Choosing a fertilizer supplier on price alone is how buyers end up with product that does not match its specification, documentation that will not clear customs, or a shipment that arrives after the application window has closed.
The questions below are ones we are happy to answer about ourselves, and we would encourage you to put them to every supplier you are considering — including us. What matters is less the specific answer than whether the answer is specific at all.
About the product
1. Can you send the full specification sheet for this grade?
What a good answer looks like: a document arrives promptly, covering guaranteed analysis, physical form, solubility, moisture and handling notes.
Warning sign: a marketing brochure instead, or a delay, or a question about why you need it. Specification sheets exist. A supplier who cannot produce one for a product they are quoting has a gap somewhere.
2. What is the figure that actually determines performance for this product?
For Fe-EDDHA it is the ortho-ortho percentage. For amino acid products it is free and L-form content. For humic products it is the humic-to-fulvic split and whether figures are dry-basis. For soluble NPK it is insoluble matter.
What a good answer looks like: the supplier names the figure without being prompted and explains why it matters.
Warning sign: being redirected to the headline percentage. This is the most common way buyers overpay.
3. Will you provide a certificate of analysis for the batch supplied?
What a good answer looks like: a clear yes or a clear explanation of what can be provided and when.
Warning sign: vagueness. Batch documentation is normal commercial practice.
4. What tolerance applies, and what happens if delivered material is outside it?
What a good answer looks like: a stated tolerance and a described process for handling a discrepancy.
Warning sign: “that will not happen”. It occasionally does, and you want to know the process before it matters.
About suitability
5. Given my water analysis and crop, is this the right product?
This is the most revealing question on the list. Send your water analysis and crop and see what comes back.
What a good answer looks like: a response engaging with the actual numbers, and a willingness to say that a cheaper product would do the job, or that a different product entirely is the better fit.
Warning sign: a supplier who says yes to everything. If your pH is 5.8 and they recommend Fe-EDDHA, they are either not reading or not telling you. The chelate comparison explains why that answer would be wrong.
6. What are the limitations of this product?
What a good answer looks like: a straight answer. Every product has conditions where it underperforms. Fe-EDTA fails above pH 6.5. SOP dissolves slowly. Calcium nitrate cakes if it gets damp. Biostimulants respond inconsistently on good soils.
Warning sign: “there are none”.
7. What should I not mix this with?
What a good answer looks like: the supplier knows that concentrated calcium must not meet concentrated phosphate or sulphate, and that humic products precipitate in acidic concentrate. See our article on precipitation.
Warning sign: not knowing. Compatibility is basic product knowledge.
About supply and logistics
8. What packaging can you supply, and can you confirm it before I order?
What a good answer looks like: packaging discussed as part of the quotation, with questions about your handling equipment and destination.
Warning sign: packaging treated as an afterthought. It is not a detail.
9. What is the realistic lead time, and what could delay it?
What a good answer looks like: a timeline broken into stages, with the uncertain parts identified.
Warning sign: a single confident number with no reasoning behind it.
10. What documentation do you provide for export, and what will I need to arrange?
What a good answer looks like: a clear division of responsibility, and awareness that requirements differ by destination. See the import requirements checklist.
Warning sign: “your broker will handle it” as a complete answer. Partly true, but the supplier still has to provide specific documents.
11. Which incoterms can you quote, and what does each include?
What a good answer looks like: comfort with EXW, FOB and CIF, and a clear explanation of where risk and cost transfer under each.
Warning sign: only one option offered with no explanation.
About the relationship
12. Can I start with a smaller order?
What a good answer looks like: yes, with an explanation of how the price differs at lower volume.
Warning sign: pressure to commit to a full container immediately on a first transaction.
Things worth checking beyond the questions
Response quality, not just speed
A supplier who answers within an hour but does not address what you asked is less useful than one who takes a day and answers properly. Notice which kind you are dealing with — it predicts how problems will be handled later.
Whether they say no
A supplier who has never declined a request is telling you they will supply whatever generates an order, whether or not it suits your situation. The ability to say “that is not the right product for you” is a good sign, not a lost sale.
Claims you cannot verify
Be cautious with certifications, awards, statistics and customer names that cannot be checked. If a supplier publishes a figure — tonnage, yield improvement, years in business — it should be verifiable. Where we do not have something documented, we say nothing rather than filling the space. See our page on specifications and quality documentation.
Technical depth of their published material
Read what a supplier writes about their products. Does it explain the chemistry, or does it recite adjectives? A company that understands what it sells tends to show that in how it describes it.
A scoring approach
If you are running a formal comparison, score each supplier out of 3 on:
- Specification transparency
- Technical competence in their answers
- Willingness to identify limitations
- Logistics and documentation clarity
- Landed cost per unit of active nutrient
- Flexibility on a first order
Weight cost as one factor among six rather than as the deciding one. The cheapest quotation that fails on specification transparency is rarely the cheapest outcome.
Ask us these questions
We would rather answer all twelve before you order than have you discover a mismatch afterwards. Send your water analysis, your crop and the product you are considering, and we will give you specific answers — including where a different supplier or a cheaper product would serve you better.
Message us on WhatsApp, use the contact form, or start by looking at what we supply.
Need this product, or advice on which grade fits?
Send us the crop, your water analysis and the quantity you need. We will reply with the options that actually apply to your situation.
