Hi aptosca - It said - for potted plants. How are you to know that doesn't mean house plants? That was one of your questions. The terms potted plants and house plants are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. All houseplants are potted, but not all potted plants are grown in the house; many people have potted plants outside, on patios and porches, or summering their houseplants outside, or just growing-on plants for size or whatever - many reasons. Plants grown outside in pots tend to dry out faster than plants grown indoors, and that's why some people prefer "water retentive" soils for outdoor potted plants. But one thing is true outdoors or indoors - wet soil that never dries out makes for wet roots, and wet roots make for dead plants. As you can see from reading all of this thread, there's a lot of 'different strokes for different folks.' It's one reason that you find so much conflicting information if you do much research. One thing that's absolutely true, though, is that if roots stay too wet, plants die. But... That's not always true, either, because many plants are incredibly, amazingly adaptable. Species that are known to hate "wet feet" sometimes adapt to living in a constantly wet - I mean soaking wet - pot. I know, I have one. This is another source of much conflicting information. My advice to you would be to try what seems reasonable to you, what seems to fit your own requirements best. If things don't work as well as you would like, try something else. Even if you are satisfied with results, go ahead and try something different, just as an experiment. That's one reason you never get tired of working with plants, once you get into it.

Miracle Gro soil mix has earned a reputation for being toxic to young roses whose root systems are still developing, because its nutrient content is overly rich; too much nutrient available immediately. I suspect it appears to be effective because it pumps a lot of Nitrogen into the plants instantly, giving the impression it is beneficial in the long run. Chances are, the N supply will be exhausted fairly quickly and then you will see what the actual soil components are capable of. If you want something to amend your existing soil with, this is likely a waste of $$$; stick with the amendments you already have at your disposal. If you want a good potting mixture for container grown roses, look to a brand that has a lot of organic nutrient components (manure, cottonseed meal, green sand, alfalfa, fish meal, etc) which will release nutrients as the components break down, slowly, over a long period of time. A steady, slow supply of Nitrogen is much more beneficial to the plant than is a sudden burst of intense nutrient.

I've been gardening now in my home for 27 years and can only go by my experience, but I don't have problems with MG potting mix causing any problems in my gardens. When first dug, as there where no gardens anywhere on the acre of land we purchased with our home, I added plenty of peat, humous and top soil to the gardens. Kept turning them over and over and planted a few annuals the first year. As my gardens expanded to many different ones, I would put a handful of MG potting mix in the hole when the seedlings went in the ground. I always fertilized with MG fertilizer. My container pots got miracle grow potting mix in them and at the end of the season, the soil went into a compost area for next season. In the spring it was loaded with worms etc. I would mix the compost and MG soil in the containers and use the MG potting mix when planting in the gardens and the MG fertilizer for the plants. All of my flower and veggie beds are covered with bark mulch purchased by cubic yards from a local nursery and it decays over time into the soil. 4 years ago, I started WS seeds and used MG potting mix in all my containers to start the seeds and have had at least 90% germination every year. What ever didn't germinate went into a "let's see what happens" bed and some seeds have germinated in the area. I just let mother nature water them and see what happens. As I have dug out these seedlings do transplant I have found many, many earth worms in the soil there that is mostly sand and MG potting mix. This past fall, I wasn't in the best of health as I was emptying my containers of soil for the winter and decided to just dump the soil in left over plastic bags that had held the many cubic feet of MG potting mix I had purchased. I left the soil in the bags in the back of the house all winter. They where covered in snow, rained on, sleet, ice etc. Typical stuff for winter in New England. I hoped that the sun and heat within the bags would make a compost that was fairly good to use. Well, Saturday I decided to check the soil and see what had happened to it. Hubby dumped one of the bags that was almost full, making it about 2 cubic feet of soil, into a lawn cart. It smelled rich and much like a compost and it was full of earth worms. At least 30 of them in that one bag. Based on what I found in just 1 bag out of 4 of them, I fail to see how the MG soil is such a problem to the ground and gardens that we have. If, as you say, the MG potting mix would deplete the soil of good nutrients and not good for the soil, how is it that I have a bags of it left outside and they are full of earthworms, smells like compost and looks rich and healthy. I have had my soil tested many times in the areas of my gardens and the soil has always been good for my plants and that's with use of MG fertilizer. Now my lawns are another story, but I just keep digging up more and more of it as I think beautiful green lawns are a waste of time and money. New England weather does not produce perfect green lawns unless lots of chemical stuff and water is used. I prefer to have beautiful gardens instead. The only pesticide I have ever used is roundup on poison ivy and I don't like to use it but have no choice. My daughter is anaphylactly allergic to the stuff and when she was young, almost died twice from contact with it. My gardens are full of healthy beneficial insects, butterflies, birds etc. The only insects I gave up on dealing with is the red lily leaf beatle. When that problem became an hourly pick off the things, I pulled out all my lilies and got rid of them. Too many other beautiful plants to put in the ground without dealing with them. I recycle everything we possibly can, separating for the recycle pick up. For WS, we use only the recylces that are deep enough. My plastic bags are on their 4th year of use and still appear to be able to reuse another year, as are most of my containers. The ones we can't use, will go in the recycle bin. I use styrofoam cups for plant swaps and ask that the cups be returned for use in follow up years and they have been. The ones I use for starting seeds in, are in their 4th year of use right now and still in good shape for another year. When they can't be used anymore for seeds, I will break them up and use them in the bottom of containers for drainage. Personally, I think there are many more concerns for our gardens than he worry about MG soil. Bees disappeared from my gardens until the neighbors moved. They had to have a perfect lawn and the chemicals the lawn company used kept the bees away. Now they are gone and the insects are back. The attitude the public has "a little bit is good so a lot is better", is the dangerous thing. The products that are sold to the public and used for everything under the sun are a much bigger concern. The aim for a perfect lawn and all Scotts perfect lawn method is far more serious than MG soil problems, if they exist. It's improper use of chemicals that is the real problem. Just wish they could come up with a way to eradicate the misquito. that one serves no purpose and their bite can kill people. Like a student in high school that was a student of my daughter. That scares me a lot. Not MG potting mix. Fran

I'm surprised that you have had this problem. I've used miracle grow fertilizer for over 20 years on all my plants except my acid lovers and have never had a problem. I haven't tried the new already mixed one this year. I only use the prepackaged measured packets, pour it into the container, attach it to the hose, turn on the water and off I go. My tickseed have never suffered and I have 4 different kinds. Haven't used any fertilizer this year because we've had so much rain, I have only had to water my containers and WS flats that still need planting. Please tell us how you used the miracle grow so we might be able to figure out what happened to your tickseed. Fran