Miracle grow vs organic fertilizer - Page 2

rxkeith · April 22, 2019

pretty much organic here.

chicken coop clean out that goes into the garden in the fall and gets tilled in.
fish emulsion, and kelp. couple neighbors with horses get their pile reduced once in awhile by me. a guy in town has three miniature sheep. he wants to move his manure pile, so it may come here provided i get to use some in my garden. not sure how serious
he is about moving it though.

keith

roper2008 · April 23, 2019

I don’ always do things the same, but this year in my regular containers I have been putting bonemeal, chicken poop, lime. Later When they get bigger I will add Gardentone.
I do don’t normally use liquid fertilizer’s out of laziness.

Labradors2 · April 23, 2019

Usually it's Tomato Tone in the planting hole. This year I'll be using chicken poop manure aged for a year

.

Linda

xellos99 · April 23, 2019

Throw in some new multipurpose every year and mix in with old.

Use liquid tomorite style feed in the past but this year threw in a load of dry chicken manure pellets that say 6x strength on the bag.

Will see what happens, I don't want to use too many chemicals year after year or I feel there will be a build up of something bad in the ground ( salts or whatever it is )

If I get good results with chicken manure I may only use tomorite on rare occasions.

b54red · April 25, 2019

I plant in raised beds. At the beginning of the season I work in cottonseed meal, any compost I have ready, alfalfa pellets, some chicken manure if I can find any, and a small amount of chemical fertilizer high in trace elements. Once the tomatoes start blooming I try to feed them every 7 to 10 days with Texas Tomato Food.

Bill

MadCow333 · April 25, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

Plant tone good for later not now, needs a little time to do it's thing under the soil.
MG so so but not the best.
By far ((my)) best results have been 13-13-13 or something like it in containers or in ground.

I took Worth's advice last year, along with his comment that it takes a lot of nitrogen to burn up plants. I fertilized all containers with 10-10-10 bought on clearance sale at Walmart the year before. I added a good bit of 10-10-10 along with calcium nitrate to the pots about 7-12 days before I set plants in them. I had zero blossom end rot problems with the San Marzanos and Romas last year. And yields from everything were superb. My Brandywine Reds looked like Jack's beanstalk and the Brandywines were plentiful and *huge.* Everything grown in containers, and everything grew far better than when I used organic stuff and Osmocote and Alaska fish and all the other find products that people swear by. Just cheap 10-10-10 and some calcium nitrate worked for me. :-)

Cole_Robbie · April 25, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadCow333

I took Worth's advice last year, along with his comment that it takes a lot of nitrogen to burn up plants. I fertilized all containers with 10-10-10 bought on clearance sale at Walmart the year before. I added a good bit of 10-10-10 along with calcium nitrate to the pots about 7-12 days before I set plants in them. I had zero blossom end rot problems with the San Marzanos and Romas last year. And yields from everything were superb. My Brandywine Reds looked like Jack's beanstalk and the Brandywines were plentiful and *huge.* Everything grown in containers, and everything grew far better than when I used organic stuff and Osmocote and Alaska fish and all the other find products that people swear by. Just cheap 10-10-10 and some calcium nitrate worked for me. :-)

The waiting period must be key. Did the containers and media get rained on during that time?

Worth1 · April 25, 2019

It scares the living daylights out of me when people do what I do.

Gardeneer · April 26, 2019

I use MG while still seedlings or in small pot.
Once planted out i use granulars like 10 10 10 and some high K granular.
Talking about organic , i use horse poo. That is just as soil conditioner and amender, way before planting.
You want quick action from granular ?
Soak some in a bucket, keep stirring, for couplje of days. Then take some and add to watering can and water/fertilize your tomatoes with.
Sure you can top dress and scratch the soil a bit. It will act slowly.

DonDuck · April 27, 2019

I use MG to water my seedlings in when I plant them. I've always thought it gives them a very light nitrogen boost and a mineral boost at plant out.. If some plants don't have the dark green color I like to see as the plants grow, I give the weaker plants another MG boost. It works for me. I sometimes add a scoop of Epsom salt to the MG in my watering can for really anemic looking plants.

SteveP · April 29, 2019

I used to use a little MG during the growing season and had good results. Then 3 years ago I quit using MG and only used organic TT, fish emulsion and rabbit manure and honestly my tomatoes didn't do nearly as well. I am sure there are many factors that have effected these results. This year I decided to go back to what seemed to work the best, only growing proven hybrids (Celebrity, Big Beef and Golden Girl) and not trying to go only organic. I loved the flavor of Heirlooms, but their production numbers and susceptibility to disease lead to disappointment. Fingers crossed!

GoDawgs · April 30, 2019

We use MG on the tomatoes (blue version) for planting out and also throughout the growing season and they've done really well.

