Miracle-Gro is an excellent fertilizer for plants, and you can buy it almost anywhere. Although using it can help your plants thrive, you need to be cautious about the amount you use. Using too much is unnecessary and a waste of money, but you may also be wondering if it’s possible to overfeed using Miracle-Gro.
It is possible to overfeed plants with Miracle-Gro, like any other chemical fertilizer. Overfeeding plants can cause many issues, including stunted growth and wilting leaves. To avoid overfeeding plants with Miracle-Gro, you should avoid using it when it’s unnecessary.
The rest of this article will discuss how to avoid overfeeding plants with Miracle-Gro in greater detail. It will also discuss what happens to a plant if you overfeed it with Miracle-Gro, how often you should use it, and how to fix too much Miracle-gro.
How To Avoid Overfeeding Plants With Miracle-Gro
Overfeeding is the biggest issue when it comes to giving your plants fertilizer. It’s easy to overfeed your plants, and although it may not seem like a big issue, it can have devastating effects.
Luckily, there are things you can do and rules you should follow to prevent you from overfeeding your plants with Miracle-Gro.
Below are some of the best ways to avoid overfeeding plants:
Follow the Instructions on the Miracle-Gro Packaging
This one is critical. Every product has varying instructions, so you want to ensure you follow them correctly. Many Miracle-Gro products are available, so some have different application methods.
For example, some of their products require application with water, whereas others need to be used dry. If you don’t follow the instructions, you’ll risk overfertilizing your soil and plants, which can cause irreversible damage.
Don’t Feed Miracle-Gro Too Frequently
You should avoid feeding your plants too frequently. In most cases, you should feed Miracle-Gro to your plants once every week or two. If you use the product any more than this, you’ll risk overfeeding it.
You could even feed them once a month or less than this if you want. As long as you’re not doing it too frequently, you shouldn’t run into any issues.
Only Feed Plants Miracle-Gro if Entirely Necessary
Although fertilizer and Miracle-Gro products are generally good for plant health and growth, they’re not always necessary. For example, if your soil is naturally rich in nutrients, your plants can thrive without the added fertilizer.
Adding Miracle-Gro or other fertilizers to nutrient-rich soil could give the soil too many nutrients, making it more likely to damage your plants.
There are ways to know if your soil has enough nutrients, including:
- Soil tests. You can send your soil samples to a local university extension or garden laboratory to determine what nutrients your soil lacks. This information decreases the chances of overfeeding Miracle-Gro.
- Plants examination. To understand whether or not your soil is nutrient-rich, you can look at the plants. If they look healthy and vibrant, likely, your soil doesn’t need anything extra.
Water Plants After Feeding
Watering plants after feeding them is another critical step if you want to avoid overfeeding. This hydration will move the nutrients down further and spread them across the soil, making them more evenly distributed.
However, not all Miracle-Gro products require watering after application. This difference is because some Miracle-Gro fertilizers require you to apply them with water, and you don’t need to water the soil after using them. If you use a dry Miracle-Gro fertilizer, you should water the soil thoroughly afterward.
Hazards of Overfeeding Plants With Miracle-Gro
Overfeeding plants with Miracle-Gro will cause many of the same issues as overfeeding plants with other fertilizers. The most common problems include stunted growth and fertilizer and root burn.
You can sometimes tell by looking at your plants whether you are overfeeding them or not.
Below are some things that happen to your plant when you use too much Miracle-Gro:
Overfeeding Miracle-Gro Causes Slow Growth
Your plants may begin to grow more slowly if you overfeed them, which is the opposite of what you want! Since overfeeding can cause damage to the roots, the plant’s growth will eventually slow down or even halt entirely.
So if you notice your plant is growing more slowly than usual and you’ve just started using Miracle-Gro, you might be overfeeding it.
Over Feeding Miracle-Gro May Encourage Disease
Since overfeeding causes plants to become weaker, they become more susceptible to diseases. Some of these diseases (which you can easily spot) include:
- Powdery mildew. This condition is a fungal infection that affects many plants. An overfed plant will be more susceptible to this due to how weak it becomes.
- Chlorosis. Chlorosis occurs when the leaves of a plant turn yellow. This yellowing is more likely to occur in weakened plants due to overfeeding.
