Homemade Miracle Grow is a wonderful fertilizer that uses organic ingredients, making it great for the growth of plants. How To Make Homemade Miracle Grow let’s find out more here.
Homemade Miracle Grow can easily be made with some ingredients you already have available in your pantry.
This DIY fertilizer will provide organic nutrients to your plant, allowing the foliage to become greener and the plant to become healthier.
Homemade Miracle Grow is a completely natural product that is safe from toxins. Moreover, it is safe for humans, pets, and children, so you have nothing to worry about.
Why You Should Make Homemade Miracle Grow
One of the best ways to make a homemade miracle grow is by keeping track of all the ingredients used and buying them from a reputable place.
The aim is to lower the use of chemicals in the yard.
Most commercial fertilizers add an important amount of toxins to fertilizers that can destroy plants in the long run.
In 2008, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. & Affiliates faced a law order by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because they made misbranded and unregistered fertilizers that included cancer-causing ingredients.
Another company, Scotts Lawn Care Service, also faced a similar stop-sale order as EPA cracked down hard on the sale of toxic fertilizers. This company eventually recalled two of its products from stores in the US. They also set up a process so that customers could return unregistered products.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Company pled guilty to charges of deceiving customers with insecticide registrations and unapproved labels. Moreover, the Department of Justice ordered the company to pay a criminal fine of $12.5 million- the biggest penalty to date that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Civil Case has seen.
By 2014, a list of 100+ products was released to the public by EPA that were being sold by Scotts Miracle-Go that contained pesticides.
There are lots of other brands that sell products with toxic insecticides that can affect humans and pets.
What is Homemade Miracle Grow?
Conventionally, homemade miracle grow is a synthetic fertilizer that contains lots of different chemicals, including ammonium phosphate.
There are many retail products available in the market that are safe for houseplants, shrubs, vegetables, and outdoor plants.
The manufacturers of these products guarantee that plants will not burn when these fertilizers are used on them.
However, organic gardeners do not like the idea of using pesticides that contain chemicals. Instead, they prefer natural fertilizers made from compost piles that are beneficial to the plant.
This article mentions a recipe for homemade Miracle Grow that is made from baking soda, Epsom salts, water, and a small quantity of ammonia.
This is a natural and effective way of fertilizing all kinds of plants.
How to Make Homemade Miracle Grow
Making a homemade Miracle Grow for your plants from the comfort of your house is extremely simple. Here are all the ingredients you will need to make your own fertilizer:
Ingredients
- Water: 1 gallon
- Epsom salt: 1 tablespoon
- Baking soda: 1 teaspoon
- Household ammonia: 1 teaspoon
- Powdered milk: 1 tablespoon
- Molasses: 1 tablespoon
Homemade Miracle Grow Instructions
- Mix everything except for the powdered milk together and store your mixture in a food-safe box that is sealable and reusable. This will ensure that chemical leaching does not take place.
- When you want to use the fertilizer, take ¼ gallon of the homemade Miracle Grow blend and add it to a jug of water.
- Add the molasses and powdered milk only when you are ready to fertilize your plants.
- Continue stirring till all the ingredients are dissolved well.
- Get rid of any remaining powdered milk so that it does not get spoilt.
- Use this fertilizer once a month on your plants.
- You can even add it to hose sprays or use the fertilizer via a watering can.
Use the homemade miracle on your plants in the spring and fall.
Only include 1 tablespoon of the mix for every 2 feet of the plant, based on its growth. Remember to carefully mix the fertilizer into the soil after each use.
Tips
It is vital for each ingredient to be blended properly to ensure adequate plant growth. Here is what each ingredient brings to the final mixture:
1. Water
Water is vital for plant germination, the transfer of nutrients, photosynthesis, and soil transpiration.
2. Epsom Salt
Epsom salt helps boost the growth of flowers while enhancing the fresh green color of plants. If your plants are weak, it can also help the plant become stronger and bushier.
