If you're looking for better alternatives to Miracle-Gro, you probably already know about the problems with using it. If not, check out our explainer on what the issue with Miracle Gro is.
Fortunately, there are much better ways to grow plants than synthetic chemicals, all without killing your soil and polluting the groundwater (as synthetics do).
Welcome to the wonderful world of organic gardening!
What to Use Instead of Miracle Gro
The simple answer is to switch to organic gardening, which means using organic nutrient sources rather than synthetic chemicals.
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If you're just getting into organic gardening, the quickest way is to check your local garden center for nutrient sources which are OMRI-approved.
What Does OMRI-Approved Mean?
OMRI is the Organic Materials Review Institute, a non-profit started over 25 years ago which assesses gardening products and approves those which are chemical-free and 100% organic.
Check out their list of 10,000+ OMRI-Listed products, it's extensive!
Organic Products
If you'd prefer to just grab a few organic-certified products and get started today, these products will get you started fast:
- Down To Earth Organic Vegetable Garden Fertilizer
- Down To Earth Alfalfa Meal
- Down To Earth Rock Phosphate
- Down To Earth Kelp Meal
These are listed in order of importance, with what plants need most at the top. Any vegetable garden or potted plant could benefit from these organic amendments.
Sprinkly them on your soil, water them in, and you're in business!
Moving Beyond Products
Once you're comfortable with the basics of organic gardening, the real fun begins.
The truth is that you don't actually need to buy ANY products to grow organically - humans have been doing it for thousands of years, long before the garden center was ever invented.
The more you learn about organic gardening, the more self-sufficient you can become and the less you'll have to rely on buying, well, anything!
The following list outlines some of the key components for organic gardeners to learn in order to step their game up and reduce their reliance on gardening products. If you'd like to take your growing to the next level, dig into the concepts below:
Homemade Compost
Read more about how to make incredible compost here.
Regenerative Gardening
Learn more about the organic regenerative mindset here.
No-Till Gardening
Read more about no-till gardening here.
Chop and Drop
Keep reading about what chop and drop gardening is here.
Cover Crops
Nitrogen-fixing cover crops, such as hairy vetch and Alfalfa are grown to accumulate essential nitrogen and carbon from the air. These are converted into solid forms in the bodies of these plants, which can later be converted into fertilizer.
Methods such as chop + drop (above), composting, and fermenting into FPJ are all great ways to convert your cover crops into the highest-quality fertilizer for plants. This completely removes any need for expensive and detrimental synthetics such as Miracle-Gro.
Learn about why you should plant cover crops here.
Crop Rotation
Read more about why crop rotation is important here.
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