Is Miracle Grow really the devil???

Ok well lemme start right off the bat and say I am no expert grower. I dabbled here and there but never took it very seriously. This year I been reading into it a lot more and it seems like everything I read and all the forums I visit all have horrible things to say about Miracle Grow. Both the nutrient solution and the potting soil. I've actually read threads saying "Miracle Grow killed my plants!" I sort of find some of this hard to believe. Don't get me wrong, maybe it isn't the BEST nute out there, but I find it hard to believe it is some sort of crop killing herbicidal satan spawn plant food

My best guess for people who say it killed their plant would probably be A) they used too much of it or B) something else killed their plants.

Reason I brought this up is because I just bought a bag of Miracle Grow potting soil for my starter pots and when I mentioned it to one of my friends he practically had a stroke, haha. Like 90% of people he said "that is going to kill your plants! Your seedlings won't even make it 2 weeks!" Maybe everyone is right, I dunno. Like I said I'm no expert, but I find it hard to believe the best selling line of horticulture products is really THAT bad. Just wanted to see what everyone else thinks. I know growing top notch pot is a little different than growing tomatoes.

I started my seeds today in Jiffy pots with Miracle Grow potting soil. After a few weeks, I'm going to move them to my outdoor sites using a mix of mostly Earthgro potting soil with some of the native soil (the soil around here is pretty good) and the the remaining little bit of the Miracle Grow potting soil just to use it up. Is it certain doom for my crop using any of this Miracle Grow soil at all? If it is, does anyone have an explaination as to why Miracle Grow is so bad?

Also, to the experienced folks out there, like I mentioned the soil around here is actually not too bad. Do I really have to lug 40lb bags of soil out to my sites and dig holes? I guess what I'm asking is that can I make up for mediocre native soil with top notch nutrients. Like that Fox Farms stuff everyone seems to have success with?

sonar said:

Ok well lemme start right off the bat and say I am no expert grower. I dabbled here and there but never took it very seriously. This year I been reading into it a lot more and it seems like everything I read and all the forums I visit all have horrible things to say about Miracle Grow. Both the nutrient solution and the potting soil. I've actually read threads saying "Miracle Grow killed my plants!" I sort of find some of this hard to believe. Don't get me wrong, maybe it isn't the BEST nute out there, but I find it hard to believe it is some sort of crop killing herbicidal satan spawn plant food

My best guess for people who say it killed their plant would probably be A) they used too much of it or B) something else killed their plants.

Reason I brought this up is because I just bought a bag of Miracle Grow potting soil for my starter pots and when I mentioned it to one of my friends he practically had a stroke, haha. Like 90% of people he said "that is going to kill your plants! Your seedlings won't even make it 2 weeks!" Maybe everyone is right, I dunno. Like I said I'm no expert, but I find it hard to believe the best selling line of horticulture products is really THAT bad. Just wanted to see what everyone else thinks. I know growing top notch pot is a little different than growing tomatoes.

I started my seeds today in Jiffy pots with Miracle Grow potting soil. After a few weeks, I'm going to move them to my outdoor sites using a mix of mostly Earthgro potting soil with some of the native soil (the soil around here is pretty good) and the the remaining little bit of the Miracle Grow potting soil just to use it up. Is it certain doom for my crop using any of this Miracle Grow soil at all? If it is, does anyone have an explaination as to why Miracle Grow is so bad?

Also, to the experienced folks out there, like I mentioned the soil around here is actually not too bad. Do I really have to lug 40lb bags of soil out to my sites and dig holes? I guess what I'm asking is that can I make up for mediocre native soil with top notch nutrients. Like that Fox Farms stuff everyone seems to have success with?

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im not an 'expert' grower either. but i do know my ladies gobble up their miracle grow tomato plant food. it seems i almost CANT overnute them, they love it. you can look at my albums in my profile...all 8 of em are taking in 2 teaspoons of miracle grow per gallon. theres a lot better soil than miracle grow potting soil, but there's plenty of ppl on here who swear by it and have had huge dank harvests.

and about your lugging bags question. lets just say the more work or effort you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. but mixing it with natural soils not bad at all. peaaace.

