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Re: Make your own "Miracle-Gro"

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

dragonfly@joymail.com wrote:

> I remember seeing a gardening program on PBS not too long ago in
>which the speaker told how he made his own fertilizer mixture.  It
>contained household ammonia, beer, dishsoap (I think), fish emulsion,
>and some other ingredients.

Ah...sounds like one of Jerry Baker's, er, concoctions (to use the
term charitably).  The general deal on this sort of home alchemy is
this - you try these sorts of things at your own risk.  From all I've
heard, these formulae don't really do much to help the health of your
lawn in a long-term sense.  Mostly they give you a quick green-up
and rapid [read: weak] growth, which can lead to pest and disease
problems down the road.  There's also the fact that many of these mixtures
are really more expensive to make than just buying a regular fertilizer
of either synthetic or organic origin.  And, in experimenting with household
chemicals, you run the risk of poisoning yourself or your plants.

Household cleaning chemicals aren't intended to be put on your plants,
and the likes of Mr. Baker (who I might add is NOT really a Master
Gardener) really seem to do more harm than good.  Fish emulsion,
seaweed emulsion and other organic fertilizers work quite nicely on
their own, without the added (dubious) benefits of ammonia (which
can burn your plants), dishsoap (which just makes a mess) and beer
(which should be drunk, not sprayed on your lawn).

There ARE concoctions which can be of benefit, but the ones promoted
on certain shows have yet to demonstrate any real benefit to anyone
other than Mr. Baker and his publishers.

In short, if you want Miracle-Gro, buy Miracle-Gro.  Or feel free
to ask around (like here) about the benefits of other non-synthetic
fertilizers.

Cheers!
Jason
jasonq@novia.net

USDA Zone 5a - Near Omaha, Nebraska USA, where the rains
FINALLY appear to be slacking off...


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