Is this stuff good, bad or ok depending on what's being grown? I've heard positive stories as well as horror stories about it! I'm sitting on a $100 gift card at "the Depot" and plan on getting full use of it to start this growing season..
The fertillizer?? That's the bottom of the fert ladder for me. Compared to even the cheapest fertillizers, it's terrible! At least, not good for an entire grow.
It would help if the specifics of the fertiliser that you both are commented was mentioned. I've seen a number of fertiliser products marketed under the Miracle Gro brand. The couple of fertilisers that I tried were an All Purpose MaxFeed with an NPK of 15:13:12 (w/o any Calcium and Magnesium) and a Tomato and Vegetable Soluble Fertiliser with an NPK of 20:2.2:9.0 (w/ 5% Calcium). I would have preferred something with less Nitrogen content but at the time there wasn't much else available.A good general ferilizer, many people use it and get good results.
You can spend lots of money on specialty fertilizers, and may or may not get better results.
Just my experience
It would help if the specifics of the fertiliser that you both are commented was mentioned. I've seen a number of fertiliser products marketed under the Miracle Gro brand. The couple of fertilisers that I tried were an All Purpose MaxFeed with an NPK of 15:13:12 (w/o any Calcium and Magnesium) and a Tomato and Vegetable Soluble Fertiliser with an NPK of 20:2.2:9.0 (w/ 5% Calcium). I would have preferred something with less Nitrogen content but at the time there wasn't much else available.
Potting soil? Maybe with a compost mix?
Bear in mind that this is really my very first growing season, so I don't need any super high tech stuff to thoroughly confuse me!
Miracle Grow is definitely one of those ya love em or hate em companies. I've never used any of their soil so I don't have an opinion there.. As for there fertilizer? I think it's a matter of not knowing how to use it IMO.. I must say, I've never killed a plant, or seen bad results.. I used a combo of fish fert and miracle grow bloom booster ( half strength ) in years past with great results with hot peppers. I've also used Tiger Bloom with the same results (which is much more expensive) Problem is.. people don't realize that with miracle grow they already have over the top strong doses so with peppers you want to cut them in half, atleast, everytime. For instance.. use their stuff at full strength on flowers/herbs/zucchini/beans/pumpkins/shrubs.. you get the picture.. You'll have plants/flowers that no others can match.. But these plants/flowers, They can take a heavy dose of fert and respond perfectly. Peppers, especially hot ones, will respond horribly to a heavy dose of fertilizer. So as long as you cut it, You'll be okay. I know it's not the best fert out there for a long shot, but its affordable compared to most, it works, you just have to know what to use it on and at how much strength. I mean come on.. if their ferts were really sh**.. Do you think you'd see them stacked on every nursery, super market, garden center, and hardware stores shelves? There's a reason for that
Brandon