July 20th: I bet Gregor grew with organic fertilizer!

http://www.popherald.com/news/gregor-mendel-google-doodle-following-the-tradition/8576/2011/07/19

July 17th: Better World Plant Food has a website!

http://www.primenutrients.ca/index.php

Why not check it out? 

They ship anywhere. 

Now you can do your own test! 

July 16th: Remember, this is NOT a blog about gardening. It’s a comparison test.

Lately I’ve been getting so caught up in trying to grow stuff that I’ve nearly forgotten my original objective.  I set out to do two things: 


1. to compare a chemical (Miracle Gro) against an organic (Better World) plant food. 


2. to see how much I could grow in a confined space. 


I’ve had a number of questions about feed amounts, cost comparisons, etc. I appreciate the interest. My comparisons are not in controlled lab conditions; they’re on my back deck, prone to excess heat, insects, and assorted wildlife. So I like to think my tests are real-life, even if my record-keeping is sloppy. (Come to think of it, real life is pretty sloppy too.)


        Let me answer the cost question: organic costs more than chemical. Period. I knew that going in. As for the difference? That depends on how much of the organic (in my case Better World) you use. Like all manufacturers, Better World has suggested amounts. I’ve discovered, by accident, that I can use a lot less than recommended, and still get results as good or better than with Miracle Gro. 


      You can experiment with Better World without fear of harming your plants. 


       You can’t vary the Miracle Gro amounts, unless you are willing to risk over-salinating the soil, and possibly burning your foliage. 


        I think you also need to look at yields and growth times. If you look through the history of my blog, you’ll see consistently better and faster yields with the organic Better World. If I was growing on a larger scale, this would be important to me. 


        The other item that I think is important in this image-conscious world is the overall appearance of the food grown. Middling as my photos are, you can see very clear differences in the strawberries at these progressive links: 
http://hasenfrass.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-7th-five-days-of-neglect-and.html

http://hasenfrass.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-8th-some-additional-photos.html

http://hasenfrass.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-13th-berries-and-lettuce-ready-for.html

http://hasenfrass.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-19th-and-rounding-first-corner-its.html

       In the process, I think I’ve answered the second question too. How much of each do I use? The answer again is, it depends. I started out using the recommended amounts. Then quickly screwed up the Better World amounts by inadvertently under-using the recommended amounts. Recently, because I have so much stuff in such little space, I’ve doubled the Miracle Gro dose, and doubled the suggested Better World dose. Miracle Gro I continue to use as a liquid (made from the blue powder) because I have to. Better World I am now spooning directly into the soil, because I can and it’s easier to use than as a liquid tea. 


Here’s today’s photos: 

Mister Lincoln rose on Better World.

Mister Lincoln rose on Miracle Gro.

Mister Lincoln rose on Miracle Gro.

This rose, and the raspberries, are the only plants I’ve found that seem to prefer Miracle Gro. 

Strawberries on water only. 

Finally getting some fruit, weeks after the Better World results (see links above). 

Jalapeno pepper on water only. 

Eggplant on Miracle Gro. 

This is where my eggplants on Better World were at the end of June... 

before the squirrels ate them! 

Jalapeno pepper on Miracle Gro.

My eggplant on Better World has recovered from the squirrel attack and caught up with Miracle Gro inside a month. Amazing. 

Jalapeno pepper on Better World.

Jalapeno pepper on Better World.

Jalapeno pepper on Better World. 

I have 3 or 4 good-sized peppers. Anyone want to taste it? 

Peas. 

Miracle Gro on the left. 

Better World on the right. 

’nuff said. 

I have one marigold left on Miracle Gro. 

Tomato on Miracle Gro, looking like Scarface. 

I have nine tomatoes coming in on Miracle Gro. 

I have several marigolds left on Better World, and more coming in. 

Big honkin’ healthy tomato on Better World. 

Ten tomatoes on Better World. 

More marigolds on Better World.

More tomatoes on Better World.

Raspberry on Miracle Gro.

Raspberry on Better World. 

The Better World over-packed bean pot. 

The Better World over-packed bean pot bearing beans. 

The Better World over-packed bean pot bearing beans. 

Better World tomato, Test Bed Two. 

Two fruit. 

Miracle gro tomato, Test Bed Two. 

One fruit.

Basil comparison. 

July 11th: with the UV at 11 today, on the 11th, it’s a Nigel Tufnel Day.

In case you don’t get the reference, this will explain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7IZZXQ89Oc


I don’t have any additional clever witticisms tonight. Here’s some pictures instead.

Miracle Gro rose. 

Better World rose.

Better World rose.

Peas. 

 Miracle Gro tomatoes. Starting to come in, but with scars and deformed shapes.

 Miracle Gro tomatoes. 

 Miracle Gro tomatoes. 

 Miracle Gro tomatoes. 

Better World marigolds. Still blooming. I have 2 left in the Miracle Gro bin. 

Better World tomatoes. Good looking, full healthy shape. 

Better World tomatoes. 

Better World tomatoes. 

Better World tomatoes. 

July 10th: Miracle Gro Better World Cage Match

As mentioned earlier this season, I’ve had to content with critters –likely squirrels– digging into my plant beds, eating the fruits of my labours, and generally ruining my Scientific Method. 
         I bet Gregor Mendel had the same challenges.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel 

After a few sloppy attempts at screening off the plant beds, I’ve decided to enclose all of them. It doesn’t look pretty, but it is meant to be temporary, and it works. 

 Not exactly the set of Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome, 

but all the contestants are together.

July 10th: “Please sir, I want some more!”

Well okay, the plants aren’t really talking to me. Not yet anyway. But it has been suggested to me, by a number of people who know better, that I am seriously under-feeding the plants. Given how crowded the containers are, I have to agree.


So how much is too much? With Miracle Gro, there’s always the danger of ‘burning’ the plants with too much of the pretty blue mix —one of my friends calls it Miracle Glow—  (I think it’s the chlorine content does it). With Better World, I can load it on without danger of burning, since there is no salt or chlorine present. 


I mentioned in an early blog that I’ve been mixing Better World with water as a ‘tea.’ I’ve been doing this because the Miracle Glow all-purpose blue powder is also mixed with water to make a... Kool-Aid-like substance. So it seemed the best way to compare. But the easier way to apply Better World is just to spoon the powder grains directly onto the soil around a plant, and add water. I’ve decided to do this henceforth. 

Here you can see Better World powder grains sprinkled onto the soil. 

I used a fork to mix it into the soil.

You can also see how much better the peas on Better World are doing, compared to Miracle Gro.

I’m doubling the feed for both.