Anyone ever fertilize pasture with miracle grow?

braggscowboy · #1 04/03/12, 02:42 PM

May sound like a sill question, but not really. Some are buying bags of the water soluable kind and using pasture sprayer to spray pasture. The bags are big enough to do 5 acres and cost is like 35.00. About have weeds killed out and want to spray meadow we use for hay. I will take 3 bags and it is way, way cheaper than using commercial fertilize. I would think that it would work.
Anyone try it?

bruce2288 · #2 04/03/12, 02:56 PM

Cheaper than commercial fertilizer? I find that hard to believe. Do a comparison on the three main plant nutrients N-P-K. Anything less than 40lbs N/acre would not be worth doing in this area.

Cliff · #3 04/03/12, 03:09 PM

My brother in ky is doing that this year. Said he had a hard time getting the regular stuff and the miracle gro is cheaper anyway. I don't know the breakdown or anything, haven't looked into it.

haypoint · #4 04/03/12, 04:41 PM

6 pounds costs $12 and does 2500 square feet. It would take 17 containers to do an acre. That is over $200 an acre. I couldn't find the levels of nitrogen, phos and potas.,but I think it is single digits.

braggscowboy · #5 04/03/12, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haypoint

6 pounds costs $12 and does 2500 square feet. It would take 17 containers to do an acre. That is over $200 an acre. I couldn't find the levels of nitrogen, phos and potas.,but I think it is single digits.

No, I am told that what they are buying is a bag that does 5 ac.

braggscowboy · #6 04/03/12, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cliff

My brother in ky is doing that this year. Said he had a hard time getting the regular stuff and the miracle gro is cheaper anyway. I don't know the breakdown or anything, haven't looked into it.

Anyone know who is doing this there and in Ky and that if it is working and the cost there. This is why I am asking I would like to do it if I can find out.

geo in mi · #7 04/03/12, 05:02 PM

No matter what brand, a 10 lb pkg of 10-10-10 water soluble fertilizer will deliver 1 lb N, 1 lb. P, and 1 lb K to your soil-----the NPK ratio analysis is the percentage by dry weight. You can mix it with water, and it will still deliver 1lb N, 1lb P, and 1 lb K no matter how concentrated, how dilute, or how wide an area you spray it. So, do the math. If the pasture needs 100 lbs of N per acre, you'll have to buy 1000 lbs of fertilizer--dry, then mix it with water at a volume that will spray it evenly over the acre.

geo

ksfarmer · #8 04/03/12, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geo in mi

No matter what brand, a 10 lb pkg of 10-10-10 water soluble fertilizer will deliver 1 lb N, 1 lb. P, and 1 lb K to your soil-----the NPK ratio analysis is the percentage by dry weight. You can mix it with water, and it will still deliver 1lb N, 1lb P, and 1 lb K no matter how concentrated, how dilute, or how wide an area you spray it. So, do the math. If the pasture needs 100 lbs of N per acre, you'll have to buy 1000 lbs of fertilizer--dry, then mix it with water at a volume that will spray it evenly over the acre.

geo

geo is right, no way could you get adaquate fertilizer on 5 acres with one bag.
The Miracle Gro general purpose fertilizer I have for the greenhouse is 24-8-16 with some trace elements such as boron,copper, iron, manganese, and more. It is formulated from ammonia sulfate, potasium phosphate,,potasium choride, urea, and trace. A 10 lb container sells for about $18.00.. So, figure that out . It can't be cheaper . Go to your local farm supply store and buy some bulk fertilizer.

Alice In TX/MO · #9 04/03/12, 06:36 PM

Or... do the experiment and report back.

braggscowboy · #10 04/03/12, 06:44 PM

This is the reason I am asking, did not think it would be worthwhile. It would have to be suppppppperrrrr good stuff to work. I use 25 pounds of 10 10 10 on my garden and flowers at one time. I knew I would get the right answer on here. Thanks! Will scrap that idea.

sammyd · #11 04/03/12, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braggscowboy

No, I am told that what they are buying is a bag that does 5 ac.

you can mix one bag with enough water to cover 5 acres for sure but you won't have much to show for it other than a big water bill.
Unless the bag you're referring to is really really big.
miracle gro is commonly 24-8-16 from what I can gather at their website.
so shooting one bag over 5 acres even if it is 50 pounds would give you less than 2 and a half pounds of N per acre.

am1too · #12 04/03/12, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braggscowboy

May sound like a sill question, but not really. Some are buying bags of the water soluable kind and using pasture sprayer to spray pasture. The bags are big enough to do 5 acres and cost is like 35.00. About have weeds killed out and want to spray meadow we use for hay. I will take 3 bags and it is way, way cheaper than using commercial fertilize. I would think that it would work.
Anyone try it?

