miracle gro's product = miracle kill?

There's always the possibility that s/he is sincere, but s/he does not refer to any posts offering advice when s/he follows up. A review of the threads will confirm that.

Yes, I agree, it is possible that someone posting here is sincerely looking for gardening advice.

seriously, gardening is a hobby that is supposed to relax yourself. some of you are taking this too seriously.

sure, sometimes i may find an answer directly just by searching, but i like the interactions and the personal opinions.

so here is my new question, i probably won't use those liquid fertilizer again, but it seems that those solid tiny fertilizing balls are good, because they release their contents slowly. which ones should i consider?

Compost

Depends on what you intend to fertilize.

The stickies in the Container Gardening thread have a great discussion on containter soil, and that includes those time-release fertilizer things. I've tried the soil mix and it seems to be working well for most things I've put in it.

However -

do

not

fertilize

cuttings.

:o)

p.s. I enjoy dp's straight talk and sarcasm. when someone isn't listening to the answers to the questions they're asking, sometimes that's the best way to get their attention.

...Yes, I use that tactic on my children when I am beyond my frustration level...however, we are all adults here and can simply ignore a post. Respect is the word of the day.

brit.......... I think we all understand your position: Lay off of youngman. Please consider that respect is something that is earned.

What I was saying regardless of youngman's debacle over miracle kill, is that I have read many of your replies to different people and I wondered why you were in a beginner forum. All people deserve respect, as human beings. If someone "attacks" you in any way, I would understand your disrespect of that person. I hope we do not disrespect each other simply for asking a "silly" question or giving an answer you do not deem "worth your time". Now, that being said, I am happy to announce I will be closing my post on the subject because we should be asking gardening questions. DP, you can sleep soundly tonight!

I've been following this thread and finally decided to add my two cents. I've used MG Quick Start successfully for many years with very good results. BUT, I consider "transplants" to be plants that already have a root system and are ready to be put into the ground. I don't consider cuttings to be transplants as they have not yet established a root system and they are obviously not ready to be planted (I use rooting hormones on those). It says on the Quick Start bottle that it's for transplants but does not mention cuttings. If used according to directions on young plants with an established root system, Quick Start works well. Youngman, since you've had so much trouble with Quick Start, I would recommend that you switch to Super Thrive which is a mix of vitamins and hormones. I've used it too and it works very well. There is nothing in it that will burn your young plants.

In response to Britbrighton, yes this is a Beginners forum. To me that means that when a beginner has a problem they are asking for help from someone with more experience. If experienced gardeners were not willing to take their time to come to the forum, you would have beginners trying to help beginners even if they themselves have not yet experienced the same problem or don't know all the things that could help. Even more experienced gardeners can learn something new from the responses. I am not a beginner but I can't tell you how much I have learned from the really experienced participants. My thanks go to those who take the time, and care enough to help. I believe that when 3, 4 maybe 5 knowledgeable people have given the same advice it is time for the poster to stop saying but, but, but , and follow the advice or not as they choose.

Personal interaction is all well and good in some instances, but this forum was not meant to be a chat room.

I agree! You have made a good point. Thanks for your tact over the matter. :)

Do not fertilize cuttings... Hmmm I recently tried to root some Rose of Sharon cuttings and one Japanese maple cutting. Zero success. Now I wonder if it's because I put them into MG potting soil, which presumably has fertilizer in it.

If that's the case, I've got some honeysuckle cuttings I just started, that I'll want to pull out of the same stuff. What do the experts think?

CrabgrassCentrl,
Here's a site with lots of good info on rooting cuttings, including honeysuckle:

http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/flowers_from_cuttings.html

Hope this helps.

for naturelover, i didn't just use the solution for cuttings, i used them also on some radish seedlings, they died the next day. and i also used it on a anthrium with one single tiny root, it died. and i used it on some spider plants which already have established roots, two of them died. how do you explain that then?

i bought this thing, because i was hoping that it will save my dying tropical dumb cane. it died after i used it.

I think we all understand that every time you use "this thing," it kills whatever you apply it to. It's hard to understand why you kept using it if everything you used it on died. Nobody on this earth can explain what happened with your radishes, spider plants, dumb cane, and other plants without more information. If you still have this thing, it might be worth your time to have it analyzed by an independent lab to find out exactly what comprises it. If it turns out that the components are different from what the label says they are, and IF you used the thing exactly like the label recommends, then you probably have grounds for a lawsuit against the manufacturer. You can ask not only for compensation for the monetary loss you've sustained, but mental distress and suffering caused by the death of your plants.
Do you have ANY plants that do well? It would be nice to hear some of your successes. It's heartbreaking to think that you face so much adversity in your gardening efforts. A lot of people with less determination than you have would have found another avocation by now. I admire your grit.

dp72,
I give grit to my parakeets, although there seems to be much contraversy regarding the need for it by many a bird expert. ;)
lb

Could you send me a little packet of it? ;>}

hey, everyone.

i found a good use for this quick start solution. i have some lucky bamboos that are growing in the water, i just put some solution in the water. it has been a few days now, the bamboos are still looking good.

Just a thought. Most plants get their NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) from rocks and soil by literally chewing through and solubilizing the earth. The Miracle-gro product, by contrast, is 100% water soluble, no chewing necessary. Because of that, the effective concentration of ions could be hundreds of thousands of times that normally found in soil. This means a plant without feedback controls for uptake could easily become overloaded, i.e.a dead plant. Two to four milliliters in a gallon of water might be more appropriate, roughly a hydroponic application. By comparison, many organic fertilizers, like horse manure and compost, often release nitrogen (as ammonia and nitrates) too quickly for many plants to absorb. As a consequence, most gardening books recommend letting them sit outdoors, in the weather, for a year to help wash out the toxic levels. A slow release rock type fertilizer applied in the field at 100 lbs per acre (fairly heavy app) would be roughly 200 mg for a 6" round pot. i.e. not very much, and you might want to go 10 times less for the quick start product. See hydroponic liquids for an accurate recommendation.www.greenhouse.cornell.edu/crops/factsheets/hydroponic-recipes.pdf