Unplanned experiment feeding potted MG's

I have potted MG's, star of yelta planted in two planters and climbing my iron railing to my sunroom. The ones on the right were volunteers growing in a planter with a large star jasmine. The ones on the left were planted in their own planter with no competition. The ones on the right the soil is three seasons old with just a top dressing of new each spring and fed with miracid for my jasmine. The ones on the left had new soil this year and are fed weekly with regular miracle gro. The results were so startlingly different I just had to share. Of course the miracid IS high in nitrogen, but they are flowering really well and the leaves are just so much healthier I thought I would share the results.

Another picture of plants on the right.

the plants on the left

Louise, that is amazing. Thanks for sharing this.

Louise . . .

Thanks so much for sharing. What a great comparison.
Now, let's hear who still thinks that MGs like poor soil better.

Emma

Louise - If I am understanding you correctly, you are saying the MGs grown in a pot with poor soil and sharing it with another plant are doing better?

From my own experience in my yard, I find that the I. purpurea really seem just fine with poor soil as long as they have enough sun and ocassional water. I also wonder if the miracid is also another factor.

The best bloomer I've had so far was a cross I created and grew this year. It was also in a large pot with old soil and was sharing the pot with another heavy rooted plant. I wonder if they really put on a show because they are trying to survive long enough to produce seeds since they are competing for everything with another plant?

Cannot really say Becky for sure. I sure did not plan it. The one with the old soil and miracid fertilizer is blowing away the others. I did not get the miracid until July so they were poking along until then, so I know it probably is the fertilizer. Until then they were getting regular miracle grow like the others. I acquired several jasmines this year along with some blueberries and a ginger that likes acid soil so I bought miracid and started using it on my tropicals and the blueberries. My star jasmine is also much greener and more vibrant since using it. My night blooming jasmine shot up and has flower buds too. Next year I am going to use it on all my potted MG's. Because the MG's using it are much healthier I have very little bug damage and absolutely no spotting of any kind on them. This has been a pretty bad bug and disease year and it is just those that have nothing wrong with them. I just found it so interesting....

That is fascinating. What company produces the miracid? I have never heard of it. Inquiring minds want to know!!! What a great discovery! :-)

You should start fertilizing the other side with miracid, too, and see what happens! :-) The right side plants are gorgeous!!

I googled Miracid ... I was thinking miraclegro.
http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp;jsessionid=1AAA8BC8E5FACA80B6B05106C03204E1?bodyCssClass=scotts+blade+product+general+en&tabs=general&navAction=push&bodyId=product_general&proId=prod70218&itemId=cat50106&id=cat50106
Sure enough. But ... I have never, ever seen that sold here. But ... When I saw what plants like it ... azalea, camellia, Rhododendron, etc. I ran out to my porch and grabbed my box of MiracleGro food that I bought especially for those plants ...
http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?bodyCssClass=scotts+blade+product+general+en&tabs=general&navAction=push&bodyId=product_general&proId=prod70346&itemId=cat70044&id=cat70044

Looks like a very similar fertilizer. My soil is very alkaline here, so I bet the plants do love some acid in the fertilizer. I'll have to try it, too!


This message was edited Aug 19, 2008 2:54 PM

Becky, since the name starts with mir, then Miracle Grow produc? Probably
a 30-10-10 formula, like I used to buy for my orchids. Heavy nitrogen fornula for
orchids when out of bloom

30-10-10 is exactly correct, Jackie!!! :-)

miracid is a miracle gro product and I do believe they changed the name miracid to something else.

I edited my post above:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=5436993

And there is the comparison. I wonder if they still produce Miracid?

This message was edited Aug 19, 2008 2:58 PM

I think it is just called miracle gro for acid loving plants now.

found this on a blog
BTW the miracid from Amazon is DIRT CHEAP - maybe they are selling it out?
I guess it IS now the same as Miracle Gro for acid loving plants. the only difference seems to be that it is not pre-measured to fit their hose end feeder????

