Thoughts on Miracle Grow?

[Feuerschlucker]

I use Miracle Grow (Specifically designed for Tomatoes and vegetables) and it seems to work wonders by only using 1 Tblspn in a gallon watering can a week.
But for the more experienced growers or others who know a thing or two about plant food, I would like to pick your brain on this subject.
 
Is it recommended?
Any better type?
Other methods for using plant food?
And anything else you would like to add regarding this subject, I would greatly appreciate any dedicated time and thought into this.
 
Much appreciated!
 

 

[Noah Yates]

It will definitely work... it provides a lot of trace elements... however, it requires temendous energy to extract those ions which make up the powder.  That is why organic means of providing the nutrients are prefered and synthetics are shunned   better to let the little microbe machines naturally do the work that industrial laboratories do using energy derrived from fossil fuels.
 
I will admit tho that I use a light dose every so often to provide those rare trace elements.
 
...although azomite mixed into the soil form the beginning will solve that problem out-right.

 

[ms1476]

I'm with Noah. It works well. I am not using it this season, but my father is and his plants are HUGE. I used it weekly last season and had great results. I may have to use it next season if my current methods don't start producing better results. There are plenty of die-hard organic gardeners who shun Miracle Grow but I am not one of them. If it works...use it.

 

[Mr. Hill]

Scotts and Monsanto are working with each other so I wont use any thing they make, Teas and other Organic Nuts for me!!    

 

[Nightshade]

Look up a member here pepper gurus fish hydrosolate he makes and check the results he has. I guarantee it will dwarf the results anyone has with mg. He also does composting. He treats his soil as one big life form.

 

[Pepper-Guru]

I no longer use synthetics, but even if I did I wouldnt use Monsanto Gro. When the worlds largest pesticide maker and food genetic modifier also make plant food, you have all the info you need to make an informed decision.

 

[Boost313]

Brought this topic up last year.

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/34369-miracle-grow-thoughts/

I haven't used any synthetics this year.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

My motto is Just say no to Miracle-Gro!

 

[Scovie]

Just another $8 Billion company that is "to big to fail".

In other words, it's a brand name company that doesn't make anything that a smaller company doesn't make or, I can't live without.

I don't buy Good~Year tires either. lol

 

[Burning Colon]

i use miracle gro veg, tomato fertilizer. is it the best, no, does it work if you give your plants a small feeding with every watering, who knows. it does do something. i have flowers on all my stuff and my douglah and bulgarian carrots have pods.... but i think bulgarian carrot would pod with no effort at all.
 
i have just moved over to general hydroponics maxibloom but have yet to feed with it, as i am still using teas and old batches of miracle gro. maxibloom is too expensive to screw around with.
 
if you have nothing else to play with, it is okay.
 
good luck on your growing.

 

[ntenny]

I did some informal comparisons last year in which I potted plants of the same cultivar, age, life history, &c. in different media.  The samples were small and I'm not at all confident that any real differences were out of the noise of genetic variation, but I saw pretty similar plant size and productivity from Miracle-Gro and Happy Frog (and they both beat the pants off my existing topsoil and the cactus mix I had around).
 
Based on that, if I didn't have a problem with the company's role in the giant-ag world, I'd be pretty content to use it, but I do, so I don't.  You gotta make your own call on the ethics---the soil does seem to work reasonably well.
 
-NT