We use fertilizers whenever our plants begin to suffer from a lack of required nutrition. Miracle-Gro is one such fertilizer that is recognized as a safe fertilizer that balances your plants suffering from lack of nitrogen. However, if it is used in excess, like any other fertilizer or chemical, it can result in damage to your plants. So what do you do in such a situation where you’ve used it in excess?
The first and foremost thing to fix the excessive use of Miracle-Gro is to safely take out the Miracle-Grow from the surface of the soil. Then, you should flush out any of the remaining fertilizer. By controlling its exposure to light, you can avoid excessive burn in the plant tissues. Moreover, you should make sure that only the healthy parts are attached to the houseplant afterward to avoid the potential spread of disease to the whole plant.
You may have used too much Miracle-Gro if you are a beginner or by accident. In either case, make sure that you do not panic and instead use this article as a guide. We have explained the measures you should take to fix it, and what is the proper way of using Miracle-Gro in your plants. We also explained why your Miracle-Gro may have killed your plants.
Table of Contents
What is Miracle-Gro
As a fertilizer, Miracle-Gro is meant to promote the development of your indoor plants. The Miracle-Gro product was manufactured in the 1940s, and it has maintained its quality till now.
The product portfolio now includes much more than just fertilizer. Under the Miracle-Gro name, you may also buy soil conditioners, pot mixes, nutrition for your plants, garden equipment, seeds, and other things.
Most of the nitrogen in their fertilizer comes from the salts of ammonium and nitrates, which are virtually always the source of nitrogen. The amount of nitrogen in relation to other nutrients, such as phosphorus, will vary depending on the kind of houseplant you’re producing.
So, three key elements—nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—make up the fertilizer. For indoor flowers, you’ll typically find them blended in a set ratio. However, the ratio will change based on the indoor plants you grow.
One of the healthiest and safest ways to encourage potted plant development is with Miracle-Gro. In addition to promoting plant growth, it also increases plants’ capacity for flowering and causes them to blossom more abundantly than usual. Your plants end up growing larger than usual and becoming more attractive.
With Miracle-gro, different plants exhibit varying rates of growth, but some of them expand to twice their original size. Similar to this, feeding your houseplants Miracle-Gro can help them produce twice as many blossoms.
How Do You Fix Too Much Miracle-Gro
Fertilizer is no exception to the general rule that too much of anything is bad for plants. It’s important to realize that improper use or excessive application of fertilizer, whether it’s Miracle-Gro or another brand, can result in poor plant health or even plant death.
The biggest challenge for amateurs is applying Miracle-Gro on plants in the proper amount. Many beginner gardeners may unintentionally overload their plants with Miracle-Gro since they lack experience in this area. If you ever commit such a mistake, you can fix it by following some measures we have listed below.
Take Miracle-gro off the Surface of the Soil
Because Miracle-All-Purpose Gro’s Plant Food has the color blue, it is very simple to spot on the soil’s surface. You can remove bits of the top layer of soil that contain the blue fertilizer using a tiny shovel. You can also use an ice cream spoon if it is cleaned.
Then you need to make sure there are no leftover traces of fertilizer. This is because if there are any leftover traces of the fertilizers, it will become much more difficult to remove each time you water your houseplant again.
Remove Any Remains of the Miracle Product with Water
Miracle-Gro cannot be completely removed from the soil surface with a shovel. You will need to flush some of the product particles with water because some of them are still below the soil’s surface. If they are left there, they will keep harming the roots of your houseplant. Additionally, watch out for indoor plants with water-sensitive roots.
However, you should make sure that the water flow isn’t excessive, as it could cause further problems. Your houseplants are more prone to root rot when they receive too much water. Let the water flow freely through your houseplant for at least 30 minutes for this reason. Once you’ve done that, wait to water your houseplant again until it needs it.
Take out Any Damaged or Dead Leaves
It’s time to concentrate on the plant itself now that you’ve removed as much Miracle-Gro from its system as you possibly could. Your indoor plant may seem fine or completely destroyed because of how much you over-fertilized it. Regardless, it is important that you take out any damaged or dead leaves.
Remove any wilting, deformed, burned, or other damaged leaves or blossoms with a pair of disinfected pruning scissors. By doing this, you can reduce any insects that might now be drawn to your extremely salted plant and avoid the potential spread of illness.
Once you’re finished, your houseplant will only have a few leaves or blossoms, with more nutritious plant parts attached. Re-infect your gardening equipment and shears once you’re through.
Do Not Till Your Soil
If you have removed the houseplant and now want to put a new plant in the soil, make sure that you do not till your soil. One of the most damaging things we can do in the garden is tillage. Tillage encompasses more than just raking a yard with a gas-powered rototiller or plowing a field with a massive tractor plow.
Tillage in our backyard gardens can be as easy as using a shovel to turn all of your soil over onto itself. When you disturb the soil, you disturb the network of soil bacteria and the beautiful soil structure they have been hard at work constructing. You should make every effort to leave no stone unturned.
