The Great Plant Food Challenge: chemical MiracleGro versus organic Better World Plant Food: comparison growth organic versus chemical fertilizer

Showing posts with label comparison growth organic versus chemical fertilizer. Show all posts

Saturday, 16 July 2011

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.

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.

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.

Better World tomato, Test Bed Two.

Two fruit.

Miracle gro tomato, Test Bed Two.

One fruit.

Basil comparison.

Monday, 4 July 2011

July 4th: Invasion of the Klingons, the sequel?

Independence Day in the U.S.A. today.

And something invaded my garden again last night.

Here’s the eggplant on water only.

Here's the eggplant on Miracle Gro.

This is where the eggplant USED to be on Better World.

(See July 2nd post).

The critter took my strawberry too!

(See July 2nd post).

I guess this means even animals (or space aliens) think food grown on Better World just tastes better.

Meanwhile....

The tomatoes on Miracle Gro are finally catching up to Better World.

Raspberries seem to be coming in at last! Planted these on May 25th.

These are on Miracle Gro.

Tomatoes on Better World are humming along.

Raspberry on Better World is showing some budding too, but not as much as on Miracle Gro.

Raspberries are part of the rose family. My test roses seem to be doing better on Miracle Gro as well. Hmmmmm... coincidence?

And the bean plant on Better World.....

... is blooming and fruiting. Or beaning... whatever it is bean plants do.

Carrot seeds are starting to sprout on the Better World side.

And finally: I’m readying the defenses against further alien attacks.

July 3rd: 30ºC (86ºF) today.

Here’s something I wasn’t expecting... the plants in my side by side tests are reacting differently to the heatwave we have today.

All the boxes were watered equally by me in the morning, and then got a thorough watering in the rainfall we had last night.

The ‘water only’ plants are fine.

But the Miracle Gro plants have clearly been affected by the heat.

The plants on Better World look as well as those in the ‘water only’ box.

Makes me wonder if MiracleGro contains salts, or some other chemical, that leaves the plants more susceptible to heat. I’ve read somewhere that all chemical-based fertilizers contain salts in order to make them soluble in water. Will try to find that article again and link to it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, back in Test Bed 2...

Despite yesterday’s attack by Klingons (or some other critter), the Better World bin is sprouting, while the Miracle Gro bin has nothing.

Let’s visit the tomatoes from Test Bed One:

In the MiracleGro bin, I have the following tomatoes. Six of them in various sizes.

These came in later than in the Better World bin.

Miracle Gro.

In the Better World bin, I have six large tomatoes coming along.

Better World.

This is my largest tomato, and the first one to come in. On Better World.

Better World.

In the War of the Roses, after seven days, MiracleGro is doing far better than Better World. (Compare the new shoots below.) I’m told this is because of the additional nitrogen content of MiracleGro, which produces dramatic leafing. I noticed similar results back in early June with the tomatoes.

MiracleGro.

Better World.