June 2: Plants need food too? Who knew? I thought plants were food. I guess they’re not cannibals.

The first week results are in. 

                                   MiracleGro      gain                    Better World        gain 

• Raspberry                  16 in            +.5                        13.5 in                      +.5

• Basil                             10.5            +.5                          10.5                          +.5

• Tomato                         7.0           +1.0                            7.0                         +1.0

• Marigold                       3 blooms                             6 blooms

So far, everything seems equal, except the marigolds, which prefer Better World.  There is new growth on all the marigolds, so stay tuned. 

All plants seem to have hints of new growth. 

See May 27th posting for more feeding details. 

Both Better World and Miracle-Gro suggest weekly feedings.  Miracle-Gro says you can go 14 days between feedings. 

           According to Eric Rosenkrantz of Matchboxgarden.ca , he uses a lot less than the recommended amount of Better World, because he has a huge greenhouse. Quote:“I basically gave the soil a dusting of the product. Still got great results!”

          So I might try using Better World in lesser amounts than directed.  I think I’ve been adding more Better World than I actually need.   According to instructions “Better World Plant Food is highly concentrated; a little goes a long way.... over-application will not harm your plants.” So it doesn’t scare me the way Miracle-Gro does , which states “ can burn plants. ” 

Anyway, now that they’re all fed, I can go back to being Lazy! 

Till next week, anyway.

June 1: The plot thickens.

I’ve had several requests for a control plot, to properly compare plant feeding to not feeding at all. It’s been a week since started the Miracle-Gro versus Better World Plant Food in matching bins; so it seems only fair to the “dirt and water” contingent to start new beds from scratch.

Here they are:

Each bed contains, from left to right: 

strawberry, eggplant, jalapeno pepper (what was I thinking?!), 

and romaine lettuce. 

The two pots in the foreground contain radishes and green beans, which I’ll grow from seed. I’ve been told it’s too late to start growing from seed. We shall see. 

Or is that “We shall seed” ? 

Ibid with Miracle-Gro.

Ibid with Better World Plant Food. I managed to wedge a rosemary herb beside the lettuce. 

NOT part of this comparative study, but just to see if I can get it to bear fruit, I've set aside another plot bed: 

A fig tree. And some other assorted herbs and veggies. Consider this a stress test. How much can you reasonably jam into a container and still get results? 

Oh, and I’ve chosen to gamble the harvest from this lot on Better World.  

Why? Because I prefer the idea that organic supplements can actually grow food just as well petro-chemicals.  

(I also think the moon is made of cheese, but American dairy farmers won’t let  NASA harvest it.)

Here's what the farm looks like:

May 30th: It’s been 4 days! Can we harvest yet?!

Jeez... this growing stuff takes forever. Pass the cheesepuffs please.

A couple of observations:  MIracleGro raspberry and basil looks equal to BetterWorld.  

Tomatoes look slightly happier on MiracleGro. 

Marigolds are not happy with MiracleGro at all, but doing nicely with BetterWorld. 

Marigolds are not happy with MiracleGro.

Marigolds are shiny happy people on Better World. 

When I first planted this stuff, I , being such a klutz, 

managed to damage the stalks of a couple of the marigolds on the BetterWorld side.  

I’m not sure if you can see it clearly, but the blossom on the left has a kink in the stem. 

This is one of the plants I damaged.  The bloom was clearly hanging south, with a 95º  bend to the stem. In 3 days, this flower has revived and ‘straightened’ to a 15º  bend.  

On Better World. 

All without expensive physio-therapy or chiropractic treatment. 

One other comment: I might have purchased the wrong basil. It’s kind of bitter-tasting, rather than the sweet stuff I prefer. I’m not sure if what I’m tasting is chemical fertilizer from the original hot-house grower (Freeman Herbs  http://www.freemanherbs.com/), or if this is just what Albahaca Columnar is supposed to taste like. Will keep you posted. 

A few people have asked me to include a control sample. 

In the next few days, I’ll do that with a fresh set of herbs and strawberries.  Spread the news! 

May 27th: The first feeding.

I mentioned I was lazy, right?

Feeding the garden is a requirement of this blog —nay, the sole purpose of this blog!— so I best get to it.  How hard can it be, right?

Okay, so let’s look at the competitors:

On the left, wearing the green and yellow trunks— MiracleGro! 

And on the right, in white trunks with fruits on them— Better World Plant Food!

Now, I have to confess to being a typical male. I avoid asking for directions, and rarely, if ever, read assembly instructions. Duct-tape works on everything.  But in the interest of science, I’ll glance at the usage directions for both. 

Hmmmm...... 

Okay, ummmm.... 

Miracle Gro: I’m using this outdoors on vegetables... but they’re in a container box, something like a houseplant. And too much will burn the plants.  No point in killing the experiment too early. Okay... I'll go with the milder blend.

It mixes up easily with water. The blue crystals remind me of the Copper Sulphate I used to play with as a kid. (Do parents still allow 7 yr olds to play with chemistry sets today, or would Child's Aid be called in?) Mixed with water, it’s a pretty tint of light blue, kinda like windshield washer fluid. And probably just as toxic. 

What I don’t do for my readers....

And now the Better World: 

Better World Plant Food gives me two options. I can just toss it on top of the soil and then water the plant normally. That appeals to The Lazy Gardener's Creed. (Rule One: do as little work as possible). But, since the Miracle Gro was mixed with water, I should  follow option two for Better World.  

