The ubiquitousness of Miracle Gro

[Pam]

I try and do all my gardening, both vegetable and flower, organically. I'm not a fanatic, I don't hesitate to use Round-Up on things like poison ivy or pesticide baits on fire ants. I mean, anything and everything up to and including nuking from orbit is allowable with fire ants. I do try and avoid chemicals and pesticides when I can, though.

I haul composted horse manure from a someone who keeps a couple of horses for the gardens, but sometimes I don't have time to make the trip, and sometimes he's been picked clean by other gardeners. So, I'll grab a bag of composted cow manure from a big box store to tide me over. I grabbed a couple last night, and went to till them with some nice leaf mulch into the new patch I'm adding onto the garden. I noticed the store had changed brands, but I didn't worry about it too much, until I got home and opened the bag. It had enough clay mixed in that it had an orangish tint. Like...we need more clay in South Carolina. I started reading the back of the bag, and discovered this stuff only had 10% cow manure mixed in, that 90% was top soil and fillers. I read a little further, and it recommended using, you guessed it, other fine Miracle Gro products.

Other? I turned the bag over, and finally noticed the name...Earth Gro. Arrrrrrrrgh!

You can't get away from that stuff any more! It's in everything, and it's not like it's a good fertilizer. It's like feeding your plant nothing but candy. Oh, I know you can order alternatives on line, but shipping gets expensive. My favorite organic nursery closed last year - the meanieheads went and retired on me - and I'm really missing them right about now!

Ok, I'll stop ranting now. I'm just so frustrated with trying to avoid Miracle Gro.

 

[habman]

Try MYKE Vegetable Food “Organic Approved” 8-4-5 instead of Miracle Grow.
If you want real organic, no shit can beat Earth Worm shit(Casting) but somewhat expensive.
Humm can I say shit on this board?

 

[Pam]

Try MYKE Vegetable Food “Organic Approved” 8-4-5 instead of Miracle Grow.

But I don't use Miracle Gro...that's the point! I don't want to use it, but I can't even buy decent potting soil without the stuff in it without going to a plant nursery or ordering on line.

When I use fertilizer, I use Espoma Tomato-tone, swear by the stuff. http://www.espoma.com/content.aspx?type=p&id=23&intCategoryID=4

If you want real organic, no shit can beat Earth Worm shit(Casting) but somewhat expensive.

That's the beauty of the composted horse manure, it comes pre-loaded with a gazillion earthworms.

Humm can I say shit on this board?

Apparently.

 

[POTAWIE]

A lot of the worm-casting that you can buy are loaded with fillers too. Blood meal and bone meal are good organic sources, although critters like it too.

 

[Sickmont]

Good trick for fire ants(if you don't mind getting kinda close to 'em) is using dry ice on a mound. You have to take a shovel and take the top off the mound(QUICKLY, i might add!), drop the dry ice into the center, and put the shovelful back on top of it. Usually takes a day to kill the queen.

 

[habman]

A lot of the worm-casting that you can buy are loaded with fillers too.

really? Humm got to verify tonight I payed 20$ for just one bag....better not have anything else but shit in there.

 

[chilliman64]

excuse my ignorance but what is the problem with Miracle Gro?

as a suggestion Pam, why don't you start your own worm-farm? they are quite popular in Oz, producing both solid and liquid fertiliser, have virtually no maintenance costs once you pay for the set up and your initial worm population, they are organic and also make their product out of kitchen/garden leftovers. my inlaws have a fairly large garden with fruit trees, vegetables and some other green things you can't eat (why grow them if you can't eat them???) and their worms just keep pumping out the good stuff. as far as shit goes, wormshit is good shit! maybe it is 'the' shit! there, I've just said shit five times in one thread!

Mark 'no shit' chilliman64 (six times now)

 

[habman]

Lol Chiliman

Home made worm manure is the most eco friendly thing to do.
It also pollutes alot less the undigested horse or cow poo.
The best worm poo is made with table scrap(no meat) and animal poo. You can also add powedered egg shells for calcium.
You can then have a sample analysed and compare it with commercial fert and supplement what ever is needed.

My dream job is to become a worm poo farmer!
Anyone's got an extra 500 000$ then can spare ?

 

[Pam]

excuse my ignorance but what is the problem with Miracle Gro?

There's nothing wrong with it per se, but, it's rather like feeding your plants a steady diet of candy. It's far better to improve your soil with organic matter than to pour on a liquid that's just going to wash out with the next rain. Plus, it's a high nitrogen fertilizer, even the version made for tomatoes and peppers is high nitrogen. It or one of its clones is in just about everything on the market. More and more shelf space is given over to different Miracle Gro products, and less and less to organic alternatives...to any alternatives, for that matter.

The success of Miracle Gro has made it just about impossible to buy a high quality potting soil that doesn't have a high nitrogen slow release fertilizer in it. People who want a high nitrogen fertilizer are more than welcome to it, but I want to control how and when I fertilize my container plants.

as a suggestion Pam, why don't you start your own worm-farm?