Miricle grow isn't a commercial fertilizer? Hump!

bajiay · #13 04/04/12, 12:28 AM

No, but my daughter drank it once and she hasn't quit growing yet!

honeyrobber · #14 04/04/12, 03:23 AM

The big bag is 40 pounds. Green houses get it in these large bags. I use Peter's liquid which is 20-20-20. The problem with liquid fert. is it does not have to break down for the plant to use. It uses it all right now. If you mix the liquid fert to the amount you can use for a single feeding you will get great short term results but it will not last all season. It needs to be aplied every 10-14 days. So a 40 pound bag at 20% gives you 8 pounds. I used to use 300 pounds per acre of 12-12-12. The standard granualar fert takes 3-12 weeks to break down depending on amount of rain. With the cheap co-op fert I have seen it lay on top of the ground for as granules you can see for 6 weeks in times of little rain. Liquid fert are good for foilure feeding. I just do not see this working out.

Jay · #15 04/04/12, 07:46 AM

The only drawback I see is: M.Gro (ok, any commercial fertilizer) feeds the plant, not the soil.
It does nothing for soil improvement. Hence why you have to keep re-applying it. (Good ruse they have going, eh?!)

Take a soil sample and feed/balance the soil with what it needs. It'll save you money in the long run and you'll be amazed at how things grow.
Not to mention, anything grazing on it (or hay cut from it) will be healthier as well.

Ed Norman · #16 04/04/12, 07:53 AM

Everybody seems to be overlooking the miracle part of Miracle Gro. It must be special stuff to be called that.

Cliff · #17 04/04/12, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay

The only drawback I see is: M.Gro (ok, any commercial fertilizer) feeds the plant, not the soil.
It does nothing for soil improvement. Hence why you have to keep re-applying it. (Good ruse they have going, eh?!)

Take a soil sample and feed/balance the soil with what it needs. It'll save you money in the long run and you'll be amazed at how things grow.
Not to mention, anything grazing on it (or hay cut from it) will be healthier as well.

How do you do that these days on a larger scale? Everything is so centered around chemical farming. Manure spreading can be done but a lot of people these days don't try to manage manure to use it as a fertilizer. They just buy in chemical fert. I don't even know if you can get natural fertilizers besides manure on any kind of larger scale around here.

I'm with you though. Chemical fertilizers have been shown to kill soil life. Not sustainable and not healthy. We're bypassing a whole cycle of life that's meant to nourish animals and humans by growing feed on dead soils.

xCSx · #18 04/04/12, 08:53 AM

Ill never buy miracle gro or any scott's product again, i do not support chemicals in agriculture.

brreitsma · #19 04/04/12, 09:33 AM

If it is for fertilizer then animal product is your best fertilizer. I think I wasn't born or too young to remember. My grandpa in my moms side had a large raspberry patch. In the spring he had a rendering plant come and drop off a load of tankage in them. Came out of a house and sprayed into them. Come growing seasons the things went crazy. Big and fat berries hanging all over the place. Took up a huge chest freezer and still had to find room even with giving a bunch away.

Paquebot · #20 04/04/12, 10:20 AM

Manure may be one of the best fertilizers to use but cost of buying cattle and feeding them costs a lot more than a bag of fertilizer.

Since this is an effort to establish a good pasture after undesired weeds are eliminated, the good stuff can use all it can get to take over before the bad stuff can recover. That can be easily accomplished with a quick-kick water-soluble type of fertilizer such as Miracle Grow. However it gets into the plant's roots, via application as a liquid or dry form doesn't matter as both are effective. You will only notice rapid foliage growth but that is being accomplished from a much larger root system. That cycles around to much healthier and stronger plants later, especially in areas subject to heat and droughts.

And for those who might claim that it is foliar feeding, most plant leaves are only capable of absorbing nitrogen. Phosphorus and potassium are not present in the air and thus the plants never adopted the ability to absorb them through their leaves. Liquid fertilizer may be applied to the foliage but does little good until it drips onto the soil below the plants.

Martin