Organic version of "Miracle grow"?
 

Does anyone have any suggestions for an organic version for Miracle Grow? This will be my second year trying to go organic in my garden. Last year I had a hard time keeping my plants fed correctly. Thanks for your help!

Tomato Tone is popular. It needs to be mixed into the soil or media.

I use fish emulsion and kelp.
For my seedlings I just use pond water from our large fish pond.

So what parts of MG are "not organic"?

Fish and kelp week after potting up, half strength. TomatoTone in the planting hole. Not so popular here but osmocote as a side dressing a month in after planting if i see some drought mixed with random heavy storms....a slow release fert i use sparingly just because i bought it for some reason.
And if work gets busy and i have limited time to tend the garden, i feel i've got some food in there.

Osmokote is not officially labeled 'Organic' but it seems fine. I use it since i have it. Though not necessary with FishKelp and TTone.

I'm going to try Alaska Fish Fertilizer this year [URL]http://www.homedepot.com/p/Alaska-1-Gal-5-1-1-Fish-Fertilizer-100099249/100211859[/URL]

Alaska Fish Fertilizer has an analysis of 5-1-1. So that is basically a nitrogen source.
If you soil already has sufficient amount of P and K, then Alaska FF is a good choice.

Gardeneer

I got tired of smelling like dead fish.

Miracle Grow is a chemical salt, which is never going to be organic. I use it and Osmocote both, although I use the MG very lightly. All of my plants in 4" pots get Osmocote, and they just take off after that.

For seedlings I also use a product from kelp4less.com called "extreme blend." It is kelp, fulvic, humic, and amino acids. It is not certified organic, but I think it represents a different approach to fertilization. It has a small amount of nitrogen, but mostly works as an uptake accelerator and natural growth hormone.

Miracle Grow's popularity also comes from the minor elements it contains, which also act as uptake accelerators. MG is not a complete fertilizer, but does contain several minor elements to make it work better.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;555229]I got tired of smelling like dead fish.

Miracle Grow is a chemical salt, which is never going to be organic. I use it and Osmocote both, although I use the MG very lightly. All of my plants in 4" pots get Osmocote, and they just take off after that.

For seedlings I also use a product from kelp4less.com called "extreme blend." It is kelp, fulvic, humic, and amino acids. It is not certified organic, but I think it represents a different approach to fertilization. It has a small amount of nitrogen, but mostly works as an uptake accelerator and natural growth hormone.

Miracle Grow's popularity also comes from the minor elements it contains, which also act as uptake accelerators. MG is not a complete fertilizer, but does contain several minor elements to make it work better.[/QUOTE]

I got extreme blend as well. How do you apply it? Thanks!

[QUOTE]Miracle Grow is a chemical salt, which is never going to be organic.[/QUOTE]

Meaning what? That "organic" stuff is not composed of chemicals?


Or does it have more to do with where the chemicals came from?

Here we go again...

[QUOTE=dmforcier;555248]does it have more to do with where the chemicals came from?[/QUOTE]

Yes. Inorganic fertilizers are manufactured, aka synthetic.

Regarding the extreme blend, I mix about a tablespoon to about four gallons of water, sprinkle in a little MG, mix well, and dunk my seeding trays in that.

My only experience with MG is that it works. I've never used it but a friend and neighbor did for a few years being her fiancé worked on a nearby dairy farm and with no pennies got it for free...she was so competitive, i am not at all. Here garden was feets ahead of mine....toms and peas and salads...big and no flavor. With three seasons of pot-lucks and garden parties her produce and salads were big and watery. Grew fast and gorgeous but had no flavor. Same exact seeds from the same packets we shared were full of strings in the early peas....mine were a bit smaller but intensely more flavorful. Not stringing. They moved south so no longer neighbors...

Noted by everyone. The flavor comparison. She produced more and faster.
Maybe an early boost, then slow it down.
No need for it here.

She hated me. :))

I like that fish/seaweed smell. Smells 'important'. :twisted:

For liquid ferts, I use fish emulsion plus blackstrap molasses to supply some K and minerals. Strangely the blackstrap removes the 'important' smell. :P But... I'm okay with that. :twisted: I mostly use it for house peppers and don't want them to smell too important. :lol:

I also use bone meal for a lot of things. I put a little in every time I pot my tomatoes up, because I don't want to mess with liquid ferts especially trying not to overwater the seedlings when it'[s kind of cool. Many folks here will say that high phosphorus isn't good but it seems to work great for me as a starter fert with nothing else but a bit of compost.

I also dig in a whole cup of bone meal in the planting hole for each tomato to supply some N and plenty of P. and I use chopped or crumbled kelp as a slow release source of potassium. Wood ashes (leached) is another natural potassium source, or blackstrap molasses whether liquid or in dry flakes. And when I had some, I used dried chicken manure product dug into the soil before planting as well - harvest was great, I'll do it again.

None of these generic organic ferts are 'dialed in' it's more winging it, but if that bothers you there are many brand name organic ferts available these days with a guaranteed NPK balance, easy to use.