean the chem ferts are "unnatural" - Urea is a "natural" substance used for fertilizing, but any urea you might buy is invariably synthesized from "inorganic" materials

the only way to determine if a fertilizer is organic or synthetic is to read the label and see what it's made of, as Rhizo sez, the numbers simply indicate the NPK, and while organics are usually lower on all 3, they're not always, and chems can be low too depending on the formulation of the specific product

Bill

Its difficult to find organic fertilizers that are high in NPK. My soil test just came back saying that I needed 0-0-28 at a rate of 12.5lbs/1000 sq ft.

After some research I did find an Organic K through the internet but its not easy nor is it cheap. There was nothing available locally.

But its worth it :)

SulPoMag is considered by some as organic, and its NPK is 0-0-22. It is also know as KMag.

Glndak

The information was NOT incorrect - certified organic fertilizers are animal or plant by-products and by nature their nutrient content is quite low. The NPK ratio of a complete organic fertilizer will never add up to more than 20 but it is possible to find a synthetic or chemical fert with similar low numbers although there is likely to be a lot of filler/inert ingredients to make up the bulk. Rock powders or other mineral supplements which may be approved organic are considered soil amendments rather than fertilizers. Sometimes referred to as incomplete fertilizers.

"Chemical" or synthetic fertilzers are "man made" and the common nitrogen sources (ammonia, ammonium sulfate, urea) are by-products from the oil and natural gas industry.

On the other hand organic fertilizers are products which used to be "alive"... like as plants, animals or their waste products. My memberpage shows some of the organic "fertilzers" I use on our lawn and garden.

-Todd

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic

gardengal - if "it is possible to find a synthetic or chemical fert with similar low numbers" then the information that "anything with a total NPK value less than 20 is organic" is incorrect - and it is
also while it may be true that "mineral supplements which may be approved organic are considered soil amendments", those amendments are sometimes combined with other ingredients and sold as "complete" fertilizers, and still organic, w/ higher numbers

the answer to the question remains that the statement is, at best, misleading, and what's required is to pay attention to the ingredient list

Bill

The nutrient numbers of organic fertilizers are usually low because the nutrients are no readily available which is what is tested for, readily available nutrients. Synthetic fertilizer nutrients are very available, so available that many times they simply wash right through your soil. Organic fertilizers often have the same amounts of nutrients, and often more, but because those nutrients are not readily available they cannot be listed on the package, they need the activity of soil bacteria to make them useable to plants, just like those nutrients in synthetic fertilizers.

At low PH, below 5.5, ammonium nitrogen does not leach. It is only when microbes act on it at higher PH levels that it changes to nitrate nitrogen and begins to leach.
Many plants however cannot use ammonium nitrogen.