Author Topic: Citrus in Miracle Grow Garden Soil (Read 5246 times)

meyermike_1micha · « **on:** October 10, 2016, 06:52:53 PM »

Hi, this is my first time posting but I have heard a lot of nice things about this forum..It's my goal to get different perspectives in growing plants in pots, good sound advice so I can make a wise decision as to what to use and how to grow successfully in containers..

For starts,

I was wondering what makes Miracle Grow Garden so good as to a mix for Citrus? Is it better aeration that the 5.1.1 mix that I use and does it last as long? Does it harbor fungus gnats at some point and how do I prevent root rot or over watering with it? Does it stay wet for a long period of time if growing my trees indoors with less than ideal sunlight and do I have to worry about temps being cold and the pots being wet with it?

Most importantly, does it hold 'perched water' that harm the lower roots in my pots?

I have heard good reviews on it but nothing that tells me specifically why.

Thank you

Millet · « **Reply #1 on:** October 10, 2016, 10:03:25 PM »

MeyerMilke, Every medium no matter how well draining, has some type of a perched water table at their bottom. Even bottomless containers have a perched water table. Twenty years ago, when I purchased my first citrus tree, I planted that tree in what is now called a gritty type of mix. I did not care for that type of mix at all. Later I grew some trees in a CHC medium (Coconut husk-peat), it was not all that bad. However, after a year or so the CHC mix became s little mushy and begin to hold excess water. After a couple years growing in CHC, I begun growing my citrus trees in the 5-1-1 mix. I can say that the 5-1-1 mix is a good medium, and container grown citrus trees can be successfully grown in it. I like that mix. At this time I probably had 20 +- citrus trees, all in 5-1-1. Because I was having retaliative success using it, I stayed with it until a couple year ago. Then about two + years ago Lazz, a very well known, long time citrus grower, and former owner of the Citrus Growers website, recommended that I should try Miracle Grow Garden Soil (NOTE: not Miracle Grow Potting Soil) as he was having excellent results with his container grown collection. Lazz grows both in the ground and in containers. I presently have around 25 - 30 or so citrus trees growing in MGGS, plus 50+- container pineapple plants. Just a couple weeks ago I transplanted many of the original MGGS trees from 5-gallon air root pruning containers into 13 gallon air root pruning containers. You can find a previous thread on this site titled "Better Than I ever Hoped For", about the transplanting. Upon transplanting, I was amazed how well the MGGS, now two years old, held up, it looked almost new. I also noticed that after two years it had only sunk approximately 1/2 inch below the container's rim. Therefore, I simply removed the trees from the original container and placed them in their new 13 gallon home, and then simply filled in around the edges with additional MGGS. Over the two years they grew in the medium, the medium continued to have excellent drainage, and therefore provided the tree with good root zone aeration. For me both the 5-1-1 and the MGGS offer a good substrate for growing container grown trees. The huge advantage that MGGS offers is the ease of planting, as I use MGGS straight out of the bag. Its a lot easier to locate, and is a lot less expensive then the 5-1-1. I have NEVER lost a tree growing in a MGGS medium. Today I know many more people now using MGGS, and I can report 100% of them are happy they found out about the product. I personally recommend it. . Thanks for joining the forum, you will be a valuable member. I used to be a Garden Web member, and by the way so was Lazz,and I have see some of your postings, but that was some years ago. - Millet

meyermike_1micha · « **Reply #2 on:** October 11, 2016, 09:04:45 AM »

Hi Millet...

Thank you very much and I really appreciate your experience and help. I am a member there at the Garden Web and I remember you being a great addition there too. Miss you there. You were always kind and informative. I have so many Citrus Trees and Tropicals, that it would not hurt me to give it a try...I'll let you know as time goes by how it goes for me with my conditions and if I have any issues, I'll be back for help if you don't mind. It would be great if I could find an easer way and a couple of options open all the while keeping all my plants safe in pots)
Have a great day

Mike

countryboy1981 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 15, 2016, 10:53:22 AM »

Bought same bag at two different locations locally and 2 different products are inside. One has apparent small wood chips within the bag and the other is light brown almost tan in color with no signs of any wood particles.

