June 26th: “Instructions? What instructions...?”

One month into my test:

Okay, this will be no surprise to my family or close friends. I rarely bother with instructions. Or directions when I’m driving. I like to “go with the flow.” What’s this got to do with my garden experiment?

       Well, ummmm... this is pretty funny... really... 

        It seems I’ve been UNDER-FEEDING the Better World side of these tests for the whole month. I’ve only been using 1/4 (!!!) of the recommended dosage.

 And yet I’m still getting better results than with the MiracleGro.  

       Now, some of you might rightly ask, “How do we know you didn’t screw up the MiracleGro side too?” A fair question. The answer is, I know I’ve followed the MiracleGro directions carefully, because I’m afraid of handling chemicals, and wanted to be sure I wasn’t harming my plants. I read those instructions carefully. And, MiracleGro comes with a handy measuring spoon.  

       On the Better World side, after the first week I didn't refer back to the instructions.  I, being so forgetful, just added one teaspoon of Better World per litre of water (to make a tea), instead of the recommended four teaspoons. 

      Now, to make up for my bungle, I will start some new test beds today. Those will be posted as Test Bed 2. 

In the meantime, I’d suggest that the results of my test to date is still valid. After all, here I’ve found a very forgiving organic plant food that, even when it’s under-used and misused, gives me results as good, and better, than Miracle Gro. 

See my notes below:

Here's some bean plants. 

Water only /                Miracle Gro  /            Better World tea.

Radishes. 

Water only /             Miracle Gro  /           Better World tea.

I should have transferred these into larger containers 2 weeks ago. Probably too late now, although I will try it. Still, you can see clearly that plants need food. 

And that the Better World Plant Food seems to work, well, better! 

Radishes from the pots above. 

Water only /       Miracle Gro  /          Better World tea.

         

You might find this interesting: the fourth radish, on the far right, was growing in my other test plot (the one containing the fig tree). This plot has the powdered Better World Plant Food mixed directly into the soil. Mixing Better World directly into the soil, or sprinkling it onto the soil around your plants (not mixed as a tea) is one of the options  given in the instructions.... yeah, those instructions..... 

 Above are my tomatoes on MiracleGro. 

Nice thick stems, lots of leaves, and getting some good flowering, at last. 

Above are my tomatoes on Better World Plant Food. The diluted tea version. 

Nice thick, hairy stems. Flowered days ago. AND.... I’m getting fruiting.  

Ha! Who needs instructions....

 Strawberries on water only. Still no fruit !

 Strawberries on MiracleGro. Harvested 3 fruit from this, am waiting for more. 

Seem to be getting new leaf growth.

Strawberries on Better World. 

Harvested five fruits from this plant, and have new fruit on the way! 

Jalapeno peppers are coming in. Here they are on Better World. 

Again, same results as everything else above: some fruit on water, more on MiracleGro, the most with organic BetterWorld Plant Food. 

I like how forgiving the plants are of my neglect. 

I gather plants don’t read instructions either.