MIRACLE GROWTH STICKS and HERBS???
Question:I am starting to grow my own herbs, and used some miracle grow sticks. You put them in the soil and as you water your plant they give off chemicals to help speed up growth. I didn't think about it untill after I had planted them, but will these growth sticks make my herbs taste funny in any way? When eaten raw, cooked, burned?
Answers:
They only effect they might have , is that with some herbs , overfertilizing produces a lot of soft, watery (relatively) new growth that has less intense flavor.
No, but it is a good idea to read the package on the Miracle Grow to see what plants it is recommended for.
Honestly, if you have good soil conditions and mulch your garden, perennial herbs and flowers do not require much fertilizing.
Inorganic fertilizer shouldn’t be necessary every year in perennial beds, especially if you’ve been consistently adding compost, but older beds may need the added boost. Organic fertilizers, which have fewer nutrients and are more slow release than inorganic ones, can be added each year. Make sure to keep fertilizer off plant foliage to avoid burning it.
It's also better to apply too little rather than too much fertilizer. Too much fertilizer may result in perennials growing lush foliage, with few or no flowers. Too much fertilizer, and it may end up in surface or groundwater supplies.
Remember, too much of a good thing can also have an adverse affect on flowers growth. This means you need to be careful how you make applications of fertilizer to your garden crops.
Over application of ammonium nitrate, triple thirteen, or just about any fertilizer material added to plants as a side-dress can easily lead to soluble salts injury.
Excessively high soluble salts hurt garden plants by causing root burn. The burning reduces the ability of roots to absorb water and nutrients. Roots of properly fertilized plants are able to carry out these essential functions without problem, but it's a different story with over fertilized plants. In fact, instead of being able to pick up water, water may actually flow out of the roots of these plants.
Good luck to you. I'm a horticulturalist in Canada.
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