Of course there is! There is always a soil web if there is soil involved. There are tons of bacteria and other microbes and fungi in all soil, unless sterilized. Many of those microbes are killed if things like Miracle Gro are used too often, which is what the gentlemen were concerned with that brought it up.
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Miracle grow thoughts?
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Of course there is! There is always a soil web if there is soil involved. There are tons of bacteria and other microbes and fungi in all soil, unless sterilized. Many of those microbes are killed if things like Miracle Gro are used too often, which is what the gentlemen were concerned with that brought it up.
I am currently using MG potting mix with all of my plants at the moment and they are all doing excellent.
It has a low value time release formula that will last up to six months.
As far as fertilizers I really haven't seen the need for any so far and my plants are now starting to bloom.
I have started giving them a folliar spray that consists of liquid calcium and epsom salt.
If I do use the MG fertilizer i use the tomato specific version which is not as high in N.
It has a low value time release formula that will last up to six months.
As far as fertilizers I really haven't seen the need for any so far and my plants are now starting to bloom.
I have started giving them a folliar spray that consists of liquid calcium and epsom salt.
If I do use the MG fertilizer i use the tomato specific version which is not as high in N.
Also using synthetic fertilizers for a prolonged period of time can lock up nutrients in the soil because of mineral salts in the fertilizer.
When this happens you can give the plant all the fertilizer you want and some will not be uptaken at all by the plant.
The canna growers can tell you all about that one.
When this happens you can give the plant all the fertilizer you want and some will not be uptaken at all by the plant.
The canna growers can tell you all about that one.
I am respectfully goin to say that the reason CarvinGuitarist said that MG was like crack is to the fact that using chemical fertilizers regularly (even other than MG) kill the soil web in turn requiring the plant to need it to do well. Where in the case of feeding organically, you feed the soil which flourishes and creates a wonderful symbiotic relationship with the plant. It leaves the soil rich with nutrients as well, unlike the chemical fertilizers which build up salts as well as leach chemicals into the water table, polluting our environment. Not to mention it leaves the ground almost lifeless after extended use. I'm sure you are aware of a lot of this because you use AACT
I love giving my plants something that is healthy. I don't like "Fastfood" and neither do my plants..lol
Know of a good way to combat this problem (other than not using MG products all together). My buddy down the street is having this problem. all his plants are in pots with MG Moisture control. Beautfiul, green plants, but none of his Butch T's, Scotch Bonnets, Bhuts, etc. are flowering at all. He's getting some jalapenos, bananas and stuff like that. I"m tired of giving him pods!
+1 Patrick. This is the number one reason I started this post. What good is a "A Big Ole Shwartzaneger" plant if it has no testies! LOL An jacobp like I said I used it up until the sight of first buds. Then didn't use anything for several watering (about 3-4 weeks) to let the pot flush. Then soil drenched with an AACT to restart an made sure to use a more well balanced organic fert (not synthetic) An I have had no issues this year. An actually since the tea I've only fertilized twice since then. An that's been 2 months now.
I've used MG for years but always in moderation. As posted in a couple messages above, one or two good shots of it early in the season has been my routine. Other than that, use rich compost and other organic means to nourish your plants. Monitor the pH yearly too.
Mike
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Mike
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AlabamaJack
Extreme Member
I use MG Tomato food and I like it....and so do my plants...
I have seen those plants in person and I approve this message.
I've seen you post this in other miracle grow discussions. Just curious as to what's your schedule or how often and what amounts do you use it. As I've had luck with it with tomatoes. But no go with my peppers in my 5 gallon buckets. Use it and stare at em hard enough and flowers just fall off. From what I'm seeing from all this some have good results and others do not. I'm one of the do not's.
I use the potted recipe on the box once a week before they flower and probably once a month after I see the first buds. For the most part, I dilute the once a week mix with a bit more water just so it goes around more.
Not always true. The "soil web" doesn't just disappear because one uses synthetic fertilizer, if it did then the organic material wouldn't decompose which it does and when it does it provides more /other micronutrients that weren't present in the MG.
It seems we are taking something that may happen in certain situations and extending it to imply it will usually happen or would happen in a way that produces negative results which is often not the case.
I've done it both ways, synthetics + organics gives me higher yield than only one or the other. If your results differ then by all means do what works best for you but personally I also like the low cost and minimal work or time needed. My contribution to pollution from a few plants a year on synthetics is not worth considering given the vast amount used by farmers, nurseries, all my neighbors fertilizing their lawns just so they can mow it more often and trim it with their 2 cycle weedwackers and edgers, and other sources of pollution.
Synthetics aren't like crack for plants because crack destroys the user leaving them unproductive and unhealthy while synthetic fertilizer does the opposite for my plants. I'm all for letting mother nature do her thing but her thing wasn't me growing highly productive peppers out of their native environment, and in a pot, and during a drought while being tap watered... so I may be an exception to those who get enough rain, their soil web would always be healthier than mine.
When I used that statement I was referring to addiction not life destruction.
If you constantly feed plants synthetic fertilizers then they have to have it or they get little to no nutrition. That was my point.
That would depend on how much was used and for how long. In either case the soil web is harmed and salts that roots do not need can cause problems such as nutrient lock out.
I agree it is possible to harm a plant by giving it too much fertilizer but after years of continuously fertilizing, reusing the same soil, and always trying to water without having any run out the bottom of the pot, I am not seeing any long term problems with salt buildup. I suppose the key is moderation, not to give the plant as much as you can up to the point where you make it start to suffer negative consequences.
If you give a plant fertilizer then stop, it gets to a larger size faster and while it will slow in growth without the fertilizer compared to the prior fertilized rate, it will still grow faster than a plant that wasn't being given any because having reached a larger size it can capture more solar energy.
A plant can become dependent on fertilizer but it is all positives that you've managed to grow the plant larger than the soil in the pot would otherwise support at any given point in the season. It's like saying that if you feed a child enough food for healthy growth, if you give the child food instead of it having to forage for its own food, then being a larger child it will tend to need to eat more food.
This isn't a bad thing when it comes to peppers because plants don't know what obesity is. Well ok there are a couple or more of my plants that are breaking limbs off from too many pods on them but I don't mind this much.