Is Miracle Gro Garden Soil OK to Use

Good morning all. I wanted to put my 2 cents in about garden center sales people. I was treated like I was crazy when I went to purchase my Mel Mix supplies at Lowe's. The man there told me all I needed to do was till the soil and add some cow manure to get fabulous results. Sigh. On a positive note, Lowe's had peat moss for the best price.

On the other hand, when I went to Home Depot, the young man there was extremely interested in what I was doing. He asked all sorts of questions. My initial question to him was, "Does this Home Depot carry cotton burrs?" He is very new to the Home Depot garden department and is soon taking a master gardening course. As Mr. Bartholomew says, it's easier for someone new to gardening to accept the SFG method.

I also wanted to say to Daniel9999, I am so impressed with how you took the time to provide so much information regarding this topic. You are a definite asset to this forum!

I'm on my third year of square ft gardening. Each year I just mix in more miracle-gro, peat moss, and the white lime stuff.....i forget the name. (i have 3 4x4 squares)

And for the last two years I've grew more than my family could eat....had to give away and throw away a lot as well.

the first two years I grew, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes and cucumbers. I also grew strawberries and peppers in pots using that potting mix from miracle grow.

I was actually trying to find out whether or not i could just buy one bag of manure this year instead of the more expensive bags of MG but i didn't want to mess up something that wasn't broken.

Am i missing something here? would i have better results that is more cost effective using something else?

rayjgold wrote:I'm on my third year of square ft gardening. Each year I just mix in more miracle-gro, peat moss, and the white lime stuff.....i forget the name. (i have 3 4x4 squares)

And for the last two years I've grew more than my family could eat....had to give away and throw away a lot as well.

the first two years I grew, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes and cucumbers. I also grew strawberries and peppers in pots using that potting mix from miracle grow.

I was actually trying to find out whether or not i could just buy one bag of manure this year instead of the more expensive bags of MG but i didn't want to mess up something that wasn't broken.

Am i missing something here? would i have better results that is more cost effective using something else?

rayjgold, I really couldn't say. Our site promotes and supports the All New Square Foot Gardening method that uses Mel's Mix as the growing medium. There aren't many supporters of Miracle Grow on this forum.

RoOsTeR wrote:

rayjgold, I really couldn't say. Our site promotes and supports the All New Square Foot Gardening method that uses Mel's Mix as the growing medium. There aren't many supporters of Miracle Grow on this forum.

Oh, Im sorry. I thought this was a general gardening site not linked to any vendor or specific growing medium.

You've showed me the door, and now Im walking through it. (ice age 4)

Thanks

rayjgold wrote:I'm on my third year of square ft gardening. Each year I just mix in more miracle-gro, peat moss, and the white lime stuff.....i forget the name. (i have 3 4x4 squares)

And for the last two years I've grew more than my family could eat....had to give away and throw away a lot as well.

the first two years I grew, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes and cucumbers. I also grew strawberries and peppers in pots using that potting mix from miracle grow.

I was actually trying to find out whether or not i could just buy one bag of manure this year instead of the more expensive bags of MG but i didn't want to mess up something that wasn't broken.

Am i missing something here? would i have better results that is more cost effective using something else?

The recommendation is to simply add homemade compost each time you harvest and free up a square. No need to add more Mel's mix or the MG garden soil. The fertilizers that are used in the MG are usually used up in about 10 weeks. the compost will actually add nurtition and general organic matter that will improve the tilth of the garden mix. The MG will not.

Oh don't get me wrong. You're more than welcome here. There just aren't many proponents of Miracle Grow here. There is lots of great information and plenty to learn on our forum.

RoOsTeR wrote:Oh don't get me wrong. You're more than welcome here. There just aren't many proponents of Miracle Grow here. There is lots of great information and plenty to learn on our forum.

+1

Rayjgold, Don't quit! You will find all kinds of useful tips, even enriched soil traditional gardeners chime in with good tips.

This is my first year growing a garden and I'm using the [New] Square Foot Gardening way. There's no specific vendor promoted here. This is a WAY of gardening, with a specific growing medium combination that each person makes on their own. That is, 1/3 volume of vermiculite (I had to use some perlite so my mix is close be not spot on), 1/3 volume fluffed peat moss, and 1/3 volume of blended compost. The compost needs to be composed of 5 different organic sources, each 1/5 of the volume. I used Kellogg mix as my compost to get my garden started this spring while I figured out how to compost in the city or could locate more ingredients. I'm even humble enough to admit I am using a weak solution of Miracle Grow fertilizer every 3 weeks or so because I think my mix is weak in nutrition. My mix is not "complete" yet. Consider your Miracle Grow as your starter compost while you search for 4 more ingredients, such as, farming manure (cow, poultry, rabbit, horse, etc.), worm castings, mushroom compost, kelp, dried grass clippings, or veggie and fruit trimmings. If you buy a used copy of the All New Square Foot Gardening book, you just may get hooked on it. Only 6 inches deep for the beds, except for long root veggies like carrots, parsnips, potatoes, etc.

Welcome aboard.