Quick fix Miracle Grow alternative

14 years ago

I should've had my soil tested, after how horrible I found out it was at this new house last year, but unfortunately, I didn't. So anyway, I amended and added organic fertilizers, but my plants are pretty much all showing symptoms of deficiency, definitely of nitrogen if nothing else. Last year I had to use the Miracle Grow liquid hose attachment stuff, after everything organic failed me. What can I use this year instead? I've already had zero success with adding espoma garden fertilizer (garden tone maybe?) and fish emulsion. I'm thinking a liquid thing would be better, so I could foliar feed and hopefully get a quick boost, but fish emulsion isn't enough at this point. Any other suggestions that are widely available? I don't want to wait for something to come in the mail. :)

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Comments (11)

the_gurgler
14 years ago
Urine is a quick nitrogen fix for your plants and meets all your criteria. ;)
pvel
14 years ago
You can get your soil tested. (Do you have an agricultural extension office nearby?). Once you know what the soil lacks, then you can compensate. Paul
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why is this topic so hotly debated? Misinformation? Yes. That is it in a nut shell. Lots of people call synthetic fertilizers 'chemicals' demonstrating they have no concept of chemistry ;) Aversion to Miracle Grow on the basis of some sort of principle? In some cases, yes. Some growers are inherently distrustful of large companies and assume the products they sell aren't safe. Sometimes they are even correct ;) However I have encountered many people who simply 'feel' that nutrients from organic sources must be different or healthier than those from synthetics even though in many cases they are the same thing, just processed a little differently. Phosphorus often is derived from rocks. Some of this gets labeled as organic and the rest gets an acid bath to make it more soluble and is no longer considered organic. There have also been speculations that if gardeners were to end usage of Miracle Grow after years of use, their plants would suffer do to a lack of beneficial soil organisms to help break down nutrients Please don't take this as my encouraging you to use Miracle Grow or any other synthetic in your gardens, but you don't harm any soil organisms by using it. Instead you don't sustain and build the populations of soil critters by not providing them with organic matter to eat. It isn't the presence of Miracle Grow that is the problem, it's the lack of organic matter. It is true that once the organic matter component of a soil drops to zero, there isn't going to be much soil life. What would they be doing? ;) Ultimately we as growers can supply 100% of our plant's nutritional needs from a box of synthetic fertilizer. Or, we could work on giving food to the soil critters so they keep our soil in good shape and they take care of providing nutrients to the plants. Or, we could choose a hybrid approach. While there are very valid reasons to choose an organic only approach, misinformation and scare tactics such as what you have reported seeing are not good reasons though.
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It's the best place in the world to grow trees so long as it's the native trees you're trying to grow. they're already adapted to the local soil and water conditions. Your garden trees are from other conditions and won't necessarily do well in heavy clay. We have the opposite problem here. We have some of the most valuable timber growing land in the world here in western WA, but garden plants struggle to survive in our gravelly sandy soils - the same soils that produce some of the largest and oldest trees in the world. Worms are not native everywhere. If your land was recently cleared of native forest, and you have no worms, they're probably not native to your area. Worms tend not to like coniferous forests and I think East Texas is pine forest country. Try planting locally native stuff! I bet that will grow well. And lay off the compost and manure in the planting hole. You created clay pots in the ground when you dug out a hole in the clay and filled it with compost and manure. Clay pots with no drain holes, no less. You can mix in some compost with the clay backfill if you insist, but you should not totally replace the native soil in the planting hole. I bet that has something to do with your trees not growing well. If the land was clearcut and bulldozed, the soil life is probably all dead now. Compost tea will help it grow back (not alfalfa tea). Micorhizal (sp?) products can help too. Trees need micorhizal fungi in the soil in order to grow and removing the native trees and disturbing the soil usually kills them all off. Many trees are not able to pick up soil nutrients and water very well without their fungal partners. Clay soil should have some nitrogen in it, after all. It may not be a nitrogen deficiency at all. Your story suggests some more likely culprits.
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Lalamtx24869 WROTE: >> I am looking for other alternative of miracle grow plant food. Is there anything else out there that is natural as a plant food? If I don't have to buy and pay for it that would be better. Thanks. Here is the deep dark secret and the mystery of compost and compost tea revealed. This might not be common knowledge because no one has figured out how to make a buck out of it yet. Please, for goodness sakes, tell as many people as possible. Its simple, its straightforward, its proven and it actually works on ANY plants, whether they are vegetables or shrubs. If you or someone in your family cuts the grass on your lawn, you can make your own COMPOST and COMPOST TEA to use both as plant food. Apply the compost and "tea" straight out of a watering can every seven to ten days. Obviously, don't try drinking the stuff. To make COMPOST, pile old grass cuttings (clippings) into a pile and as you build up the pile every six or so inches, VERY LIGHTLY sprinkle some water over the top. You want slightly moist, NOT wet. Use some chicken wire to make a cylinder about two feet across to pile the grass cuttings in. Use a garden fork or a pitch fork to turn the entire pile every 7 to 10 days and re-pile it into to chicken wire cylinder. Don't forget to LIGHTLY sprinkle water on every five or six inches over the top of the pile as you re-build it up. The idea is to work the OUTSIDE brown edges into the center of the pile. If you have some egg shells, crush them up into a powder and throw them on top of the pile also. CALCIUM. Its good composting stuff. You will probably notice after a few days the pile may likely give off steam from the heat inside. That is a GOOD THING. If you follow the above instructions, the pile will not smell. After 35 to 40 or so days, at the very bottom of the pile, you'll find rich dark COMPOST. Remove it and using the garden fork, turn the remaining part of the pile and add some new cuttings to it if you want, then re-pile it and also re-sprinkle the rest of the grass cuttings pile. From the compost you have collected, spoon about a fist-full or two of it into an old knee high NON-DYED nylon sock. Tie a string to the sock and suspend it above the bottom in a small two or three gallon pail that is full of ordinary room temperature tap water. Use a small aquarium pump (from Walmart) and a five inch air-stone (from Walmart) to bubble the mixture in the suspended sock for about 12 hours and then remove the sock and toss the mixture in it on the garden soil around your plants. In the brownish liquid that remains in the pail, leave the bubbler air-stone running for another 24 hours. Use clean coffee filters to pour the resultant COMPOST TEA through to filter and apply a couple of ounces of this "tea" directly to the soil around each plant. Its plant food ! Thoroughly clean the bucket, air-stone(s), socks and clear plastic air-hoses in hydrogen peroxide and rinse them in tap water to ready them for the next time around. That is all there is too it. Please don't mystify this simple process. Just tell as many people as possible. Compost tea works.
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organicguy
14 years ago
If you need nitrogen quickly, apply blood meal and water in well. It works very quickly!

