The Great Plant Food Challenge: chemical MiracleGro versus organic Better World Plant Food: Better World versus Miracle Gro

Showing posts with label Better World versus Miracle Gro. Show all posts

Friday, 15 July 2011

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.

Peas.

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

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.

Monday, 4 July 2011

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.

Sunday, 26 June 2011

June 26th: Test Bed Two. Let’s start again!

As I mentioned in my other blog today, I under-fed the Better World plants for the past month (and still got better results than with MiracleGro). But I want to see how well Better World can perform if I actually follow the instructions, ie: use the recommended dosages.

Here’s my new test beds, with Better World Plant Food mixed into the soil to start with.

I’m doing this on the ultra-cheap. I’m using trays and containers from the Dollar Store, because clay pots (I know they’re better) are expensive. And heavy! I have to haul all this stuff up 3 flights of stairs....

The nice ladies at East End Garden Centre recommended I use container soil, instead of Triple Mix.

Tomatoes.

Peas from seed.

Discounted ‘Mister Lincoln’ variety roses from my local IGA.

The leaves were spotty when I got these plants. Probably one reason they’re on sale?

Carrots from seed.

Lettuce from seed.

If I can find some more strawberries, I’ll add those too. And some decent basil. I hate the taste of the Columnar Basil.

Stay tuned! You never know how I’ll screw up next! There’s a reason I chose the moniker: The Lazy Gardener.

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.....