I use the ferts and am happy with them. I used Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix once. Oh man that was crap. It turned into a rock after watering it for a few weeks. I had fungus gnats. I switched to pro-mix. WOW! I still use bx for seed starting but have started mixing my own soil for bigger plants.
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organic A case against Miracle Grow (Organic Choice)
- Thread starter synclinorium
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used the regular MG soil and most of my seedlings look like the ones in the back row on your pic. but , whatever gets the job done! nice plants by the way.
Miracle Gro is not a subsidiary of or owned by Monsanto, they do have exclusive rights to sell Monsanto's Roundup though.
Thanks for the shout out man!!! I have tried several soils...only one organic, but not MG Organic Choice. Organic was not one of my goals this season. I was really just trying to figure out how to get away with being cheap...My go to soil is MG Moisture Control. I have had great luck with it, but then again I live in a desert. Which is one more point to consider. What works well for one environment/grower might not for another. Mgold86 tried the highly touted Hoffman's this year...and had terrible luck with it, but other folks swear by it. Bottom watering vs top, indoor vs outdoor, rain, humidity, exact nute blends I'm sure all play roles.
The organic soil I tried also included large woody chunks, but had all the good stuff to bat guano, kelp extract and worm castings to name a few. It didn't wick water very well for bottom watering, but top watering resulted in nothing but wood chips in the top few inches after a few weeks. Sounds like the MG organic suffers from the same issues. My plan to supplement that soil is to screen it down to 1/4 inch and screen in some of my compost, then add some peat and perlite to get a better consistency and try it again.
This is my first year with supers, so the whole process has been a learning experience for me. Looks like you have figured out what works for you! The plants in your personal mix look amazing!
Keep it up!
Shane
Remember everyone ,just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean it sucks. MOST of the time , we can all probably trace plant failures to ourselves.If you get dirt "prebagged" and its stored outside ,not under cover...any hole is big enough get those little bastidge fungus gnats to get to it, or allow water to wick into the bag.I did not know this last year-MY FAULT. The most effective learning method is experience , and to know when you cause a problem or contribute to one with an unintentional FUBAR is the next best thing to getting it right the first time-because you now know something for sure. 2 people doing the exact same procedure in different geographic locations can have radically different results...remember these plants grow in the wild without all the coddling we give them(which is highly UNnatural, so many consequences as a result,tend to be unaturally magnified).Have a great grow everyone, and remember, everyone can learn from each others mistakes as well as their triumphs if they are shared here.Noobs OR BRAINIACS!
Have a good one-
Dave
Have a good one-
Dave
Apparently I was misinformed... even so, I object to endorsing any Monsanto product.
You all make good points. Like I said, I've used their fertilizers in the past, and some of their other potting soils, and while they can be effective, I am making an effort to go organic now, given that the vast majority of chemical fertilizer applications are either consumed by microorganisms or lost into our waterways.
Which fertilizers do you use by them frosty? I use the tomato water soluble and the all purpose.
I do not want to get off topic
I use the bloom booster.
To the note that because something did not work for does not
Conversely, if you have success with something it doesn't mean that it works or is the best MOST of the time. Lot's of people have tried Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix and had problems with the consistency and fungus gnats. Most of us don't have the inclination to try all the different permutations of light, fertilizer, seed starting, soil etc. My favorite experience is other's; it's cheaper.
Most of the peppers we grow are domesticated and tropical/subtropical . The wild ones are eaten by birds and crapped somewhere else. We are engaging in an unnatural act by the very act of planting a seed that was shipped to us in a van. That they exist somewhere else in nature is not a legitimate basis to believe they will exist in any natural environment. To some degree we have to coddle them.
This was a bit of a retort to your bit of a retort but it is a greater lesson for human kind. Chile's are parable of life; we, and peppers, are born into a stochastic world of sacrifice. If we sacrifice our time, money and family's mental health we will most likely have an abundance of chiles. On the other hand if devote little to the plants we will, most likely, sacrifice chiles but keep our money, time and discover new and exciting ways to screw up our children. Things can go wrong but usually they work out this way over time. Let us not begrudge our brothers with an abundance of peppers nor begrudge those with adult children not living in their basements wearing diapers. Both have earned it and made sacrifices to attain it.
sorry but I had to get that off my chest.
haha, nice I like that.. and don't forget, their physical health too! I somehow sucker my dad into eating the peppers all the time, saying "oh come on, this one isn't that bad, just try it" followed by him saying, "$%$#.... I don't know why I listen to you every time you say that... " lol, it's a fun game
SadisticPeppers
eXtreme Business
And that's why I'm using Sphagnum Moss 
Ha! you're lucy and your dad is Charley Brown.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong about this as I don't use MG products. For the timed release ferts in the growing mediums wouldn't it make sense to top water? That allows you to get the water through all of it. Obviously if you let it all run through you're going to lose a lot of nutes. If you bottom water and the moisture doesn't get all the way to the top of the mix then you're not getting all of the nutes in the upper part.
Capsicum
Banned
"given that the vast majority of chemical fertilizer applications are either consumed by microorganisms or lost into our waterways. "
In ground, are you not growing in pots?
Organic farmers can pollute just as much as in-organic farmers, it is all about safe practice.
I use both synthetics and organics in containers.
In ground, are you not growing in pots?
Organic farmers can pollute just as much as in-organic farmers, it is all about safe practice.
I use both synthetics and organics in containers.
Here are two Goat's Weed plants that were basically identical until not quite two weeks ago when I repotted one into MG moisture control. They were started, sprouted and have been growing side by side in the same greenhouse ...
The one on the left got potted up before the other because it was actually doing a little better at that time. The pot on the rt is about an inch shorter than the orange one too, so the height difference is even greater than it appears. The green pot is in MG moisture control...
The difference in height is impressive, but the difference in color and secondary growth is what has me really happy....
This is also not a "retort" just an example of why I use the product...I realize that MG Organic was the the product targeted, but the thread title call out all MG products. I am certain that one of the reasons I had trouble with the organic soil I tried was my experience level with the soil. However results are results and a picture is worth 1000 words so I will let them speak for themselves...
Shane
The one on the left got potted up before the other because it was actually doing a little better at that time. The pot on the rt is about an inch shorter than the orange one too, so the height difference is even greater than it appears. The green pot is in MG moisture control...
The difference in height is impressive, but the difference in color and secondary growth is what has me really happy....
This is also not a "retort" just an example of why I use the product...I realize that MG Organic was the the product targeted, but the thread title call out all MG products. I am certain that one of the reasons I had trouble with the organic soil I tried was my experience level with the soil. However results are results and a picture is worth 1000 words so I will let them speak for themselves...
Shane
Yeah, poor choice with the title, I admit. I agree that some of the other products work well if that's all you have available.
That's what I suspect. Some of the organic material is far from broken down.
It's the principle of the matter. I'm a proponent of locally-grown and closed-system farming, which by extension requires predominantly organic methods. Materials (fertilizers included) produced on-site, food distributed to surrounding communities. Anything else just leads to a net increase in pollutants in the system related to the manufacture and transport of materials. I'm probably going to run off into the hills at some point and live out the rest of my life as a dirty hippie, no shame in that.
That's what I suspect. Some of the organic material is far from broken down.
It's the principle of the matter. I'm a proponent of locally-grown and closed-system farming, which by extension requires predominantly organic methods. Materials (fertilizers included) produced on-site, food distributed to surrounding communities. Anything else just leads to a net increase in pollutants in the system related to the manufacture and transport of materials. I'm probably going to run off into the hills at some point and live out the rest of my life as a dirty hippie, no shame in that.
