Miracle-Grow All-Purpose Plant Food Contains 15% total Nitrogen; 30% available Phosphate; 15% soluble Potash; and minor amounts of Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, and Zinc.

Miracle-Grow for tomatoes...
1.4% Ammoniacal Nitrogen
2.6% Nitrate Nitrogen
14.0% Urea Nitrogen
18% Phosphate
21% Soluble Potash
0.50% Magnesium
0.10% Iron
0.05% Zinc

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I love the sweet scents wafting in the breeze. I stop to admire the vibrant colors of all living things. And people think me odd. Then ODD I am!!!

http://community.webshots.com/user/flugnash

Wow

I had no idea.

DUCKIE~~~~~~~~~>
Very Nice Explainion!!!!!!!!

I have to admit, being organic here....
Butttttt, on very few occassions,
I will use it....
Mainly for shock and transplanting, ONLY!!!
*a quick shot of it, if I can, before transplanting, and a dose or two afterwards..
the plant has lost it's ability to soak up stuff
from the dirt or whereever, so I only give it a quick fix until it can re~establish it'self......

I use the slower to release types of fertilizers,
Compost, Bone Meal, Magnesium *Epsom Salt*, and manures...when planting in the hole or mixed in the dirt/soil mixture I mix up...

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Can somebody tell me why this moved over here? I value everyone's opinion - but on this topic I was mostly interested in what organic gardeners opinions/thoughts/conclusions were...soooo that's why I put it in the organically speaking forum. Anyway, thanks. I'll do further research from here.

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Thanks Bill - that was my original question. Now I'm trying to understand why it's not organic exactly.

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Hi Duckie,
Posted 21 July 05
"That is the "junkie aspect". Aside from affecting the natural order of a plant's intake/transfer of nutrients, the stuff also sours the soil by dumping excess sodium near the stalk. This in turn hurts the micro organisms that make a soil work, thus sterilizing a soil after prolonged use."

duckie

Please tell me as to what you use to
"Sterilize the soil"

Dave

HI Dave, you snuck in on me while I
was typin'!!!

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

quote:

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Originally posted by RugbyHukr:
14.0% Urea Nitrogen

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quote:

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Urea was first discovered in human urine by HM Rouelle in 1773

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Currently listening to: Vince Guaraldi Trio -- A Charlie Brown Christmas. Adult and contemporary but evocative of youth and innocence, a must own CD.

I have no idea how he discovered it. I assume today's urea nitrogen comes from animal blood.

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Currently listening to: Vince Guaraldi Trio -- A Charlie Brown Christmas. Adult and contemporary but evocative of youth and innocence, a must own CD.

I didn't want to use MG, had thought I did good.. putting a LOT of compost in my soil & it looked mostly good. I bought some of the organic fertilizers to use at appropriate times.. from Gardens Alive. Everything seemed to be doing ok, but some of the stuff was growing realllllly slow, and it was bugging Steve to no end. He said my granny told him to use MG, and it would boost them & I might still see some tomatoes this year. Otherwise, my plants were too small to see any tomatoes this year. Ok, so I bought a small jug of it, and used it I think 2 times around the garden. That's all I've used.. and yes, the stuff did really take off after that. I don't know if I can warrant it to the MG, or maybe they just needed more time. I think I'll just save the MG for times like weezie said.. in case of emergency. As much as I wanted to go organic this year.. I think I made some strides there.. I have a long way to go. *sigh*

Meg

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I reject your reality, and substitue my own!
My favorite digital camera photos that I took.
My family, garden, and a bunch of misc. photos!

Mary,

Organic is supposed to be a more natural way of growing things. As Weezie mentioned, in nature plants grow where their nutritional and pH requirements are met. In our attempts to grow plants where they normally wouldn't, we must artificially provide those nutrients and pH via some sort of fertilizer.

All fertilizers are measured according to their N/P/K (Nitrogen/Phosphorus/Potassium or Potash) content. These are the major 3 nutrients involved with plant growth. There are other micro-nutrients that some plants require and others do not. The higher the number the greater the concentration of the nutrient. It's not a percentage.

Organic fertilizers provides those nutrients by some by-product of a natural process: i.e. manure, compost, naturally occurring minerals such as greensand or limestone, etc. Although the environment that we are creating for the plant is artificial, the source of the nutrients is from a natural or organic source. For example, an organic way to enrich the soil with more nitrogen is to plant a legume crop. Legumes can fix (use) the nitrogen in the air (which is plentiful) and store it in their roots. When the plants die and decompose, the nitrogen becomes available in the soil.

Chemical fertilizers are non-organic. They synthesize the nutrients in such a way that they can get results quickly. Think steroids. Anabolic steroids get results. There is no denying that they work. It's the side effects that are the really scary. The side effect of chemical fertilizers are many, and none of them good.

Although there are slow release chemical fertilizers, most are very water soluble. This makes them readily available to plants roots. It also means that they do not stay in the soil very long. They wash away to pollute our water tables.

Chemical fertilizers also tend to be toxic to worms and micro-organisms in the soil. (Ever wonder why Chem Lawn puts out warning signs to keep children and pets off the lawn after they spray? It's not because it's healthy for them.) This is the sterilization of the soil that Duckie mentioned. The soil is alive, and it is that life that makes the nutrients available to the plants. Miracle Grow kills a lot of the life in the soil. Since there is no life in the soil, the plants have less nutrients available via natural processes, hence you need to use more Miracle Grow; this is the "junkie" portion that Duckie mentioned.

I heard of a gardener that was growing prize roses. He was using MG or some other chemical fertilizer. He was using more than recommended to get the results that he wanted. Every year, he had to literally swap his beds with water to flush all the chemical salts out of his beds. Where do those chemicals go? Our water supply.

Does that clear up the difference between organic and chemical fertilizers?

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Composting is more than good for your garden. It's a way of life.

This is making total sense to me. I moved into a new home (1yr old)where it was apparent the topsoil had been scraped off the land and the builder put no plants on the property. He knocked down most of the trees except for the protected wet lands. There are 17 homes on the block and he left one tree standing in a front yard. I built beds with topsoil and did my planting thing, but I thought I was doing the right thing and kept pouring the MG on. First year great results, last year I stepped it up only in the spring then started experiencing problems with the plants. This year I was going cold turkey and have noticed the much slower development of my plants, but I have been adding manure, more mulch and all my coffee grinds to the soil. Thanks for all the great dicussion on this topic.

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BFVISION

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2122269418&mode=guest

I dont use miracle grow or preeen on my perennials period. Only on my annuals. I feel like I purchase annuals for one purpose for the added touch of color to my windowboxed and a few other areas that perennials arent planted. I want them to be plentiful and since they are not going to be here for more then one season I want to get the most out of them while I can.

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It doesn't matter where you go in life... It's who you have beside you when you get there.

Karrie's Photos

I'm with Weezie pretty much.

I used MG at half dose when my transplanted tomatoes resumed growth. I used it once.

When my squash stood up and started to crank, I hit it with MG at half dose; one time.

I'm not pure organic but I am successful.

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Currently listening to: Vince Guaraldi Trio -- A Charlie Brown Christmas. Adult and contemporary but evocative of youth and innocence, a must own CD.