Is Miracle Grow considered organic?

Cat pee?

How big are the containers? If large, then organic is feasible. If small, not so much. I grow organically in whiskey barrels and the ground, but synthetic in my smaller (5-10 gal) pots. I use cottonseed(nitrogen), bone, and kelp meal with an occasional dousing of fish fert(nitrogen).

Other sources for organic nitrogen are feather, alfalfa, crab, and blood meal. And of course, there's compost and manure. Urine is also an alternative.

As far as the Ca and Mg are concerned, Lime(calcitic and dolomitic) are good sources but they raise ph. So, if that's a problem, gypsum is a good way to go. I just got some quick acting gypsum yesterday at Lowe's just for this very same thing.

Greenman28 or somebody else in the container forum should be able to help you regarding the sapwood situation.

Good luck.

Kevin

I use rabbit manure and worm castings to amend my soil. I use crushed egg shells and epsom salt rather than cal-mag.

I try to stay organic as possible. I use Jobe's organic fertilizer but also add worm castings, black kow compost ,cotton burr compost and add lime to my soil before planting this is in the ground. My container plants are in peat moss and perlite with lime with worm castings. I use Pure Blend Pro grow and bloom,cal mag,and fulvex when I fertilize them.

"Using human urine can help us work toward a closed-loop fertility system. While not a plant-based technique per se, using their own urine is a way that veganic gardeners can cycle back the nutrients from the foods they consume, while also diverting their urine from the water system where it acts as a pollutant.

Nutrients in human urine:

When we eat food, our kidneys filter out excess nutrients that our body is unable to use, and these nutrients are then expelled from the body in our urine. Our urine contains significant levels of nitrogen, as well as phosphorous and potassium (typically an N-P-K ratio aroundà11 - 1 - 2.5, similar to commercial fertilizers). Americans produce about 90 million gallons of urine a day, containing about 7 million pounds of nitrogen. Studies conducted in Sweden (Sundberg, 1995; Drangert, 1997) show that an adultâÂÂs urine contains enough nutrients to fertilize 50-100% of the crops needed to feed one adult. Rather than importing nutrients for gardening, and exporting nutrients via the toilet, we can help close this loop by keeping our urine in the local food cycle. It can be especially beneficial for fertilizing in city environments where other local forms of fertility may be scarce due to lack of green spaces."

:-)

Caelian

Here is a link that might be useful: Urine Separation

Thank you all for your input. Some really great suggestions here, many I had never heard of. Very much appreciated. I will be trying some of them for sure!

DMForcier - Miracle Grow is a subsidiary company of Monsanto who in my opinion is responsible for a multitude of environmental, & medical issues due to GMO & pesticide resistant crops. Scotts is also associated with them. No it is not organic. This unfortunately is the reason I grow my own food.

Woohooman - I will post a closer detailed pic of my containers but here is one I found to give you a rough idea of size. I know the spacing is much too close but I plan on keeping most of them quite small this year. We also have a short season so most will be brought inside in late September.

Is that all connected? and how deep? If so, then that's plenty to support a microherd, especially if you mulch some to keep temperature extremes in check.

Best way to check would be imho -- throw a bunch of earthworms in there. After the end of the season and you pull the plants, if they're still alive, then that container is sufficiently cool and/or warm enough to support organics.

Most organic amendments need TIME to break down though -- egg shells, manures, bone meal. etc. One of the drawbacks to organics in our "I want it now" mentality.

If you're looking for a quick nitro fix, blood meal or urine is probably your best bet. For the Ca and Mg -- don't know. Epsom salts for the Mg. For the Ca? Maybe somebody else can chime in here.

That's why I bought the FAST ACTING gypsum instead of the cheaper, bigger bag of regular gypsum. Lime is good for both, but, once again, raises ph.

