Miracle Grow and the Organics

[joangabriel]

Hi. I live in Minnesota and wanted to get a jump on the growing season. I started a small vegetable garden growing in my garage. I started it from seeds and am very happy with the results. I should add that I use a diluted mix of Miracle Grow. I'm concerned about ingesting chemicals, so decided to switch to organic fertilizers (nothing personal, just for me, the butterflies, bees, that darn rabbit that always gets to the leafy greens and the soil). Okay, so I am getting ready to transplant the plants to the backyard and switch them to organic ferts as needed.

I called the place I purchased the organic ferts and asked for recommendations. The young woman told me that it was not recommended to switch at this time. That Miracle Grow prevents the use of other ferts and will kill the plant if another fert is used. Although she seemed sincere, I question this. So, to your knowledge, does this make sense? What should I do? I want to go organic.

[William Rose]

Hockey pucks. Transplant and give the transplants a dose of fish emulsion. I have used Miracle grow in the past and I haven't seen any interaction with the plants. My main beef with Miracle Grow is that it doesn't help build the flora and fauna that you want in your soil and, of course, I worry about what gets into it (and eventually me) during the production process. Go natural, it has a 7,000 year record of satisfaction.

- Bill Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

[Vern]

I'll second Bill's recommendation. That sales person has no clue what she's talking about. Good organic fertilizers can be used any time of the year. I suggest visiting

There is a wealth of free information on Howard's site, and you can call in toll free on Sunday mornings and talk with him live on the radio program. I'm a member of the "ground crew" and that is my only affiliation with him, but I've been a follower of his for almost 20 years. It's worth your time to check it out.

[William Rose]

When it come to ingesting chemicals, you are preaching to the choir. For those who don't know about Body Burden let me suggest

where you can see what kind of toxics have ended up in your neighbors.

For those of you who use biocides, you may want to mask up and pull on those latex gloves.

- Bill Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

[joangabriel]

suggest

you can see what kind of

Thanks Bill and Vern. Much appreciated. I will transplant with no worries.

[Jon Shemitz]

There may be something in what she says. When you use something like Miracle Grow, you might as well be doing hydroponics. Miracle Grow is a sort of pre-digested plant food, like living on an IV drip. I have read that Miracle Grow tends to kill soil because it is nothing but microbe shit (the plant's food) with nothing for the microbes to live on. I don't know how true this is, but it does make sense.

Otoh, you're about to put seed starts, with their modest soil volume, into a much larger volume of soil. Unless that soil has just come out from under a decades-long assault by lawn chemicals (or black plastic) it's almost certainly alive. Even if your seed starts are addicted to Miracle Grow, they should quickly send roots into the living soil and start feeding there.

So, your transplants *may* have a bit more shock than usual, but I do think it should be OK to go organic now.

[William Rose]

Ignore the unfounded ruminations of Jon Shemitz. Plants don't care where their NO3- come from as long as they get it and it isn't too concentrated. Using chemical fertilizers is like hydroponics, where the dirt is the inert medium but, you can't recycle the nutrient solution. In the midwest (among other places), it ends up in the aquifers where NO3- makes babies sick when tap water is boiled and added to powdered formula.

Give your transplants some nice organic fish emulsion. Amend your soil, if you can, and mulch your plants afterwards. Amend the soil more in late Fall or put in a cover crop.

Enjoy your day of making the world a better place.

- Bill

Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

[Salmon Egg]

If only people in this country would devote as much time to understanding basic physics, chemistry, and biology as they devote to American Idol, Britney Spears, and various survivors, they would not eat willingly all this crap that is handed out. The benefits of scientific thinking would extend beyond gardening to such things as avoiding predatory lending and get rich quick schemes.

Plants eat inorganic food. I grow hydroponicly. Plants thrive in this inorganic (non-carbon containing except for some EDTA) chemical environment. Sure, if you want to grow in soil, you need organic material and appropriate microflora to keep the soil in good shape.

Miracle-Gro is similar to many hydroponic formulations but, IIRC, it goes a bit overboard on nitrogen. I see no reason why you cannot switch to fertilizer with less fertilizer. If plants need bacteria to live, there are plenty to go around with9ut specifically adding them. When was the last time you made a large compost pile with proper brown and green ingredients that did not heat up even though no bacteria were added.

Bill

-- Fermez le Bush--about two years to go.

[Salmon Egg]

If you do hydroponic growing, use the spent nutrient on your soil plants. There still is plenty of good plant nutrition in there.

Bill

-- Fermez le Bush--about two years to go.

[jellybean stonerfish]

Am I the only one who only uses mulch? My soil was dead. I don't throw away any plant matter (except some weeds with seeds), I just put it in a pile. When I plant, I take this mulch and mix it with my soil. Then plant, and add a layer of mulch on top of soil. Now after a couple of years, my soil is alive and well.

Works for me like a magic charm.

stonerfish

[Bill Rose]

Stoner, You must not read this group much or your short-term memory is failing. Many posters to rec.gardens.edible have extolled the use of mulch in all of it's manifestations be it oak leaves, sawdust, lawn clippings, kitchen scraps or, alfalfa, to name a few.

Yes, it is very efficacious.

You may also want to check rec.gardens for occasional comments on mulching.

- Bill Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)