Millet · « **Reply #4 on:** October 15, 2016, 11:18:30 AM »

county boy, my guess is that the product must be different depending on what part of the country it is made. In your location the two bags you bought were probably made from different source materials. - Millet

countryboy1981 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 15, 2016, 11:25:48 AM »

They don't even look like it contains the same inhredients, including the wood chips. The one with wood chips came from lowes and has a the normal color of pitting soil and the other one came from Wal-Mart. Will use both and see how they turn out.

Millet · « **Reply #6 on:** October 15, 2016, 01:49:36 PM »

Since the beginning of this subject (Miracle Grow Garden Soil), it seems that the product can be different in different parts of the country, perhaps due to the ingredients that are available in a particular location. I know nothing about the product from Wal-Mart, as I never, never never shop at that company. If the material looks more like common potting soil, and does not contain wood chips, then I would not use it for citrus. The Miracle Grow Garden Soil sold in my location has a lot of wood chips as one of the ingredients. I purchase it from our local ACE Hardware garden center. I'll make an effort to contact the Miracle Grow Company and ask them if their product is manufactured differenlyt in different sections of the country. - Millet

Millet · « **Reply #7 on:** October 15, 2016, 02:07:41 PM »

At the Miracle Grow Company's web page, using their "contact me" site, I contacted them and ask if Miracle Grow Garden Soil if manufactured differently in different section of the nation. The site said they would try to contact me in a day or two. - Millet

Millet · « **Reply #8 on:** October 22, 2016, 04:47:20 PM »

Here is the answer from the Miracle Grow Corporation concerning if there is a difference in their Garden Soil manufacturing through out the country. Evidently it is the same throughout the USA, except for the states of Texas, California and Idaho. which of course is already printed directly on the bag. - Millet

-------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for contacting us and for the opportunity to help you with your gardening endeavors.

Miracle-Gro Garden Soil All Purpose is formulated from one of more of the following: peat, processed forest products, and/or compost; and sphagnum peat moss, coir, fertilizer and a wetting agent. In California, Texas and Idaho this product is formulated with processed forest products, compost, sphagnum peat moss, coir, fertilizer and a wetting agent. Because Garden Soil All Purpose contains compost or forest products it has the possibility that it contains peanut or tree nut shells, nuts, wood, bark etc., therefore we cannot guarantee them to be peanut or tree nut free.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and for your interest in our products. Please feel free to contact our company anytime we may be of assistance.

Erin
Brand Ambassador
The Scotts Company and Subsidiaries
14111 Scottslawn Road
Marysville, OH 43041
800-645-8166
Ref # 12687619

cory · « **Reply #9 on:** October 22, 2016, 09:01:53 PM »

Hmm, I read that statement as the MG mix can be comprised of one or more of the following, so maybe that is why the bags are different, the mix is not always the same. So far I have not bought any that had mostly bark. Whatever is in the bags I have bought is very fine grained, heavy, dense, very black so that it stains my fingers when I dig in it. It compresses a lot and pulls way from the sides of the pot even though it looks damp yet. I need to add a lot of perlite or sponge rock to make it more airy and add my own bark and comost to it, otherwise it is not usable in a container. I wish I could buy the barky airy bag. It would be nice to know which I was buying. Thanks for asking MG the question Millet. I wonder if it means the mixes in the specified states are more consistent? Maybe more precise labeling is required in those states?

Cory

Millet · « **Reply #10 on:** October 22, 2016, 10:13:21 PM »

Cory, I never thought of it that way, but your assumption just might be correct. I guess in your particular area, you will have to add the bark. Or, better yet, you could come to Colorado on vacation, and go home with a trailer load of Colorado mixed Miracle Grow Garden Soil. - Millet

cory · « **Reply #11 on:** October 23, 2016, 05:41:29 PM »

Lol, Millet! :>)

Cory

fourseasonsflorida · « **Reply #12 on:** November 09, 2016, 02:34:50 PM »

My experience with MGGS in Florida is that it is very heavy, dark, with no wood chips either. I would not think it would be a good potting medium. For years, I had been using Miracle Grow Potting Soil for my potted plants, but a year ago switched to Jungle Growth because it is cheaper, lighter, with more pine bark, etc. Not so sure how well it is working for citrus.