Kevin

Fertile Lome makes a product called yield booster its for blossom end rot and it contains 10% calcium. Its not organic but its fast acting it is derived from calcium chloride. Bone meal is a good calcium source but its slow to break down and I would use fish bone meal if it was me. I just use Botanicare cal-mag plus easy to use and not real expensive.

woohooman: The trays are interconnected with end caps. They are called Infiltrator chambers & used for septic fields but they are turned upside down. They have slots all along the sides for excellent drainage and are just a few inches short of the height of a 5 gallon pail. Here is a better picture of them. I'll get some worms and add to my soil. Great idea. I also had some gypsum so sprinkled some of that down today. Going to try roasted egg shells dissolved in vinegar or a cal-mg vitamin in water for a supplement and see if that helps.

I will do more research on urine. Sounds strange... Organic is definitely new to me but if I want the possibility of selling my products, it's very important for me to get organic container gardening figured out this year to prepare me for next year. Thanks for your help.

Awesome! They're like a ready-made raised bed! I think they'll work perfectly because along with temperature and size of container, aeration is very important to a good microherd also.

Those things would probably work great for worm composting also -- something I've yet to delve into.

Yep -- if one can get pass the gross factor of urine, I hear it's a great source. I was taking a wee next to my tomato plants up until a couple weeks ago . I them mulched, so I'm not doing it anymore. I don't know if it made a difference, but my plants look great. Of course, this early in the season, they always do.

Good luck.

Kevin

Hi HillSeeker, very nice containers/ready made raised bed. I was very curious about your containers.

A book about urine - Liquid Gold: The Lore and Logic of Using Urine to Grow Plants by Carol Steinfeld (Author), Malcolm Wells (Illustrator)

Caelian

There sure is a lot of talk about fertilizing with piss around here. Maybe I'm ignorant, but why does it kill grass then?

Nevertheless, I'll be in my garden tonight with a 6 pack, fertilizing the hell out of everything.

Kills grass cause the dogs over do a spot and we know too much fertilizer burn/kills plants so in moderation it works. Enjoy your 6 pack and fertilizing your plants. I don't think for me personally I would use this method but if the right situation presented itself you bet I would use urine.

Mark

I have read somewhere about the dose to use urine. One glass of morning urine mix with 1 gallon of water is really good for the plant. Morning urine is the best I heard.

Over fertilize may kill a plant, I do not recommend to pee every day on a chili plant directly :-).

Too much urine probably can kill any plant just like over fertilize.

Caelian

Here is a link that might be useful: Everything Grows

This post was edited by chilliwin on Thu, May 30, 13 at 17:45

There are two parts of a dog-based lawn spot - the dead spot in the middle and the lush green ring of grass around it. Obviously a high concentration right below the dog burns the grass, but the lower concentration makes the grass in the ring very happy indeed. So water while you whiz.

Fortunately cats do not spot the lawn. Unfortunately cats head right to your most expensive sets.

Going number 1 and or number 2 on your plants is a good way to get hepatitis A. It happens pretty frequently in Mexico where the field workers use the bathroom in the fields because they have no other choice. At one time green onions ftom mexico put the resturant chi chi s out of business. But hey if you want to eat your own waist go for it but for gods sakes don't serve it to anyone else. Gag!

Someone has to have Hep A before they can spread it. Parthenogenesis doesn't happen (except at the quantum level).

It's funny to hear people downtalk urine and organic matter. What in the hell do you people think goes into all that compost and worm castings that you add to your soil?

Yes -- for god's sake, don't piss or crap ON your plants. But a dose of urine a couple feet away isn't going to hurt anything or anybody.

Kevin

Still I have many young seedlings Trinidad Scorpion Moruga, Fatali and Ghost. I am thinking to try a couple of them with the morning "liquid gold" :-) without any other inorganic fertilizer.

Caelian

Caelian: Let us know how it works out. Personally, I think it's a little low in the P and K department. Might want to supplement with some bone and kelp meal.

Good luck.

Kevin

Thank you Kevin, I will do all my best and let you all know when I started.

Caelian

Someone already has experimented.

Caelian

Here is a link that might be useful: Experiment of Emgardener