1) Off the shelf Miracle Gro. It's 24-8-16 (proportionally, 9-3-6, so absolutely identical) and contains about the same micros.

(That calculation is the relative proportions of NPK redacted as if nitrogen were 9, to recalculate the P and K proportionally; 9 is three-eights of 24. And so on. The base proportion is 3-1-2. Ask if that's unclear).

The nitrogen source is slightly different, but frankly, urea is not a problem for most plants and I find their marketing hype to be over the top. Urea-processing bacteria are endemic--or very rapidly will be.

So roughly, you'd use a third of the amount of Miracle Gro as you would of Dyna Gro. Stir well for a bit to dissolve.

You're looking for something with a proportion of 3-1-2 feeding for general use--although I'm going to argue that the middle "1" is a bit high overall. 4-1-2 is just fine (the middle "1" is still a bit high unless the plant flowers a lot and even then, when you change the soil, the soil is effectively a water pollutant from the P build up. I tend to apply measured P and then stop, reapplying only every three to six months in smaller amounts).

2) Bonide, etc., make all sorts of liquid and solid feeds. Just mind the proportions above.

3) Make your own. Lay in a supply of:

* Urea (if you want, it's cheap as dirt--actually, looking at the price of potting soil, cheaper).

* If you really object to urea, then choose alternate, but more expensive, nitrogen sources--ammonium sulfate and the like. These have other considerations as well and ammonium nitrate might end you on a watch list.

* Monoammonium phosphate for P, or triple superphosphate (TSP is not fully water soluble, MAP is).

* Potassium sulfate for potassium (potassium chloride is much cheaper, but rather harsh).

* You can source micros, but they're nightmarishly hard to get right unless you have boss chem skills. I'd suggest adding soluble kelp in granular form in tiny amounts to try to add some, but realize this is touch and go. Also realize, it's not that important.

* Add just a small pinch of Milorganite or soybean meal or a little corn meal or flour when you bake to the plant. Up to about 10% of your total feeding. Yes, it actually contains some feeding--not a vast amount. What it contains is copper, boron, manganese, iron... And yes, even an "artificial" soil can process small amounts of organics every once in a while. I've done it for years on some things, monthly in my case (thanks, it's nearly March, time to go again for spring...) People will say that organics don't contain micros as a blanket statement. This is rank bollocks; they do vary, but everything will contain some boron, iron, zinc, molybdenum, and copper at the base minimum unless it was processed out.

What do I do? #1 and #3. Organics in the pots, plus make my own, plus very rarely Miracle Gro at times if I'm being exceptionally lazy. Mostly I'm dynamically feeding by what phase a plant is in, growth-wise, so it's more complicated than simply dumping something onto the plant.

Thank you. I’m likely switching over to actual soil from lechuza pon for most of the outside plants and keeping the lechuza for what’s inside. I understand that slightly complicated matters, but aiming for the right proportion should help. (I don’t know why I didn’t think it was that easy; I feel somewhat dumb for asking. Oh well, sometimes simple things are overwhelming.)

Thanks for your explanation and suggestions!

That was not a dumb question, reading the marketing from DynaGro makes it sound like anything else will destroy your plants. And you can use any combination of the above in anything from actual soil to soil-free mix, so there are no problems there; bacteria flourish in anything where the food is. Yes, there's a bit of a rise and fall in populations--that's part of what releases the nitrogen to the plant.

Mostly, just have fun with this. Really, it's hard to mess up anyway,