Ron
The Garden Guy
http://www/TheGardenGuy.org
New May Article - "Sucession Planting" plus
ongoing garden journal & interactive message boards!
marymd7
14 years ago
As Ron says, bloodmeal. If you can't get straight bloodmeal, look for an organic Espoma all-purpose NPK fertilizer. I forget what it's called -- maybe earthtone? Anyway, it contains lots of bloodmeal. You can also try the liquid fish emulsions.
marymd7
14 years ago
I just reread your original posting and realized you've already tried these things. Something else is wrong then as they should definately work. Get your soil tested. Also, good soil is improved over time -- it's not a one shot add amendments and fertilizer deal. I suggest several yards of compost laid down this fall.
dchall_san_antonio
14 years ago
Where do you live and what are you trying to grow?

Can we assume you used the Espoma at a rate of 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet?

Are you using mulch around plants?
maddie_maddox
14 years ago
Search out molasses for organic gardening.

You may want to add some dry molasses to your soil, or mix at a rate of one Tbls. per gallon of water and add some of the fish emulsion as well and water the soil with that.

here's an excerpt - link at end to full article:
(please do post what works for you)
Maddie

'Why Molasses?

The reason nutrient manufacturerÂs have 'discovered' molasses is the simple fact that itÂs a great source of carbohydrates to stimulate the growth of BENEFICIAL MICROORGANISMS. 'Carbohydrate' is really just a fancy word for sugar, and molasses is the best sugar for horticultural use. Folks who have read some of our prior essays know that we are big fans of promoting and nourishing soil life, and that we attribute a good portion of our growing success to the attention we pay to building a thriving 'micro-herd' to work in concert with plant roots to digest and assimilate nutrients. We really do buy into the old organic gardening adage - 'Feed the soil not the plant.'

