Why would you put Miracle Gro Plant food in the soil right now? You wouldn't put your plants in the ground until March 25th.

If anything you should put a good amount of compost in your ground before planting time. You can pour water soluable Miracle Gro Plant food on your plants in a diluted amount as they get bigger.

Could you please explain more exactly what your goal is? As already mentioned I can't understand why you would want to do this. March 25th is far too early to be planting any of the things you list in your zone anyway so applying ANY form of fertilizer now - even a granular one - would just be a waste.

And Miracle Grow is not intended to be used as you describe anyway. It is a liquid nutrient supplement.

So with more information we'd be able to help more.

Dave

Oh, I'm sorry. Had a busy day with school. I was hoping that putting the plant food into the soil would help it nutrient wise.

You see, we have clay-ish soil, you can dig it up but its hard, clumpy and poor drainage and no large cracks on the surface. I ended up placing four whole bags of Mircal Gro soil into the space I wanted to plant last year and started to grow. Last years harvest was a fail, but the soil I bought stayed so I covered it up with leaves and now have worms moving about with the help of the recent rain.

What I'm tryig to say is, now that the spot I have is not a problem for three feet down, could I place the plant food in to help the soil gain nutrients for the plants I want to grow this year so that when I go to plant them in late March, I would not have to worry if they get enough or too little in order to make their own food and grow.

But thank you, I'm still kinda new at this, I actually tried growing pumpinks, cherry tomatoes and bell peppers last year. The flowers grew but the fruits grew to the size of your thumb nails together and died. I still don't under stand why, I made sure to stick my finger in the soil around them and if it was dry, gave them some water. But my sister said it was probably because the soil lost some of the nutrients the plants needed.

...:(

Any how, thank you again, I know this requires patience, but I'm just determined to get a harvest this year.

TieMint

Ok I understand better now. Thanks for the additional info. Consider these options.

1) find a source now of some aged/composed manure and spread about a 1-2" layer of it over the garden bed and let it sit there until about 2 weeks before planting time and then till it in. Make sure it isn't fresh.

OR

2) find a local source of some good compost and spread 3-4" of it over the bed now and then till it in about 2 weeks before planting time.

OR

3) buy a bag of good quality granular fertilizer with a rating of 10-10-10 approximately. 2 weeks before planting time spread it over the garden per the instructions on the label and till it in.

But note that March 25 is too early for planting those crops in your zone. Lettuce - maybe but it will need cover for those spring frosts. Tomatoes and peppers are planted much later - late April into mid-May unless you are planting under cover.

Do some reading over on the Soil forum here. Lots of info available there on soil improvement and that is your basic issue right now.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Thank you Dave, I'll go get some from a store after I get out of class. I wrote everything you said down so that I wouldn't forget. I do hope that you and your plants are doing well.

TieMint

I'd agree with the comment to use compost ahead of time, but not other products.

One neighbor had great plant growth last year, but very poor fruit. He said he used Miracle Gro (red grains, water-soluble?) as directed. I suggested he used the slow release stuff.

I believe there are a large number of Miracle-Gro products.

I have a question. We have now had rain for 4 weeks straight, the ground is soaking wet, can i use the miracle grow right into the soil around my plants, they really cant handle more water??????

jbird, miracle-gro is classically a soluble fertilizer. I suppose you could spread it into the soil, but I wouldn't.

Here's my reasoning...

First, it is very concentrated and is formulated to be diluted - usually 1 tbsp./gal. water. That's just a few crystals per plant.

Second. since it is soluble, in order to reach the root zone it has to encounter and incorporate into water. So, whether you mix it into water, or wait for rain or irrigation, it will need water anyway...

So maybe mix it heavy and apply it sparingly. But unless you are experienced with it, be careful with strong mixes. It's easy to use too much.

jbird12277, I don't know about MG - not a fan of the company - but I'd suggest you to MULCH the soil for the next rains.

Using fabric mulch, you can DRASTICALLY reduce the water intake in the soil from the rain.

In my garden, I made a slight slope soil, so over 80% of the rain will NOT go in the soil (see picture bellow.) Heavier the rain, less water intake in the soil (proportionally.)

Actually, I also prepared a plastic roof / enclose in case of VERY heavy rains / winds and / or hails.

Why would you not want rain to go in the soil? Rain feeds both your soil and your plants. Unless you have poorly draining soil?

If it rains 5 days in a row, and you have 10-15 in. of rain, most of the tomatoes will not like that, no matter how awesomely draining soil you have.

I prefer to use the drip irrigation, so I know exactly how much water my tomatoes will get.

JMO.