Plant Food Help

[Babina's Mommy]

I need help...and I know if I did some research I could get some answers but my computer is crazy slow and I have zero time so I wanted to go directly to the people in the know here at MDC! But I kind of have a black thumb. Hubby does most of the gardening. We have vegetable seedlings in our basement growing under a light. He said we had to feed the plants and wanted to buy Miracle-Gro. I'm not sure, but is that stuff safe and healthy? For us? I said I wanted to look into a more natural way to fertilize and he said maybe later, but for right now he needs to feed the plants and fast so he was going to use the Miracle-Gro. He said he wants to look into compost tea for later...but for now he needs the MG. I asked, couldn't we use our bunny's manure for food? He said not now that the seeds are already growing and quite big. Can anyone shed some light on this? What do you use for fertilizer or food if MG is not good? Thank You!

[JamieCatheryn]

Something you can buy right away, packaged neatly, is organic fertilizers. Bone meal, blood meal, feather meal, and fish emulsion are some of the kinds available, just find the organic gardening section at your local big-box garden center like home depot.

Conventional plant food has only the N-P-K in somewhat harsh forms, and no micronutrients. It depletes the soil in the long term, messes up the good microbes in the soil, and makes for less nutritious veggies.

You can also pick up organic disease and bug control sprays while you're there.

ETA: Add that rabbit poop on the soil anytime also as top-dressing, it's great too.

[Babina's Mommy]

Thank you for this, I let hubby read it...

[BellinghamCrunchie]

If your hubby is willing to do an experiment, tell him to direct sow seeds from the same package as he has growing in the basement into the soil outdoors when he transplants the seedlings, one row over in the same bed with nothing but a dressing of compost (no MG). The basement seedlings have a five-week or so head start, right? Logic will tell you they will outgrow the directly-sown seeds.

Experiments are fun

[lunarlady]

I actually saw organic MG at the market the other day, so maybe that would be a good compromise for you two? I didn't read the ingredients, but it's a thought.