I'm growing a tangerine tree in a 15 gallon pot. Bought it in a 5 gallon and now it's 5 feet high. Was growing well at first, but now after a year in the 15g pot, it is struggling: lots of branches are dying, leaves yellowing, new growth small and stunted. I took it out of the pot recently and the roots didn't seem to have expanded to fill the pot. I think I originally used MGPS and I repotted in the same pot now with Jungle Growth. Not sure if it will make a difference.

Should I use some other potting medium? I'm trying to grow everything organic, so what fertilizer/spray would you all recommend?

daytripper · « **Reply #13 on:** November 13, 2016, 09:03:50 AM »

I think going from a 5 to a 15 gallon pot is to much of a jump, especially using miracle grow potting soil. You most likely have some serious root rot going on and that is why the plant is having a tough time. I would downsize the pot right away. I cant comment on the jungle potting soil but maybe you could amend it with some coco chips or perlite chunks or something like that to give better drainage.

lorewren · « **Reply #14 on:** December 04, 2016, 02:09:07 AM »

Nevermind, I take my recommendation back. MG garden soil from PA is awful stuff. More than half of my plants have rotted all their roots away. It definitely doesn't sound like the same mix as what Millet gets.

Millet · « **Reply #15 on:** December 04, 2016, 12:03:35 PM »

As stated in the above post, it seem that Miracle Grow Garden Soil, is formulated differently in different section of the country. Here in Colorado the product contains plenty of wood chips, giving the soil good drainage and aeration. In other areas (as where Cory lives) the wood chips are missing from the formulation, making the product more dense. Therefore it seems the purchaser of MGGS must be aware of which product he is getting.

Icemankfc · « **Reply #16 on:** December 17, 2016, 04:54:04 PM »

Miracle grow is owned by Scotts who is also a huge supporter of Monsanto. I can't and don't support Scotts for ethical reasons and would encourage others to do the same. The above reply is their standard 'canned answer', I've seen it several times before. The damages done to the American farmers by Monsanto is unbelievable and the inordinate amounts of threats and law suits their legal teams have made in Washington, even threatening our elected officials to either comply with their corporate agendas or be tied down in litigation for decades... it is unconscionable to support them financially let alone endorse their products. There is a reason all the box stores nearly exclusively sell Scotts products or their subsidiary labels. This company also has deep ties and affiliation with the GMO wheat grown as 'round up ready' or 'round up safe'... sprayed to stress the plant to increase yields then sold to consumers with a nice fresh coating of round up on our food. (not tested yet we've been told it's perfectly safe!) Purchasing or using MG product or Scott's product is just fueling them yet further. Even reporting negative facts about their corporation often results in legal action! Of all people, it is hypocritical for us to use any of their products as we should be more educated than the average consumer. Sorry for the rant but it's just the facts.

shaneatwell · « **Reply #17 on:** December 17, 2016, 08:27:35 PM »

GMOs are awesome and so is Monsanto.

LaCasaVerde · « **Reply #18 on:** December 17, 2016, 08:33:19 PM »

If the soil is GMO and the plant is not...is that okay? Just joking. Moved a persian lime into this mix today to see how it does. 5-1-1 mix I was using was not doing it. Actually had extra bark so likely it was a 6-1-1 mix I ended up with..

GMO might be the only citrus we plant if citrus greening continues its march across the U.S. Id say 20 years from now only GMOs will have survived fortunatley or unfortunatley depending on how you look at it. I take no position on this by the way... I just want to grow citrus...in miracle grow now.

Millet · « **Reply #19 on:** December 17, 2016, 10:12:35 PM »

La Casa, I sure you read on the other thread about there being different Miracle Grow formulations across the country. Some have a lot of bark, and some have no bark. Glad you added extra bark. Watch your trees and happy growing.

Viking Guy · « **Reply #20 on:** December 17, 2016, 11:02:36 PM »

It is always a great idea to keep separate ammendments on hand so you can adjust soils accordingly.

Perlite, bark, peat, etc.

Don't just trust what comes right out of the bag. Inspect it and add whatever seems left out.

I make my own. A lot of extra work, but at least I know what is in there.

That said, I used "ammended" MG in times past and didn't have any issues with it. Most people will default to it due to easy accessibility.

Be careful buying cheap soils which may be incubating invasive weed seeds like acacia or the dreaded bindweed.

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Author Topic: Citrus in Miracle Grow Garden Soil (Read 5246 times)