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OMC is right when he says how can we know what a plant can and can't use since it can't talk to you anyway. Bonsainut alluded to that adage about plants taking in only what they use. I don't know about that. I think plants are not that much different than humans when it comes to matabolism. I think if the fertilizer is there , the plant may take it in, and metabolize the rest away some how. I know that the plant will grow due to the fertilizer, if the plant grows, then pound for pound the plant should be able to metabolize more fertilizer. I know we must be talking micro measurements here, but it makes sense to me. If you don't change the amounts or feedings, you may be shorting the plant. By pushing too much chemical fertilizer, I think you would run the risk of burning the plant just like a kick of pure cocain to a user. I think that organic fertilizer seems to be metabolized out of the plant more than chemical fertilizers.

The big story on miracle grow was, a year or so ago the company started to use cheaper urea,( the main componet of the fertilizer and the source for nitrogen) which would cause your plants to possibly get burned more. The talk was on Garden web as well as the IBC. I switched to dyna-gro for that reason. Why take the chance. I also noticed a marked improvement with the Dyna-gro, go figure?

15-Aug-2002	#5
bonsaial1 Bonsai Doer Join Date: Aug-2001 Location: Fresno, CA Country: USA USDA Zone: 9 AHS Heat Zone: 13SH Posts: 5,468	OMC is right when he says how can we know what a plant can and can't use since it can't talk to you anyway. Bonsainut alluded to that adage about plants taking in only what they use. I don't know about that. I think plants are not that much different than humans when it comes to matabolism. I think if the fertilizer is there , the plant may take it in, and metabolize the rest away some how. I know that the plant will grow due to the fertilizer, if the plant grows, then pound for pound the plant should be able to metabolize more fertilizer. I know we must be talking micro measurements here, but it makes sense to me. If you don't change the amounts or feedings, you may be shorting the plant. By pushing too much chemical fertilizer, I think you would run the risk of burning the plant just like a kick of pure cocain to a user. I think that organic fertilizer seems to be metabolized out of the plant more than chemical fertilizers. The big story on miracle grow was, a year or so ago the company started to use cheaper urea,( the main componet of the fertilizer and the source for nitrogen) which would cause your plants to possibly get burned more. The talk was on Garden web as well as the IBC. I switched to dyna-gro for that reason. Why take the chance. I also noticed a marked improvement with the Dyna-gro, go figure?