On Fri, 13 Jun 2003 16:11:34 GMT, (Shiva) wrote:

On Fri, 13 Jun 2003 11:35:42 -0400, "Ol' Thornfinger"
wrote:

It seems to be the consensus around
here that you should avoid fertilizer-treated soil like MiracleGro.

Just out of curiosity, why? Besides its being ridiculously expensive...
I have used this stuff from time to time, especially with my potted roses.

_Thorn_

There's nothing "wrong" with MiracleGro and it's ilk--the water
soluable fertilizers--they deliver some of the essential chemical
compounds roses and other plants need. I think any problems may lie in
using this type of fertilizer to the exclusion of all other kinds, for
two reasons that I can think of. The first is that there may be a
buildup of salt and salt compounds; the second is the fact that roses
need "organic" nutrients too, for reasons akin to those for why WE
need whole foods and not just chemical extracts such as vitamin
supplements. There are minor trace elements and minerals present in
the whole foods that we know are beneficial--and then there is the
fact that roses, like people, just plain DO better when given whole
"foods." For us it might be Branola, for them a nice chunky manure and
maybe some alfalfa, leaf mold, etc.

I was talking about the prepackaged MiracleGro soil, with the
fertilizer built in.

Seems like there's been little success reported with roses with this
type of soil. Maybe it shocks the roses, I dunno. I've never used it,
but I don't have to do *any* amendments to my soil anyway. I'm just
reporting my impressions from my time on the newsgroup.

An "unofficial" reason, for me: I used MiracleGro type stuff for the
first couple of years, and never saw dramatic growth like basal shoots
that actually increase the number of big, healthy canes. Once I
started using MIll's MIx (alfalfa, sludge, other whole stuff) I did
see dramatic growth and more blooms. Was it the MIlls or was it the
fact that most of my roses were in their third and fourth years? I
don't know. Probably both.

I do the alfalfa meal/Osmocote/blood/bone meal/epson salt thing and I
hit them with MiracleGro every month or so and every couple of months,
fresh Osmocote (I just put a second dose down). Seems to work pretty
well. I keep saying I'm going to try Mill's (and Neem Oil for that
matter), but I never do. Maybe I'll buy some at the end of the season,
when my expenses are lower...