Which nutrient is right for me?

Vindicated said:

Miracle-Gro Moisture Controlled Potting Mix is peat moss, perlite, compost (grass & leave clippings), coir, Miracle-Gro Continuous Released Fertilizer, and Micromax. The coir is what gives it the "moisture control" abilities. The Miracle-Gro Continuous Release fertilizer should have NPK ratio of 21-7-14 and it will perform similar to other nutrients with 3-1-2 ratios. When it's sold by itself, it's marketed to last three months. Micromax is Scott's time released micro nutrient supplement. When it's sold by itself the label say it lasts 16-18 months. All in all, you have a potting soil that should feed for 4-6 months.


There is nothing weird or scary in Miracle-Gro. The nitrogen in the fertilizer is made from nitric nitrogen and ammoniacal nitrogen. Compare this to Advanced Nutrients. Guess what they use for nitrogen in their Sensi Grow A & B bottles: nitric nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen, and urea. It's the exact same stuff, but AN adds urea for some reason and MG doesn't. You know who else uses this stuff? Dyna Gro! And just like MG they also leave out urea.


For those that don't already know, nitric and ammoniacal nitrogen are considered the good stuff, urea is the cheap stuff that burns easily and needs to be broken down first before it can be taken up by the plant's roots. Why MG doesn't use it and AN does beats me. Actually, my personal opinion is that AN is just trying to bump up their NPK ratio so the N comes out as an even number. Without the urea the N would equal 4.8%, with urea it equals 5%.


In case your wondering about phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) you'll be happy to know that all three companies use phosphorus pentoxide (listed as P2O5 on the bottle) and potassium oxide aka "soluble potash."


In short, Advanced Nutrients likes to use a 5-2-5 formula, Miracle-Gro uses the traditional 3-1-2 ratio. Dyno-Gro uses a 7-9-5 formula, which other then concentration, is very similar to MG. HA! Bet you didn't see that one coming.


So go ahead. Use your potting mix. Watch the plant and don't add any additional nutrients until you see that it needs it. IF you need to add more fertilizer, my opinion is to stick with a slow release formula that's similar to what is already in the mix.


Best of luck to you.

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Vindicated said:

Here are some links so you can compare the ingredients yourself:


http://www.lovethegarden.com/files/m...ease-label.pdf


http://www.advancednutrients.com/hyd...ient_facts.php


http://www.dyna-gro.com/Website pdf ...loom sheet.pdf


http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/pr...154&tabs=usage


http://www.scottsprofessional.com/en/micromax.html


(Posted 04-25-2012, 03:13 PM)

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ProdigalSun said:

organics...

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JiuJitsuToker said:

Wow what brilliant insight you must have so much experience growing

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