Reproduce Healthy Plant Components
Make sure that you don’t simply discard the removed branches and stems. These components might be reproduced into younger, healthier plants after leaching out all the extra nutrients. In other words, they can be used as compost.
Next, you need to locate a new pot. Add new soil to it. Next, allow the plant that you cut air dry for about a week. However, based on the indoor plant, it can or might take longer. After that, tuck the edges of the plant portions in the ground a little bit. If you give the houseplant water and wait a few weeks before fertilizing it, the roots will begin to establish themselves and expand.
Control Exposure to the Light
When exposed to sunshine, the excessive salt in plant tissue acquired from the excess use of Miracle-Gro makes the burning worse than it is. Hence, you should watch the light exposure to keep your plant from deteriorating further.
To achieve this properly, give your sun-loving plant artificial illumination with a reduced intensity instead of keeping it in the dark. We want to control exposure to light, not completely remove it. You can put the plant back where it normally is once it has recovered and started to grow once more.
Signs You Overused Miracle-Gro
It is important that you observe your plants while fertilizing them, whether it is with Miracle-Gro or any other fertilizer. You should only apply it to some extent. Here are a few signs that you might have overused Miracle-Gro and when to stop:
- You should put a halt on using extra Miracle-Gro if the foliage on your plants is growing faster than usual and the plants are no longer really attractive.
- You should stop applying Miracle-Gro on your plant leaves if their color is fine, but they are wilting or becoming distorted. When leaves are treated with too much Miracle-Gro, they become deformed.
- When you notice that there are far fewer flowers than there ought to be, there should be more flowers than usual if the proper amount of Miracle-Gro is being used.
- You may be putting too much Miracle-Gro if you observe that the color of the leaves is shifting from their original tint. Stop applying it right at once to prevent further harm to your plants at this point.
- Finally, the most common cause of an overdose of fertilizers is that it will result in plants that are weaker from the roots or the stems.
Your plants will only benefit from Miracle-Gro if you use it in the proper quantity. Otherwise, they would start causing the plants more harm than good.
Why Did Miracle-gro Kill My Plants
If used properly, Miracle-gro is a good all-purpose fertilizer that will likely benefit most plants. If you use Miracle-Gro sparingly and properly according to the usage instructions, it’s a great fertilizer.
However, as a highly concentrated fertilizer, Miracle-Gro can damage your plants if you use more than the prescribed dosage. Due to their inability to absorb water, your crops end up scorching when Miracle-Gro is applied excessively.
The buildup of salts in the product is to blame for this. A surplus of it could cause your plants to wilt as well. Thus, excessive fertilizer has the opposite effect, stunting plant growth and making plants weak and vulnerable to pests and diseases.
Miracle-Grow gives plants a lot of nitrogen content to enable rapid, huge, and green growth. The issue with Miracle-Grow is that its nitrogen is produced using synthetic salts, which results in chemicals detrimental to worms, soil bacteria, and other soil life.
The Right Dosage of Miracle-Gro To Use
You should apply miracle gro every two weeks for the optimum benefits. For outdoor plants, you can also use it once each week, but a break of two weeks is optimal. Keep an eye out for any warning signs that tell you to quit using Miracle-Gro altogether because you overdosed.
The suggested dosage for Miracle-Gro is one tablespoon of liquid to be combined with a certain amount of water, typically one gallon. This amount will satisfy all your indoor plants. If it runs out, you can make another Miracle-Gro mixture, but make sure that you do not use any more Miracle-gro than required.
How To Use It Properly
Before we discuss the steps to how you can use Miracle-Gro properly, make sure to use the recommended amount of miracle-gro as we mentioned. Never use more than 1 spoonful of Miracle-Gro per plant. Follow the steps listed below.
Alternatively, you can also use this video:
- Miracle-Gro is offered in a water-soluble form, which makes it simpler for everyone to use. In addition to purchasing miracle-gro for your backyard garden, be sure to purchase a watering can.
- Next, you should add 1 gallon of water to the watering can.
- After that, stir in 1 spoonful of Miracle-Gro. You can spray it on the plants after it has completely dissolved in the water.
- Use this 1 gallon of miracle-mixed water on plants that are spread out over an area of around 10 square feet.
- Prepare the water and Miracle-Gro mixture once more and apply it to the next 10 square feet of space for the plants, as the first mixture may not be enough. Repeat this process until you have used this water plus Miracle Gro mixture to feed all of your plants.
Conclusion
Miracle-Gro is one of the safest fertilizers out there. However, the high level of salts in Miracle-Gro can cause adverse effects on your houseplants if it is used in excess. In our article, we explained how you could solve this problem.
We also mentioned the signs that you might have overused Miracle-Gro, and when should you stop. Knowing how to properly use Miracle-Gro can produce the best results for your houseplants.
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