Miracle Grow pros and cons?

whiteboy346

New Member
this is my first plant and i used miracle gro potting soil and some blue miracle gro water additive, but i heard some wear that miracle gro is not good for this type of thing.

2ypcjyv.jpg


2ypcjyv.jpg


seems to be doing fine to me but then again i dont necessarily know what im doing.
 
I've grown with Miracle Grow once. I do not any longer because I want to control what nutrients my plants are receiving.
 
the plants i have now came out of hyponex soil and are now in MG potting soil. looks like they're healthier now than before. then again its my first grow.
 
Maybe they're just happy that they have been fertilized with something. MG is not custom-taliored to the needs of MJ. Many people don't like the proportions of the different types of ingredients that make up the nitrogen content (more important during flowering, but then flowering is pretty important lol).

Many people use it and are happy. Many more can't stand the stuff. Some of each camp have actually tried other things so they would at least have something to compare the stuff to.
 
now that they've grown into the soil a bit i am having a nute burn problem with a couple plants. and i guess all i can do if flush them or buy new soil.
 
now that they've grown into the soil a bit i am having a nute burn problem with a couple plants. and i guess all i can do if flush them or buy new soil.

Been there, done THAT lol.

Try flushing with a volume of pH-corrected water equal to three times the volume of the pots (IOW nine gallons for a three-gallon pot). That will help but the time-release stuff isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to wash away.

When you re-pot into larger pots you can cut that stuff if you haven't found better soil such as one of the FoxFarms products. Say... One part MG soil to one part each of coarse perlite, vermiculite, and peat. That will instantly cut the amount of ferts to (proportionately) 25% of what you have now and if you mix everything well you shouldn't have any hot-spots at least.
 
thanks. i've been trying to get some money to gether to buy some perlite. just have to wait for it tho.
 
One major gripe I've always had with Miracle Grow is the makeup of its nitrogen ingredients. No, all forms of nitrogen are NOT the same. Here is a Cut & Paste of an article I'd saved which discusses ONE aspect of it in general terms:

How To Determine Ammonium/Nitrate Ratio


Nitrogen is the building block of amino acids, proteins and chlorophyll. Plants can absorb nitrogen either as Nitrate (NO3-) or Ammonium (NH4+), and therefore, the total uptake of nitrogen usually consists of a combination of these two forms.

The applied ratio between Ammonium and Nitrate is of a great significance, and affects both plants and soil/medium.

For optimal uptake and growth, each plant species requires a different ammonium/nitrate ratio. The correct ratio to be applied also varies with temperature, growth stage, pH in the root zone and soil properties.

Root Zone Temperature

First we need to understand the different ways these two nutrient forms are metabolized:

Ammonium metabolism consumes much more oxygen than metabolism of Nitrate. Ammonium is metabolized in the roots, where it reacts with sugars.

These sugars have to be delivered from their production site in the leaves, down to the roots.

On the other hand Nitrate is transported up to the leaves, where it is reduced to Ammonium and then reacts with sugars.

At higher temperatures the plant's respiration is increased, consuming sugars faster, making them less available for Ammonium metabolism in the roots. At the same time, at high temperatures, Oxygen solubility in water is decreased, making it less available as well.

Therefore, the practical conclusion is that at higher temperatures applying a lower Ammonium/Nitrate ratio is advisable.

At lower temperatures Ammonium nutrition is a more appropriate choice,
because Oxygen and sugars are more available at root level. In addition,
since transport of Nitrate to the leaves is restricted at low temperatures, basing the fertilization on Nitrate will delay the plant's growth.

Plant Species and Growth Stages

As we already established, sugars need to be transported down from the leaves to the roots to meet the Ammonium.

In growing fruits and plants in which the majority of the growth is in the leaves (e.g. Chinese cabbage, lettuce, spinach), sugars are consumed quickly near their production site and are much less available for transport to the roots.

Thus, Ammonium will not be efficiently metabolized and use of a lower Ammonium/Nitrate ratio is preferred.

Effect of Ammonium/Nitrate Ratio on Root Zone pH

Electrical balance in the root cells must be maintained, so for each positively charged ion that is taken up, a positively charged ion is released and the same is true for negatively charged ions.

Thus, when the plant takes up Ammonium (NH4+), it releases a proton (H+) to the soil solution. Increase of protons concentration around the roots, decreases the pH around the roots.

Accordingly, when the plant takes up Nitrate (NO3-) it releases bicarbonate
(HCO3-), which increases the pH around the roots.

We can conclude that uptake of Nitrate increases pH around the roots
while uptake of Ammonium decreases it.

This phenomena is especially important in soil-less media, where the roots may easily affect the medium pH because their volume is relatively large compared with the medium's volume. To prevent medium pH from rapidly changing, we should keep an appropriate Ammonium/Nitrate ratio, according to the cultivar, temperature and the growing stage.

It is noteworthy that under certain conditions, the pH may not respond as expected due to nitrification (conversion of Ammonium into Nitrate by bacteria in the soil). Nitrification is a very rapid process, and the added ammonium may be quickly converted and absorbed as Nitrate, thus increasing pH in the root zone, instead of decreasing it.

Ammonium/Nitrate Effect on Uptake of Other Nutrients

Ammonium is a cation (positively charged ion), so it competes with other cations (Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium) for uptake by the roots. An unbalanced fertilization, with too high Ammonium content, might result in Calcium and Magnesium deficiencies. Potassium uptake is less affected by the competition.

As already mentioned, Ammonium/Nitrate ratio may change the pH near the
roots. These pH changes may affect solubility and availability of other nutrients.

Author: Guy Sela, Agronomist and Water Specialist
 
The only "pro" for MG is that it is easy to find and cheap to buy.

Think of MG to plants as hotdogs are to humans. While hotdogs are food, if you eat nothing but them you aren't getting nearly any of the nutrients required to live a healthy life. :peace:
 
The only "pro" for MG is that it is easy to find and cheap to buy.

Think of MG to plants as hotdogs are to humans. While hotdogs are food, if you eat nothing but them you aren't getting nearly any of the nutrients required to live a healthy life. :peace:

The moral of the story is "Don't be a wiener!"
 
this is my first plant and i used miracle gro potting soil and some blue miracle gro water additive, but i heard some wear that miracle gro is not good for this type of thing.

2ypcjyv.jpg


2ypcjyv.jpg


seems to be doing fine to me but then again i dont necessarily know what im doing.
Im a new grower as well...I started with home Depot miracle grow soil and nutes and all it did was cause fungus gnats...so then I tried Mr Earth's gold plant feed and that gave my plants gnat issues as well...I thought maybe I was watering to often, but once I changed what I was giving it most problems ceased. I would stick with well known grow suppliers such as fox farms,lotus, or technaflora....at least this way you know it's specifically designed for cannabis. But there is a lot of information here and very helpful staff. Best of luck with the second half.
 
The only "pro" for MG is that it is easy to find and cheap to buy.

Think of MG to plants as hotdogs are to humans. While hotdogs are food, if you eat nothing but them you aren't getting nearly any of the nutrients required to live a healthy life. :peace:
I just imagined a hot dog plant... And then invisioned killing it with fire lol what a weird concept xD
 
Back
Top Bottom