Miracle grow isn't going to kill your plants necessarily but especially for small seedlings the nutrients can be sort of strong. I have grown about 3 or 4 crops with miracle grow soil almost exclusively and it was great herb. I used the OC MG last year and it fucked my shit up. The thing about miracle grow is that it's in the soil and it's released as you water. The most common problem for new growers is overwatering so you can see how it could compound your problems very quickly, and what are you gonna do flush the soil? Good luck with that as more ferts are going to be released. Most guides say to use a inert medium so that you can control every aspect of the fertilizer so if they get burned you can back off and you know what fertilizers and what concentrations are being givin while if you make the same mistake in MG you can't cut back on the fertilizer. All in all i think it's okay soil but there are definately better options out there.

If you want to do an outdoor grow and have good soil maybe you should try out FF happy frog soil. It is made for being mixed with native soils to improve it and also there are the happy frog and peace of mind slow release fertilizers that are 100% organic and good for the environment rather than using man made chemical fertilizers that are toxic. Be kind to mother nature she will reward you IMHO organics is the only choice.

Pipe Dream said:

If you want to do an outdoor grow and have good soil maybe you should try out FF happy frog soil. It is made for being mixed with native soils to improve it and also there are the happy frog and peace of mind slow release fertilizers that are 100% organic and good for the environment rather than using man made chemical fertilizers that are toxic. Be kind to mother nature she will reward you IMHO organics is the only choice.

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I constantly hear about this Fox Farm stuff. Where do you buy it? I mean I guess I can buy a bottle of nutes online, but that isn't really practical with soil. I'd probably pay more for shipping than the actual price of the soil, haha. I live in a pretty small town so all I really have available is Wal-Mart. I dunno if they have it at Lowes or Home Depot but either one of them would be a good 30-40 min drive. Is it something I would only find at a specialty store? Even though it's a small town it isn't exactly "rural" (ie no farming/Agriculture stores).

Ive used Miracle grow and have had great success however I did mix a little soil in a 20 gallon pot probably about 3 gallons and its still burning my babe three weeks in so be careful lots of nitrogen. But other than that it isn't exactly swine flu to cannabis lol

stores that cary fox farms soil have to get their shit shipped too so they factor that into their retail price. i think youll be paying about the same no matter where you get your soil. the good stuff is usually around 30-40 bucks a bag

i use MG all the time with out any problem at all, the trick is to just give it plain water for about a month

good luck on the grow!!!!!

Stoney384 said:

i use MG all the time with out any problem at all, the trick is to just give it plain water for about a month

good luck on the grow!!!!!

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Im use MG plant food for tomatoes this year on my plants. what week is it safe enough to start giving my plant food? i also am growing in a New Era potting soil.

the MG 15 - 30 - 15 blue powder works GREAT for me in flowering. I do not use pre-fertilized soil.

I think the key like someone said, is to not use any additonal nutrients for a while. I read on here somewhere that between the two, Scotts potting soil was a better choice as to what you can get at a big box store.


I will add one other thing, some of the really cheap potting soils, or topsoils, have a lot of pine bark in them and that is bad.

Someone asked where to get fox farms, they have a website that lists local retailers

mine grew on water till it got about a foot high, white hairs all over and a tiny bud on top, then i feed it. MG Bloom Booster.

Well my logic always was that if it worked wonders for my tomatoes then it should work well with weed. I always thought the 2 plants were related genetically but after doing a little more research I found that they think it is more related to hops than tomatoes.

This might sound a little crazy, but I actually picked through my potting mix to pick out as many as those little pellets of nutrients as I could. Like someone else mentioned I don't like the idea of not controlling how much nutrients it gets every time I water. Especially so early in the germination process. But I think I will look into getting some of that Fox Farm stuff.

i grew with miracle grow last year and my plant got to around 5 and a half feet tall...(i started it intending on letting it grow all through the summer and let it flower naturally in the fall and winter...but long story short i got two dogs and i forgot to tie them back up when i left and they ripped it up and ate it) i kno it sucked for me but my dogs liked it lol

7shane6 said:

i grew with miracle grow last year and my plant got to around 5 and a half feet tall...(i started it intending on letting it grow all through the summer and let it flower naturally in the fall and winter...but long story short i got two dogs and i forgot to tie them back up when i left and they ripped it up and ate it) i kno it sucked for me but my dogs liked it lol

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Damn that suck man. I live in town so I gotta go guerilla. I'm worried about deer and rabbits getting to mine.

