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Jon Shemitz · 15-05-2007, 04:44 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible

wrote:

Hi. I live in Minnesota and wanted to get a jump on the growing
season. I started a small vegetable garden growing in my garage. I
started it from seeds and am very happy with the results. I should
add that I use a diluted mix of Miracle Grow. I'm concerned about
ingesting chemicals, so decided to switch to organic fertilizers
(nothing personal, just for me, the butterflies, bees, that darn
rabbit that always gets to the leafy greens and the soil). Okay, so I
am getting ready to transplant the plants to the backyard and switch
them to organic ferts as needed.

I called the place I purchased the organic ferts and asked for
recommendations. The young woman told me that it was not recommended
to switch at this time. That Miracle Grow prevents the use of other
ferts and will kill the plant if another fert is used. Although she
seemed sincere, I question this. So, to your knowledge, does this
make sense? What should I do? I want to go organic.

There may be something in what she says. When you use something like
Miracle Grow, you might as well be doing hydroponics. Miracle Grow is
a sort of pre-digested plant food, like living on an IV drip. I have
read that Miracle Grow tends to kill soil because it is nothing but
microbe shit (the plant's food) with nothing for the microbes to live
on. I don't know how true this is, but it does make sense.

Otoh, you're about to put seed starts, with their modest soil volume,
into a much larger volume of soil. Unless that soil has just come out
from under a decades-long assault by lawn chemicals (or black plastic)
it's almost certainly alive. Even if your seed starts are addicted to
Miracle Grow, they should quickly send roots into the living soil and
start feeding there.

So, your transplants *may* have a bit more shock than usual, but I do
think it should be OK to go organic now.