I don't want to.

I have a compost pile out back, plus the horse manure I can usually get is not only well composted, it's infested with earthworms. Each shovelful looks like it's writhing it's so full of worms.

It's just that sometimes I don't have time to go by and get the composted horse manure, and sometimes I don't feel like putting together my own light fluffy potting soil for containers, so it's more convenient to grab something at the store on my way home from work. And now I find Miracle Gro is muscling its way into even the poo products.

Hence the rant.

 

[Pam]

Good trick for fire ants(if you don't mind getting kinda close to 'em) is using dry ice on a mound. You have to take a shovel and take the top off the mound(QUICKLY, i might add!), drop the dry ice into the center, and put the shovelful back on top of it. Usually takes a day to kill the queen.

Now, that's one I've never heard before. I may have to give it a try, thanks!

 

[chilliman64]

There's nothing wrong with it per se, but, it's rather like feeding your plants a steady diet of candy. It's far better to improve your soil with organic matter than to pour on a liquid that's just going to wash out with the next rain. Plus, it's a high nitrogen fertilizer, even the version made for tomatoes and peppers is high nitrogen. It or one of its clones is in just about everything on the market. More and more shelf space is given over to different Miracle Gro products, and less and less to organic alternatives...to any alternatives, for that matter.

The success of Miracle Gro has made it just about impossible to buy a high quality potting soil that doesn't have a high nitrogen slow release fertilizer in it. People who want a high nitrogen fertilizer are more than welcome to it, but I want to control how and when I fertilize my container plants.




I don't want to.

I have a compost pile out back, plus the horse manure I can usually get is not only well composted, it's infested with earthworms. Each shovelful looks like it's writhing it's so full of worms.

It's just that sometimes I don't have time to go by and get the composted horse manure, and sometimes I don't feel like putting together my own light fluffy potting soil for containers, so it's more convenient to grab something at the store on my way home from work. And now I find Miracle Gro is muscling its way into even the poo products.

Hence the rant.

Miracle Gro sounds like the fastfood equivalent of fertilising. have you tried claybreaker in your garden?

I used to make my own liquid plant food out of powdered/dried sheep manure when I had a bit more space. I had an old plastic garbage bin, poured the bag of sheep poo in, filled it with water and put the lid on. when I wanted to use some I just grabbed my stirring stick, gave it a good mix around then put a cup full into a 9 litre watering can and poured it on the plants. this I did about once a fortnight - I had very healthy plants with excellent fruit growth, chiles, tomatoes, beans, capsicums (sweet peppers that is), zucchinis. that was all I used except for water and had outstanding results. as the manure had been dried and processed there was virtually no smell and it lasted for ages!

you don't use your horse manure green do you?

 

[Sickmont]

Now, that's one I've never heard before. I may have to give it a try, thanks!

Also works damn good on moles, too. Chases 'em out of their tunnels quickly. Can't burrow when you can't breathe, huh?

 

[willard3]

Let me introduce you to "Spunky".....

I grow in hydro year 'round, but plant some chiles out in summer because the plants are beaautiful and unusual.

I have a worm farm that I have been using for 10 or so years and feed Spunky and the boys all vegetable waste from the house and they produce 50-100 lbs of castings a year. I dig a hole and fill it with Spunky poop and then plant the chile. Nothing else, no fertilizer, no nothing. The chiles are very happy with their diet. Can't beat castings for organic material and they really hold water well....our base soil is clay.

Ultimate analysis of castings varies from 1:1:1 to 3:3:3 depending upon what I feed them.

 

[imaguitargod]

: walks over :

"Hi Spunky."

: eats spunky :

: walks away :

 

[chilliman64]

no Mullet - Spunky wasn't a tequila worm

 

[Pam]

you don't use your horse manure green do you?

Sometimes I'll till in a little fresh manure in the winter, but mostly what I get is very well composted and just full of earthworms.

I get it from the stables behind an old plantation house. Some of the stuff has been composting for more than 200 years!

 

[P_Schneider]

Once I till the garden I usually will take a couple containers of earthworms and add them in. I try and do that a week or 2 before I plant to give them time to get established. The castings fertilize and the worm holes help with drainage.

 

[chilliman64]

I get it from the stables behind an old plantation house. Some of the stuff has been composting for more than 200 years!

nothing wrong with old shit

 

[willard3]

Spunky wriggles over to Mullet.......

Hi, Mullet he says.....

CHOMP........PTUI!......I'm not eatin no fish, I got better taste than that......

Spunky wriggles away.

 

[Pam]

Once I till the garden I usually will take a couple containers of earthworms and add them in. I try and do that a week or 2 before I plant to give them time to get established. The castings fertilize and the worm holes help with drainage.

When I bring over a trash can full of the horse manure compost, it's full of earthworms, but I have to cover the area where I dump in the garden or the birds think I've set out a smörgåsbord!