Three greenhouse experiments were conducted to compare the response of five tobacco (Nicotiana tabacumL.) cultivars to different levels of NaH2PO4and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) in nutrient media by measuring tissue content of selected nutrient elements (P, Na, K, Ca and Mg). Plants were grown in sand cultures fertilized with nutrient solutions in two experiments and a soil‐sand mix fertilized with solid materials in a third experiment. Plant P and Na content increased as the concentrations of these elements increased in nutrient solution. Plant K content was not generally affected by treatments. Magnesium was reduced in flue‐cured and cigar‐filler tobaccos but was not changed in cigar‐wrapper and Turkish types by increasing amounts of NaH2PO4. All of the cultivars responded similarly to NaH2PO4with respect to plant Ca. High levels of P in the nutrient media were consistently related to low levels of Ca in plant tissue.