Overfeeding Causes Rapid Growth Which Encourages Pests
As well as being susceptible to disease, overfed plants will also be more sensitive to pests. This vulnerability is mainly an issue when using fertilizers high in nitrogen. Since the high nitrogen levels initially promote such rapid growth, too much of it can attract all kinds of pests.
Overfeeding Miracle-Gro May Cause Fertilizer Burn
Fertilizer burn is typical, mainly if the product used is soluble nitrogen fertilizer. When fertilizer burn has occurred, the plants and leaves begin to turn brown, giving them a burnt look.
This potential burn is one of the most common problems of misusing Miracle-Gro and other fertilizers. But fertilizer burn shouldn’t be an issue once you use your plant food as intended.
Overfeeding May Cause Dull-Looking Plants
After a while, you’ll likely notice your plants look dull if you’re overfeeding them. Since the whole point of using plant food is to make your plants as vibrant as possible, it’s a bad sign when they appear dull.
One big sign of overfeeding is wilting leaves. They’ll look limp and may even appear slightly deformed or weirdly shaped. If you notice any of these issues with your plants, overfeeding is a possible cause.
How Often Should You Use Miracle-Gro?
You should use Miracle-Gro every 1-2 weeks for the best results. Using it more frequently than once a week will likely result in fertilizer burn and other avoidable issues. It’s safe to use it less than once every two weeks.
Most Miracle-Gro products will state that you should use them once every 1-2 weeks, but checking the packaging is essential. And the same goes for any fertilizer you use.
If you use the correct amount of Miracle-Gro once every 1-2 weeks, it’s improbable that you’ll accidentally overfeed your plants.
How To Fix an Excess of Miracle-Gro
It can be challenging to fix the soil and plants when you’ve applied too much Miracle-Gro. For that reason, it’s important to avoid using too much in the first place. But if you’re in a situation where you’ve applied too much and want to save your plants, there are some things you can try.
Below are some examples of things you should do after overfeeding with Miracle-Gro:
Water the Soil Generously To Flush the Miracle-Gro
One thing that can help is watering the soil. Applying plenty of water will help remove and push away the fertilizer, but you need to be careful because you want to avoid waterlogging and root rot. Generally, it’s easier to water away fertilizer in soil with no plants.
But if plants are present, you can still try this method. You’ll need to continuously water the soil for a few days to flush away the fertilizer successfully.
Dig Up the Excess Miracle-Gro
If you’ve recently applied the fertilizer to the soil and can see some of the product, you can try to remove as much as possible using a shovel or other tool. This action will ensure it doesn’t get mixed in too deep, but you may also need to remove soil.
If you remove too much soil, you might need to replace it. However, it’s worth it if it means you can remove excess fertilizer that would otherwise cause severe damage to your plants.
Avoid Fertilizing Miracle-Gro Again for a Time
If you believe you’ve overfed your plants, one of the worst things you can do is continue to feed them as usual. Instead, you should avoid feeding them entirely until you know they’re safe.
After overfeeding, you should wait a few weeks before adding more fertilizer. Depending on how much you used, it might be better to wait more than a few weeks.
Can You Overfeed Houseplants With Miracle-Gro?
You can overfeed houseplants with Miracle-Gro, so you should only use it when necessary and always follow the package instructions. You’ll risk overfeeding your houseplants if you use too much product at once or apply it too frequently.
Miracle-Gro contains many chemicals, such as:
- Ammonium sulfate. Too much ammonium can be toxic to plant cells.
- Potassium chloride. Although too much potassium is unlikely to cause plant issues, it can induce deficiencies in other things.
- Urea. Although it’s possible to use urea inhibitors to decrease the adverse effects, the urea in Miracle-Gro and other fertilizers can negatively impact seedlings and early plant growth, so it’s best to avoid using too much of it.
As you can see, it’s possible to overfeed your houseplants with Miracle-Gro due to many ingredients.
Conclusion
It’s possible to overfeed plants with Miracle-Gro, so you should always ensure you use the correct amount.
Additionally, you should avoid using Miracle-Gro plant food more than once every 1-2 weeks, as doing so will increase the chances of fertilizer burn and other irreversible issues.
