Miracle-Gro Fertilizer Information

Miracle-Gro, made by The Scotts Company, is designed to help gardeners, even those with brown thumbs, grow all types of plants and vegetables. It is an all-purpose fertilizer suitable for vegetables, tress, flowers, grass, shrubs and house plants. Miracle-Gro is not an organic fertilizer as it uses chemicals to provide the necessary nutrients plants need.

Miracle-Gro contains urea, urea phosphate, potassium chloride, boric acid, ammonium phosphate, manganese EDTA and iron EDTA, according to WIRED. Urea provides carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. Urea phosphate is added to aid plants with flower and fruit production. It also prevents fungus. Potassium chloride provides plants with necessary potassium that maintains the green color of their leaves and enables them to grow tall. Boric acid aids the plants in cell division as they grow helping them to stay structurally sound. Ammonium phosphate adds even more nitrogen and phosphorus. EDTA stands for ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid. Plants can only absorb iron and manganese, two essential nutrients required for chlorophyll production, when they are combined with EDTA.

According to Gardening Tips Idea, the composition of Miracle-Gro is 15 percent nitrogen, 30 percent phosphate, 15 percent soluble potash, 0.15 percent iron, 0.06 percent zinc, 0.05 percent manganese, 0.02 percent boron and 0.00005 percent molybdenum. The phosphate provides the phosphorus plants need and the potash provides the potassium plants need.

Miracle-Gro comes in liquid and dry versions. Both are water-soluble. The liquid version can be used with a garden hose applicator while the dry version requires pre-mixing. The dry version can be spread on the garden surface and allowed to release its nutrients when it rains and during watering. Both types are designed to also feed the plant through its leaves when sprinkled over the plant.

With the Liquafeed system, liquid Miracle-Gro refills are attached to a garden hose applicator. Plants are then watered and fed directly from the garden hose. The proper concentration is applied every single time. Miracle-Gro provides fertilizer packets to make measuring easier. One packet is used for one gallon of water for outside plants. One packet is used for every 2 gallons when watering inside plants. The liquid Miracle-Gro fertilizer requires 1/3 of the cap for every 2 gallons of water for outside plants and 1 tsp. for 1 gallon when watering indoor plants.

Application instructions on the label of each Miracle-Gro product must be followed to the letter to prevent plants from getting burned. While Miracle-Gro can be used as the sole source of nutrition for a vegetable garden, additional nutrients from homemade compost added to the soil will add to the nutritional benefits of eating foods grown from a backyard vegetable garden. Miracle-Gro only provides the nutrients listed in its ingredients list.