Can I Use Miracle Grow on Vegetables? | What You Need to Know

As a long-time user of Miracle-Gro for my houseplants, I was delighted to discover a whole line of Miracle-Gro products, many of them formulated for specific plants, such as Miracle-Gro for Tomatoes, and that Miracle-Gro Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food is made to be used on any type of plants, vegetables, shrubs, trees, and houseplants.

Miracle-Gro is specifically designed to help all plants, including vegetables, grow at a significant rate and is guaranteed not to burn your plants as long as applied according to package directions.

However, before you decide to run out and pick up a supply, there are some questions to ask and decisions to make.

Why Would I Use Miracle Grow?

Plants do not grow overnight, which is not a problem for veteran farmers and gardeners, but newer gardeners and folks with very little patience can find this discouraging. This is where synthetic fertilizers and plant food come to the rescue.

By simply using Miracle-Gro as it is intended, you are increasing your plant’s chances of surviving and yield at a significant rate. In this article, we will be focusing on one of the most popular plant foods on the market, Miracle-Gro.

What Nutrients Does Our Garden Spot Need?

At the very basic level, we probably all know that plants only need soil and adequate amounts of water and sunlight to grow. But just as humans need the right nutrients to grow strong and healthy, plants also need the right nutrients to thrive and mature quickly.

In the case of plants, they need to be able to get nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the soil, all of which are provided by Miracle-Gro. Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food contains a formula of 20-20-20, which means it contains 20% nitrogen, 20% phosphorus, and 20% potassium, with the remaining 40% providing trace elements and filler.

What Type of Miracle-Gro Should We Buy?

Miracle-Gro offers a wide range of products for different plant types. For example, if you are growing tomatoes, you can use their tomato food product which was specially formulated for tomatoes instead of getting their all-purpose plant food. While you could still use the all-purpose product, it would probably not produce as well as the specially-formulated version.

Where Can We Get Miracle-Gro?

Miracle-Gro is available from Amazon or locally at most farm supply, hardware stores, and general merchandise retailers like Walmart and Target.

Is Miracle-Gro Cost-Effective for Me?

To determine whether Miracle-Gro is cost-effective for you would depend on your particular circumstance and the size of your garden. If you are planting a garden that is an acre in size, enough Miracle-Gro to fertilize the entire garden would be quite pricey.

An alternative would be to consider investing in a few bags of Black Kow composted cow manure (Amazon Link) which is very affordable. But, if your garden spot is like mine and only measures about 4′ x 36′, then purchasing the one-pound or even the five-pound box of Miracle-Gro would not break the bank.

Is Miracle-Gro Safe for Vegetables?

Not all farmers and gardeners agree on the use of Miracle-Gro or any other commercial fertilizers for their vegetables. Using any commercial or chemically produced fertilizer adds those chemicals to the soil and to any vegetables or fruits produced on that soil.

To grow chemical-free foods, the use of purely organic fertilizers and gardening techniques are required. As a matter of fact, Miracle-Gro offers an organic option, but I would be wary and check the ingredients label very carefully before adding it to my otherwise organic garden spot.

Is Miracle-Gro Safe for the Environment?

In spite of the fact that Miracle-Gro is a popular fertilizer for all types of plants, any man-made chemicals that are added to the soil have the ability to harm the environment in at least 3 ways:

1. Any fertilizer can harm and even kill the young and tender garden plants if added in too large amounts or by adding the fertilizer on or too close to the plants.
2. Adding chemicals to the soil does not build or improve the soil and will eventually harm and render it useless for growing crops by removing all the nutrients and the living organisms that break down organic matter and produce rich and fertile soil.
3. Any synthetic fertilizers such as miracle grow that are added to the soil can make their way into the water supply, eventually reaching and gathering in the ocean. Once that happens, it becomes a feast for algae and can lead to a phenomenon called algae bloom, creating a thick layer on the surface of the ocean that blocks the sunlight and causes the death of many marine lifeforms that depend on it to live.

Final Thoughts

Even though there was a shift after World War II to an era in which many families no longer farmed, but became dependent on grocery stores and supermarkets as the primary sources for their food, there has been a more recent rise in home gardening. This interest in growing food is a result of people wanting to get back to nature and to produce food for themselves and their families that is healthier and contains fewer additives than the “store-bought” versions they have been using.

In order to produce those desired healthier foods, all man-made fertilizers, even Miracle-Gro, should be avoided, and organic methods of growing food should be utilized. Even though Miracle-Gro produces excellent short-term results, the long-term effects are not so desirable.

As an added bonus, people are discovering that they actually like gardening! Not only does home gardening promote sustainable living, but it’s also an activity that can relieve stress and contribute to a healthier lifestyle. For me, after a lifetime of watching my parents growing beautiful vegetable gardens, I simply must have something growing in my little garden all year round! I hope you will give gardening, especially organic gardening, a try, and, who knows, you may enjoy it as much as I do!

Thanks for stoppin’ by!

Jelly Grandma

For more, don’t miss How Many Acres Can One Person Farm by Hand? | Key Factors.