Molasses is a good, quick source of energy for the various forms of microbes and soil life in a compost pile or good living soil. As we said earlier, molasses is a carbon source that feeds the beneficial microbes that create greater natural soil fertility. But, if giving a sugar boost was the only goal, there would be lotÂs of alternatives. We could even go with the old Milly Blunt story of using Coke on plants as a child, after all Coke would be a great source of sugar to feed microbes and it also contains phosphoric acid to provide phosphorus for strengthening roots and encouraging blooming. In our eyes though, the primary thing that makes molasses the best sugar for agricultural use is itÂs trace minerals.

In addition to sugars, molasses contains significant amounts of potash, sulfur, and a variety of micronutrients. Because molasses is derived from plants, and because the manufacturing processes that create it remove mostly sugars, the majority of the mineral nutrients that were contained in the original sugar cane or sugar beet are still present in molasses. This is a critical factor because a balanced supply of mineral nutrients is essential for those 'beneficial beasties' to survive and thrive. ThatÂs one of the secrets weÂve discovered to really successful organic gardening, the micronutrients found in organic amendments like molasses, kelp, and alfalfa were all derived from other plant sources and are quickly and easily available to our soil and plants. This is especially important for the soil 'micro-herd' of critters who depend on tiny amounts of those trace minerals as catalysts to make the enzymes that create biochemical transformations. That last sentence was our fancy way of saying - itÂs actually the critters in 'live soil' that break down organic fertilizers and 'feed' it to our plants.'

From:
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/general-cultivation-information/76723-sweet-organic-goodness-magical-molasses.html
justaguy2
14 years ago
For those who don't know what the 420 in the link above means, it's a pot growing site. Probably not safe for visiting while at work ;)
corrigan
Original Author
14 years ago
I live in west Tennessee, I'm mulching with newspaper covered with straw from my duck house (so the straw has lots of duck poo in it). To get my soil tested would take several weeks, which is too long to help me right now, but I'll go ahead and do it for next year. I used the Espoma at the rate recommended on the back, which I can't remember right now, but I didn't measure by weight - the back of the bag said 3 cups was about equal to one pound, so I measured in cups.

I know it takes a while to get good soil, but I need my garden to grow this year, lol. I've added compost, composted manure, peat moss and God knows how many shredded leaves from the 25 mature trees in my front yard. Part of the problem is that 10 years ago this yard was all forested, but they cut down and hauled off every last tree from the back, leaving nothing worthwhile in the soil, which is clay that's hard as a rock and which somehow manages to stay soaked for days after it rains, even though our house is up on a hill. I've double dug several of the beds, tilled the rest and added enough amendments to raise all the beds a little bit (there are thirteen 3x16 beds). I've also used products with mycorrhizae.

I guess I'll go for the pee and blood now. lol I had forgotten all about molasses, which I did used to use in my garden at my last house. I looked for the gallon jugs of it in the garden centers here last year, but no one sold it. It's kind of expensive using the stuff from the grocery store. They sold it at a garden center where I used to live, which was obviously much cheaper.
fountaam
14 years ago
You added a lot of amendments. You might try alfalfa meal cheap source of nitrogen, especially when you get it from the farm supply.

You might add the straw to the compost rather than the garden if there is lots of duck poo, could be burning your plants. I would check the pH of the soil - and perhaps check your watering schedule. I'd probably use bone meal rather than blood meal - more broad spectrum.

Do the soil test asap. None of the leaves were oak, I hope? Any walnut trees nearby? The pH can bind up your soil nutrients so that the plants can't take them up. Or it could be a pesky micro-nutrient problem.
Kimmsr
14 years ago
What you need is a good, reliable soil test to see what is going on. Your soil pH can cause what appears nutrient deficiencies, and what appears to be a Nitrogen deficiency can also be a Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc, Iron, Sulfur, Boron, Copper, or maybe Molybdenum deficiency, depending on how those leaves are yellowing.
But then again you may need a supplemental "fertilzier" because the Soil Food Web in your soil is not yet functioning well enough to supply your plants with the needed nutrients because it is too soon after you added organic matter. A soil test will indicate that and these simple soil tests can also help,
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drainsÂ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.

Here is a link that might be useful: UT CES

Quick fix Miracle Grow alternative

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Quick fix Miracle Grow alternative

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