I have used miracle grow once, the problem for me was that there was way too much nitrogen. It burned the lower half of my plant but I was able to save it in time; however, that part was unable to recover. I guess if you will be using miracle grow, flush the soil really well because it is choc full of nutrients.

any other experiences with miracle gro?

well my wife swears by it, but I don't smoke any of the plants she grows. LOL

Well as the knower of all,

Don't start out with what it says on the label, mistake #1

Start at 50% and work up in 5 to 7 days increments. You need to understand plants have cycles that demand different amounts of ferts at different stages.

Flush for 10 days before harvest.

If you can't flush than use sheep or cow shit from wally Mart about 2$ a bag. mix 25% shit 75%other.

Peace

Ive always used miracle grow.. adn have had GREAT success with it!! If u r going to use some.. get the Moisture Control. That stuff works the best!! And its a hell of alot cheaper than the fox farm stuff.. Ive never used fox farm.. soo i cant say anything good/bad about it... I hear good stuff about it tho.. but in my opinion. .its wayyyy too expensive! you can get like.. a 64 quart bag.. or w.e. it is for like 16-18.. and thats enough to fill up a shit load of plants. I usually buy the 32 quarts for around $10.. and its penty for my whole grow of 2-3 plants.. adn thats including transplanting them from small to medium to large (3-5 gallong pots) containers... I would deff go with it.. adn whenever I vegg my plants.. I usually never have to worry about feeding the plants.. cuz the MG has nutes for them already. =)

Also.. they hav eseed starting soil mix as well you can use for your seedling.. and it works good too. I usually just use the MG Moisture Control tho from start to finish... and have never had ANY problems... here.. take a look at my finished grow.. I vegged my white widow for 3 weeks.. adn flowered for 8 weeks.. and used MG Moisture Control the whole grow... my leaves never yellowed adn dies... she came out amazing!! i pulled 3.15 ounces DRY from her!! Im not sure if it was cuz of the MG soil.. or the plant was just like... on steroids the whole grow.. but it got HUGE and produiced ALOT of bud.. heres the link..

https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/288470-nirvanas-feminized-white-widow-cfl-69.html

and if u like that journal.. im starting my 2nd one now.. its in my signature.. another WW plant.. and Nirvana's Mystery Strain.. theyre 1 week into flowering... Good Luck

Pipe Dream said:

Miracle grow isn't going to kill your plants necessarily but especially for small seedlings the nutrients can be sort of strong. I have grown about 3 or 4 crops with miracle grow soil almost exclusively and it was great herb. I used the OC MG last year and it fucked my shit up. The thing about miracle grow is that it's in the soil and it's released as you water. The most common problem for new growers is overwatering so you can see how it could compound your problems very quickly, and what are you gonna do flush the soil? Good luck with that as more ferts are going to be released. Most guides say to use a inert medium so that you can control every aspect of the fertilizer so if they get burned you can back off and you know what fertilizers and what concentrations are being givin while if you make the same mistake in MG you can't cut back on the fertilizer. All in all i think it's okay soil but there are definately better options out there.

If you want to do an outdoor grow and have good soil maybe you should try out FF happy frog soil. It is made for being mixed with native soils to improve it and also there are the happy frog and peace of mind slow release fertilizers that are 100% organic and good for the environment rather than using man made chemical fertilizers that are toxic. Be kind to mother nature she will reward you IMHO organics is the only choice.

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Agreed. I've mixed my own organic outdoor growing media for a long time, always avoiding Miracle Grow and all other products containing chemicals that kill soil with salt and heavy metal deposits and/or slow release nutrients. From what I gather on weed forums MG organic seems to play to a boutique audience growing one or a very limited number of plants who have little or no interest in the process of developing a living soil to bring out the best in their strain(s) but like to flash the word organic.

MG isnt all that bad it is really just the balls of food that throw some people off. the ones that looove to feed. ive got a plant thats a few weeks from harvest thats MG raised. even used MG peatmoss that "feeds for 3 months" like the soil. aaand the MG garden soil when i ran out of potting soil. ( it had bigger sticks compoost and live worms in it) every time i watered i would make sure a little water came out the bottom but i would wait untill it was light again to water. on one occasion i overfed it like crazy. and stunted its growth but it still made it through.

and as far as seedlings i never had problems with them dying just from the soil.