is "miracle grow" good or bad?

[jackson'smama]

i'm trying to garden organically in terms of no pesticide use.
but when it comes to fertilizer, i'm having questions. at the time, i don't have a lot of time to be mixing a variety of organic materials and wondering if i "got it right" so what i'm wondering (the lazy woman in me is dying to know ) - is "miracle grow" healthy to use as a fertilizer/food for my veggie garden?
thanks!

[loving-my-babies]

good question, I'm curious too. I'm planting a beggie/herb garden this week and my mom told me to buy some Miracle Gro. I wonder if it's good or bad?? Can't wait to see the responses

[CarrieMF]

I have never fertilized my veggie garden and it does great.

I'd guess that Miracle Gro is chemicals and not what you want to use for an organic garden, though I haven't picked it up in 8years.

[menudo]

This link may answer this for you:

http://earthfriendlygardening.wordpr...r-ingredients/

I have not read that whole link yet, but I have heard the premise is "natural" but soem ingredients are petroleum based...

[jackson'smama]

thank you. i checked out that website EFG. i will NOT be using miracle gro.
actually, everything looks good already (except my peppers are a little puny). it just felt like i was supposed to be doing something, and whatever it was, i wanted it to be as easy as possible!

[ItyBty]

I found some organic fertilizer at my 'big-box' home/garden store. Plantone? I think is the brand, and the ingredients are all recognizable and it smells kinda chocolatey.

http://www.espoma.com/ is the companies website.

[loving-my-babies]

so, can I grow my veggie/herb garden with just what's there? there's grass on right now, I was going to remove the grass, move around the dirt and plant the seeds in rows. any tips? is this ok?

[pampered_mom]

I haven't fertilized my veggie garden at all. We have raised beds which we filled 50/50 with topsoil and compost. I had considered fertilizing for a short period of time, but now I'm glad that I didn't. My tomato plants are happier than all get out! They're head and shoulders above the rest of the neighborhoods!!

[cravenab00]

i havent fertilized anything.

My tomato plants are just shy of growing over my head!

[cfiddlinmama]

If you feel the need to fertilize I'd recommend manure! Try and find an organic farmer and buy some manure from him! No biggie either way though! Definately wouldn't use Miracle Gro though.

[loving-my-babies]

so, is it ok if I *dont* fertilize at all? what are the down sides of not fertilizing artificially, I mean?

[sprout 1]

I use liquid kelp as a foliar spray, and you can really tell after you spray.
Fertilizing plants makes them healthier- they can resist disease and insects more and they will give you a bigger, more nutritious harvest. We work compost/manure into our beds and hay mulch on top and use the liquid kelp spray to fertilize.
It's important to have a good, rich, loose soil and also to have the nutrients for the plants to thrive.

[lilyka]

I forget the name of the company but at home depot and walmart and some other places there is a company that sells worm tea. it is better and cheaper than miricle grow and the comany as w hole is awsome. it is in recycled ( as in rinsed and recapped recycled )soda bottles.

also if you get the latest issue of mother earth news they really spell it out for you. as in exactly what to get and where to get it.

you definitely need to tend to your soil. I fertilize at thebeginning and end of the season and mulch and compost well the whole year through. so my soil is pretty good and I haven't had to fertilize yet this year but plan to about once every month do something to feed the soil.

[Lazyhead]

We don't fertilize with anything special. Just good old fashioned compost and our garden is bionic!

[Owen'nZoe]

This is the first year I've used a fertilizer on my veggies (an organic fish emulsion), and honestly, I haven't noticed that big of a difference. In the past I've added compost if I had it, or nothing if I didn't. You'll be fine without anything, but compost will help if you have it. I've also purchased composted manure for my tomatoes and rhubarb in the past, and it did seem to make a difference for those plants...

[loving-my-babies]

you guys are going to think I'm

but what is compost?

[Lazyhead]

Originally Posted by loving-my-babies

you guys are going to think I'm

but what is compost?

It's liquid gold!! See the sticky at the top of the board for details

[seaheroine]

I like using EB Stone Organics myself, for my plants that are heavy feeders. I've noticed a big difference in my squash this year having fed them a few times! I've bought it twice at independent nurseries/garden centers. My plants have seemed to love it!