Epsom salt contains magnesium sulfate that allows plants to grow well. The best part is the slugs are repulsed by Epsom salt, so you will not find them anywhere close to your plant.
3. Baking Soda
Baking soda does not allow fungal spores to grow when used on plants in combination with other ingredients. Moreover, it lowers the likelihood of plant diseases, such as powdery mildew.
4. Ammonia
Ammonia can be found in the air, water, and soil. It contains nitrogen which boosts plant growth and helps improve seed and fruit production.
In turn, ammonia promises a healthier yield so that your yard can look healthy and maintained.
5. Powdered Milk
Powdered milk is loaded with good proteins, such as sugars and vitamin B, that are beneficial for the plant’s health as it helps boost yield and plant health.
When you use fertilizer containing powdered milk on the plants, microbes are attracted to it. These microbes are beneficial for the soil.
Like humans, plants require calcium to grow. Powdered milk is also loaded with potassium and phosphorus, two of the most important agents required for the growth of plants.
6. Molasses
Molasses is loaded with potassium, iron, magnesium, and calcium. It also contains a number of micronutrients, such as sulfur which is wonderful for plants.
When used in fertilizers, molasses boost plants’ energy and allow the quick growth of good microorganisms.
Is too Much Fertilizer Bad for Plants?
You might think that a homemade fertilizer like Miracle Grow is good for your plants, and hence, you can fertilize them often, but this is not true.
Sometimes, too much fertilizer can be terrible for your plant.
Fertilizers are made to provide the correct concentration of chemicals that will help the plant grow. Adding too much fertilizer to the soil can have the opposite effect.
When plants are fertilized too often, or the quantity guidelines are not followed, they can cause damage to the plant. Here is how to tell if your plant is being over-fertilized:
1. Leaf and Root Burn
When too much fertilizer is used on a plant, its roots can get damaged.
This is especially true for fertilizers that contain Urea- a type of nitrogen as most plants are overly sensitive to this ingredient.
- Since fertilizers have a high number of soluble salts, they can cause leaves to turn yellow and the tips of the plant to turn brown.
- Over time, you may even find that the plant’s growth has slowed down or it is not growing at all.
- When plants suffer from root burn, they will have stunted growth and will not be able to bloom any flowers.
- If you have over fertilized the plant over a long period of time, you will find the roots shriveling up as they stop providing moisture to the plant, making it wilt and die.
2. Diseases
If you use too much fertilizer on your plant, it may initially cause so much growth that pests like aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites will start to get attracted to it.
When pests attack a plant, they suck on the sap and completely drain the plant of all its nutrients.
Overall, you might think that the more you fertilize your plant, the better its growth will be.
However, this is not true as sometimes, too much of a good thing can be extremely damaging as well.
How Can You Tell if the Plant is Over-Fertilized?
If you are suspicious that you may have used too much homemade Miracle Grow on your plant, start noticing its appearance.
Plants that are not incredibly damaged will show signs of wilting and not look too fresh.
- You may also find that the lower leaves of the plant are dry to the touch and quickly yellowing.
- Another common sign is yellowness around the edges and margins of the plant, along with root rot.
- If the fertilizer burn is too serious, a salty, white crust will develop on the soil’s surface.
- This is a sign that you need to stop fertilizing your plant as soon as possible. To reverse this damage, flush the soil with lots of water so that the extra salts can be diluted.
Moreover, you might also have to physically get rid of the extra fertilizer from the topmost soil layers.
Conclusion
Think about a fertilizer like the food of a plant. Without this, plants cannot survive for too long. This makes fertilizers extremely important for houseplants.
The best fertilizer to use is homemade Miracle Grow since you do not have to worry about the use of any toxic ingredients that will cause damage to your plants or be unsafe for your pets or children.
My name is Olivia, and I live in the United States and love having plants in my garden. Lots of plants are there on my balcony, indoor and outdoor garden also. Here I am trying to share useful gardening tips, how to grow and care for various plants, etc.
