complete fertilizer

In landscape architecture, a fertilizer that contains all the nutrients that plants use in quantity, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

A fertilizer that supplies nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, the three elements required in greatest quantities by plants. Note that a “complete” fertilizer does not necessarily supply the secondary and trace elements that are also required for healthy plant growth. See also macronutrients; micronutrients; NPK.