I read somewhere that some home gardners are having some success using it to control blackspot on roses

Well, funny you should bring that up, Lavender4ever ...

I was wondering if "rust" fungus prefers alkaline plants? Which might explain why my plants get attacked by this fungus and others constantly. I think some more research is in order! Thanks for starting this intriguing thread! You may be on to something ...

Here is my list of important questions:

what is 'poor soil' (?)...define 'poor soil' (?)...'poor' in what (?)...
Poor in a only one specific nutrient (?)...
Poor in at least several nutrients (?)...which particular nutrient(s) is the soil 'poor' in e.g., Nitrogen (?),Phosphorus (?),Potassium (?)...
is the soil poor in a particular combination of various Macronutrients (Major or primary), Minor Nutrients (secondary) nutrients (?)...what is the ratio of the various nutrients that the soil may be 'poor' in...(?)...

How does a gardener know which nutrients the growing medium in question may or may not be poor in (?)

Thread(s) where I attempted to address nutrients and non-specific terminology
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/684152/

Food for thought...

TTY,...

Ron

lol it is not that scientific Ron. Wish I could help you out. Poor in this case = my perception. Several seasons with not repotting and only top dressing in the spring. Highly pot bound plant residing in the pot. Perhaps someone else can do a more controlled experiment with the fertilizer. 'twas only my observations :)

The questions I posted were quasi-rhetorical and primarily intended to stimulate thought on certain generalized terms that are often used...anything more specific might be addressed at any point in time e.g., whenever anyone felt like it...

TTY,...

Ron

poor soil means it won't support many things. Just because a plant *can* grow in poor soil, doesn't mean it prefers poor soil. NO plant prefers poor soil.

Melis

Melissa - There are plants that bloom better in what some people would classify as "poor" soil, which many I. purpureas do. Too much of certain nutrients will promote foliage, but not flowers. Saxicolous and Epiphytic plants such as Bromeliads and Orchids don't care for soil. I consider these "Air" plants. Hydroponics has proven that plants do not need soil at all, but instead a base material for which to attach their roots with water, nutrients, and light provided. My favorite is the PlantWall! So COOL!!!: http://www.greenfortune.com/plantwall.php and googled photos: http://images.google.com/images?q=plant+wall&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GFRD&um=1&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

So my take on Louise's beautiful plants is that she has the base material for the roots (old depleted soil) and is providing water and miracid fertilizer. So there is something about that combination that her I. purpurea and Jasmine seem to love! What would be considered poor soil for some plants, is great soil for others! And ironically, the other group of vines on the left side of her stairs WAS planted in "good" soil, but are doing poorly. So go figure?!!! Obviously they are not getting the nutrients they need from the soil itself as she thought they would.

Plants are so interesting! The possibilities are endless ...

Great topic!!!! :-)

This message was edited Aug 21, 2008 8:31 AM

and the ones on the left were fed the standard miracle grow liquid all purpose fertilizer only. However, I did start them on the miracid just to see how they do now.

Oh good! DO keep us posted! I am really curious if it is the miracid fertilizer ...

Me too. I can tell you that I grew the same variety of MG on that railing last year, planted in the same planter and it looked more like the ones on the left.

I will have to remember to try he Miracid.. I use it for our blueberries so now can try it on MG's... I did manage to get a pretty good mess of reds this summer..

Very pretty. I love the way the color can vary depending on the angle of the
shot.

That looks great growing up the post. Beautiful vine! Let us know how the miracid works for you!

I noticed how dirty the ceiling thingie looks. Yukkers.... the guy that was to come out and clean it for us.. along with the rest of the house exterior... well he fell off of a roof and broke his eye socket, his nose, and his wrist.. so we are waiting for him to heal up.. He is from our church and a delightful young man... so we will be content to wait...

I gotta learn to take photos that don't show EVERYTHING .. sheesh..

Carolyn

Carolyn, that's part of life! I tend to feel sorry for the spiders when I clean - leaving the webs - and then all of a sudden, one day, it hits you right in your face. Some people might actually think you are lazy when it comes to cleaning.... LOL!