DonDuck · May 1, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveP

I used to use a little MG during the growing season and had good results. Then 3 years ago I quit using MG and only used organic TT, fish emulsion and rabbit manure and honestly my tomatoes didn't do nearly as well. I am sure there are many factors that have effected these results. This year I decided to go back to what seemed to work the best, only growing proven hybrids (Celebrity, Big Beef and Golden Girl) and not trying to go only organic. I loved the flavor of Heirlooms, but their production numbers and susceptibility to disease lead to disappointment. Fingers crossed!

Steve, that is almost the duplicate of my experience over the years.

SteveP · May 1, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonDuck

Steve, that is almost the duplicate of my experience over the years.

Don, we got hammered by pounding rain (6.5 inches) last night and while my raised garden drained well, my plants leaves were covered with dirt from splash back. I didn't know what to do other than turn on the hose and rinse them off. More thunderstorms forecast the next 3 days. Only thing I know for sure is I won't have to water for a while.

DonDuck · May 3, 2019

We must be in a drought, we only got four and one half inches the last two nights. My raised beds are covered in mulch, so I didn't get any splash up. Yours should be okay if you hose them down a little. I'm beginning to worry a little about root rot on some of my veggies due to all the water. I lost some pepper plants last year due to excessive water. They are forecasting rain for next week similar to this week. My wife and I throw a party when the sun comes out for a couple of hours.

April 26, 2019	#24
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,909	I use MG while still seedlings or in small pot. Once planted out i use granulars like 10 10 10 and some high K granular. Talking about organic , i use horse poo. That is just as soil conditioner and amender, way before planting. You want quick action from granular ? Soak some in a bucket, keep stirring, for couplje of days. Then take some and add to watering can and water/fertilize your tomatoes with. Sure you can top dress and scratch the soil a bit. It will act slowly. __________________ Gardeneer Happy Gardening !

April 27, 2019	#25
DonDuck Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Corinth, texas Posts: 1,784	I use MG to water my seedlings in when I plant them. I've always thought it gives them a very light nitrogen boost and a mineral boost at plant out.. If some plants don't have the dark green color I like to see as the plants grow, I give the weaker plants another MG boost. It works for me. I sometimes add a scoop of Epsom salt to the MG in my watering can for really anemic looking plants. Last edited by DonDuck; April 27, 2019 at 09:58 PM.

April 22, 2019	#16
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,839	pretty much organic here. chicken coop clean out that goes into the garden in the fall and gets tilled in. fish emulsion, and kelp. couple neighbors with horses get their pile reduced once in awhile by me. a guy in town has three miniature sheep. he wants to move his manure pile, so it may come here provided i get to use some in my garden. not sure how serious he is about moving it though. keith

April 23, 2019	#17
roper2008 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b) Posts: 1,337	I don’ always do things the same, but this year in my regular containers I have been putting bonemeal, chicken poop, lime. Later When they get bigger I will add Gardentone. I do don’t normally use liquid fertilizer’s out of laziness.

April 23, 2019	#18
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,887	Usually it's Tomato Tone in the planting hole. This year I'll be using chicken poop manure aged for a year . Linda

April 23, 2019	#19
xellos99 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: wales uk Posts: 236	Throw in some new multipurpose every year and mix in with old. Use liquid tomorite style feed in the past but this year threw in a load of dry chicken manure pellets that say 6x strength on the bag. Will see what happens, I don't want to use too many chemicals year after year or I feel there will be a build up of something bad in the ground ( salts or whatever it is ) If I get good results with chicken manure I may only use tomorite on rare occasions.

April 25, 2019	#20
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I plant in raised beds. At the beginning of the season I work in cottonseed meal, any compost I have ready, alfalfa pellets, some chicken manure if I can find any, and a small amount of chemical fertilizer high in trace elements. Once the tomatoes start blooming I try to feed them every 7 to 10 days with Texas Tomato Food. Bill

April 25, 2019	#23
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	It scares the living daylights out of me when people do what I do.

April 29, 2019	#26
SteveP Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Joplin MO Posts: 1,398	I used to use a little MG during the growing season and had good results. Then 3 years ago I quit using MG and only used organic TT, fish emulsion and rabbit manure and honestly my tomatoes didn't do nearly as well. I am sure there are many factors that have effected these results. This year I decided to go back to what seemed to work the best, only growing proven hybrids (Celebrity, Big Beef and Golden Girl) and not trying to go only organic. I loved the flavor of Heirlooms, but their production numbers and susceptibility to disease lead to disappointment. Fingers crossed!

April 30, 2019	#27
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	We use MG on the tomatoes (blue version) for planting out and also throughout the growing season and they've done really well.

May 3, 2019	#30
DonDuck Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Corinth, texas Posts: 1,784	We must be in a drought, we only got four and one half inches the last two nights. My raised beds are covered in mulch, so I didn't get any splash up. Yours should be okay if you hose them down a little. I'm beginning to worry a little about root rot on some of my veggies due to all the water. I lost some pepper plants last year due to excessive water. They are forecasting rain for next week similar to this week. My wife and I throw a party when the sun comes out for a couple of hours.