Let’s see....Mix with water, wait 8 hours!? Wow! This stuff even caters to The Lazy Gardener's Creed, Rule Two: Whenever possible, procrastinate. 

Ten hours later.... 

The Better World Plant Food mixes up to a pale brown fluid, something like the Don River in August, but smells much better. Actually, it’s pretty much odourless. Trust me, with a schnoze my size, you notice odours.  

Not wanting to contaminate my watering can (which might skew results), I add both fluids directly from their individual mixing containers to their respective planters. 

No pictures. Use your imagination. It’s not like the plants suddenly started dancing or anything. But if they do, I’ll be sure to post the video here. 

I might as well add the starting measurements of the various plants here. 

Because size matters to Real Men:

                            MiracleGro Box           Better World Box

• Raspberry                  15.5 in                        13 in

• Basil                           10.0                           10.0

• Tomato                        6.0                             6.0

• Marigold                       5.0                             5.0

Please note, I couldn’t find two raspberry bushes of equal height. These are the starting measurements.

May 27th: The first feeding.

I mentioned I was lazy, right?

Feeding the garden is a requirement of this blog —nay, the sole purpose of this blog!— so I best get to it.  How hard can it be, right?

Okay, so let’s look at the competitors:

On the left, wearing the green and yellow trunks— MiracleGro! 

And on the right, in white trunks with fruits on them— Better World Plant Food!

Now, I have to confess to being a typical male. I avoid asking for directions, and rarely, if ever, read assembly instructions. Duct-tape works on everything.  But in the interest of science, I’ll glance at the usage directions for both. 

Hmmmm...... 

Okay, ummmm.... 

Miracle Gro: I’m using this outdoors on vegetables... but they’re in a container box, something like a houseplant. And too much will burn the plants.  No point in killing the experiment too early. Okay... I'll go with the milder blend.

It mixes up easily with water. The blue crystals remind me of the Copper Sulphate I used to play with as a kid. (Do parents still allow 7 yr olds to play with chemistry sets today, or would Child's Aid be called in?) Mixed with water, it’s a pretty tint of light blue, kinda like windshield washer fluid. And probably just as toxic. 

What I don’t do for my readers....

And now the Better World: 

Better World Plant Food gives me two options. I can just toss it on top of the soil and then water the plant normally. That appeals to The Lazy Gardener's Creed. (Rule One: do as little work as possible). But, since the Miracle Gro was mixed with water, I should  follow option two for Better World.  

Let’s see....Mix with water, wait 8 hours!? Wow! This stuff even caters to The Lazy Gardener's Creed, Rule Two: Whenever possible, procrastinate. 

Ten hours later.... 

The Better World Plant Food mixes up to a pale brown fluid, something like the Don River in August, but smells much better. Actually, it’s pretty much odourless. Trust me, with a schnoze my size, you notice odours.  

Not wanting to contaminate my watering can (which might skew results), I add both fluids directly from their individual mixing containers to their respective planters. 

No pictures. Use your imagination. It’s not like the plants suddenly started dancing or anything. But if they do, I’ll be sure to post the video here. 

I might as well add the starting measurements of the various plants here. 

Because size matters to Real Men:

                            MiracleGro Box           Better World Box

• Raspberry                  15.5 in                        13 in

• Basil                           10.0                           10.0

• Tomato                        6.0                             6.0

• Marigold                       5.0                             5.0

Please note, I couldn’t find two raspberry bushes of equal height. These are the starting measurements.

May 26th: The Planting

It’s hard work living up to my moniker; The Lazy Gardener. 

Setting up the planting beds involved far more physical labour than I usually attempt. All items hauled up three flights of stairs to the back deck in hopes of avoiding nibbling critters, and to give the little green things the full sun they apparently need. 

Here’s the step-by-step process:

Step One: Find two of each plant that are relatively equal in size and quality 

(not as easy as it sounds).

Step Two: Too lazy to build planting beds, I’ll just recycle these old recycling bins. They come with built-in drainage holes and handles; perfect!  Add two inches of gravel for improved drainage. 

Step Three: Add a layer of landscaping mesh. I dunno why. I’m just following the advice of Eric Rosenkrantz of Matchboxgarden.ca , a really helpful, intelligent guy and a great source of organic herbs and veggies. BTW: I didn’t buy my plants at Matchbox only because, for this test, I wanted “working-class plants,” the kind you’ll find in any garden centre. The plants at Matchbox look too good! They’ve been started on Better World Plant Food, so this wouldn’t be a fair test if I used his plants. 

Step Four: Two identical bins, filled with Triple Mix and Black Earth Top Soil.

Step Five: Yikes! These bins hold a lot of dirt! 50 L of soil in each bin. 

Step Six: There! It’s looking pretty good. The planting instructions say the tomatoes should be 24 inches apart. Well, too bad for them! I haven’t got that sort of space. So this will be a test not only of the two plant foods, but also of what can be grown within a confined space. 

Step Seven: Here it is, MiracleGro on the left, Better World Plant Food on the right. Note that the raspberry plant on the left is about 4 inches taller than the one on the right. (There were only two raspberry plants left at the garden centre.)  Otherwise, all the other plants are of equal height.  

Okay, we’re set to grow. I mean, go. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about the feeding process.