A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Miracle-gro liquid houseplant food question

I Bought a new bottle of liquid houseplant food the other day. On a lark I peeled off the back label from the older bottle.----Good Move----

it is the same stuff and miraculously the same strength... 8-7-6 on both.

here is where they change--

the old one said use 7 to 10 drops per quart of water

The new one says use 10 to 20 drops per quart of water

both say to use it at every watering----

so I was using 1/2 strength before---do I keep going by the old directions, but at half strength, or half strenght by the new directions??

and as long as I am asking do I do half strength or full strength which.

Always half strength or less. Their job is to sell the stuff. Use as little as possible as you need to maintain healthy plants. And go by which ever bottle you are using. It may be more concentrated than the old one.
I water often because of our dry atmosphere. I feed only about 3-4 times a year.

Thanks Tina for your reply.....

I think the new has the same concentration and the same amt of liquid "mixer" as the old one, but I will go by half strength of the current bottle then.

This "Houseplant food" is something devised to be used every time, with no harm to the plants it says---

I have other various plant foods that I use a few times a year---

I kill houseplants if I try growing them indoors. My house is too dry. I have lots of 'houseplants' outdoors in the ground. I have dracaenas and scheffleras and spiderplants and gingers and such all growing in the ground. My schefflera was a tiny little thing about an inch tall with one tiny umbrella leaf rooted in a one inch pot. I'm surprised it lived to outgrow that pot because the winds kept knocking it around. It keeps growing way over my rooftop and I keep hacking it back to about 8 ft tall when I get around to it. I have taken many cuttings off it. My dracaenas all froze a couple years ago and I thought they were goners. But they started all over again from the roots. None of these plants is supposed to be grown outside here in my zone 9 (maybe zone 8 with my elevation).
The thing is is that these are the plants I feed only a couple-three times a year. I'm sure they get nutrients from the things that fall and naturally decompose in the soil. But they do grow as long as they are watered. I feel that fertilizers add too many salts to the soil and can stunt growth a lot and cause other problems. I mostly use osmocote when I do fert. Or my own compost tea. None of which I have done for over a year. I have just not been out to buy fertilizer.

I have Osmocote and Miracle grow Bloom boost--not to metion some Miracid, Orchid food and the MG houseplant food. The first 3 I use only outdoors, The last 2 indoors, (obviously).
I use them all depending on the occasion.--I am more concious of the feeding thing since I neglected to feed my amaryllis last year and all I have this year is "green"---my bad---

You are so very lucky to be able to keep those plants outdoors---I bet they are beautiful.--

I had a schefflera--got it in 1979 for a wedding gift.---it was about 7-8 feet tall in Dec of 2004 when we moved. I had no place to keep it (or so I thought) so it did not survive the move---I am still sad about that---


I realize you know much more than I do on the subject and I appreciate your giving me the benefit of your knowledge.