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piper101_gw

Miracle Gro LIQUAFEEDER question for my pots

piper101
14 years ago

Hi, I have about 30 plus potted plants and flowers in my yard. I'm having company from out of town and my usual organic fertilizer (Dr.Earth) isn't going to keep my blooms or get them to "hurry up" and make more blooms in time. So I had the idea of this Miracle Gro liquafeed thing. In having a really good liquid concentrate dilution mixer that you attach to the hose, pick a dilution rate and go (22 settings from 1.5 tsp. to over 8oz and all in between) so I bought the refill pack and thought I'd figure it out when I got home. Wouldn't you know it, on the bottle and the Miracle Gro site it doesn't say anywhere the diluation rate (they want you to buy their kit mixer) and seem to want to keep this thing secret. The bottle is 16 oz. and is 12-4-8. Does anybody have an idea how I should dilute this in my feeder? Any ideas would be great. I know under diluting is better than over doing it so I don't "burn" the plants, but I'd like to get it as close as possible for maximum effect. Thank you, Nicole

Comments (27)

  • justaguy2
    14 years ago

    Call them on the phone and ask them how to set the unit you have for proper dilution.

  • piper101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks! That was a duh moment for me. I'll let you know what they say. It will be interesting to see how they handle that versus the way they portray it on their website and bottle.

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    The Liquafeed refills are the same product as the 12-4-8 Liquid All Purpose Plant Food, which says to apply at 1/3 capful per 2 gallons. A capful is about 4 tbsp or 12 teaspoons, so 1/3 of that is 4 tsp/2 gallons or 2 tsp per gallon.

    If you have an old sprayer, like mine, that will have emptied a full reservoir after 15 gallons of spray was applied, you add 30 tsp, which is 10 tbsp or about 1-1/2 cups to the reservoir & fill the rest with water before spraying. If you're using the newer sprayers, you'll need to do some math or use the info I gave you.

    If you're going to spray it on the foliage too, and the 1.5 tsp setting you mentioned is a '1.5 tsp/gallon' setting, I would use that. If you're not applying to foliage, I would use a '2 tsp/gallon' setting.

    Al

  • piper101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi, I finally got my email response back from the people at Miracle Gro and here is what they said, verbatim:

    Thank you for your interest in Scotts and for the opportunity to help you with your lawn and garden endeavors.


    Miracle-Gro LiquaFeed cannot be used in any other feeder than the Miracle-Gro LiquaFeed sprayer. It is impossible to duplicate the concentration without special equipment.

    Again, the Miracle-Gro LiquaFeed plant food is not designed to be used with any other hose end or tank sprayer.

    Again, thank you for your interest in Scotts. Please feel free to contact our company anytime we may be of assistance.

    Sharon Newell
    Consumer Service Representative

    So, I will take all your suggestions here. I just hate it when companies do this. It's a bunch of baloney but I'm not surprised since I thought it bad news when I saw their label and website. Thanks for your help! Nicole

  • piper101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Al, I think I'll call Gilmer, the maker of my sprayer, and ask them the flo thru rate of how many gallons go through it,,,rather,,maybe you already answered my question.

    Is the dial XX amount of concentrate per gallon of water? Is that how dilution equipment works? I know stupid question. I'd just like to beat Miracle Gro at the own game since I have 4 refill bottles that came in this pack. Thank you again, Nicole

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    That would really frustrate me if they told me it was impossible. ;o)

    If you have a 15 gallon hose-end sprayer for example, you calculate how much MG you want to go into 15 gallons of water. Add the MG to the reservoir, then fill it with water & spray. The siphon action of the hose will have emptied the reservoir when 15 gallons of water has passed through the sprayer

    If yours has various settings, you'll have to provide considerably more info or figure it out via your own research or calculations. ;o)

    Al

  • piper101
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Yea Al, That's the rub. My sprayer isn't a tank. You just load up the container (about 3-4 cups max),,dial in how many xyz tsp,,tbsp etc per gallon you want and connect the hose. I did it yesterday and had to puncture the bottom of the bottle to get into it. Smart, those MG/Scott's people are. They make sure they have you over a barrel. Anyway, the 16 oz. bottle took me a long time (every in the ground and potted plant/shrub in my yard) and I still have about 4 oz. to go. I set it at 2 tsp/gallon. No water ever goes into this contraption but it has a little straw that goes to the bottom and draws up the concentrate. But, if I think about how many 2 tsp there are per ounce, I guess it makes sense. I'll let you know in a week what I see. I couldn't help getting some on the foliage but I figured if I didn't see signs of leaf burn it will be the right dilution or weaker. Needless to say, when I use up the other 3 bottles I WON'T BE BUYING THIS PRODUCT AGAIN. The shame of it is, I'm a new Master Gardener and we have over 200 of us in our county. They just lost any endorsement I could possibly have given out.

  • Pieonear
    14 years ago

    Piper, do you have this spray attachment? It's a very handy applicator that you can leave on the hose because it has the feed or just water option.

    Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/7919111

  • tyler_thulin_gmail_com
    12 years ago

    So after hunting around for the answer to the ratio question and coming up with nothing, I decided to do an experiment myself. I have the MG Liquafeed starter kit and I filled the refill with 16oz of water. I then sprayed the sprayer into a 10gal bucket. After it filled the bucket, I took the feeder bottle out, and poured the remaining water pack into the measuring pitcher. It showed a little over 9oz therefore the feeder used 7oz per 10 gal of water or .7oz per gal. That means roughly 4 tsp per gal of water. So if you are doing 2tsp/gal then measure out 8oz of water and 8oz of fertilizer and pour it in your refill bottle to use.

  • hutch_zukiworld_com
    12 years ago

    Ha that's funny.. I was searching this awhile ago and after not finding much of an answer.. I popped the top off the miracle grow bottle and dumped in half organic, seaweed fish poop liquid fertilizer and half water and said oh well and went to town watering.. no issues and based on the information above.. I was dead on as long as my fertilizer is 2tsp/gal... Only thing I noticed is my organic fertilizer has organic dirt and crap in it that plugs up that tiny hole in the miracle grow sprayer.. Nice thing is you can see the water turn clear when it's not dispersing fertilizer..

  • PRO
    Home and Garden spaces
    8 years ago

    The Liquafeed refill bottles can only be used with the Liquafeed
    applicator. The bottles are diluted at 1.5 teaspoons per gallon of
    water.

    • Staff

    answered 2 years, 8 months ago

    ScottsCustomerCare

    Marysville, OH, USA

  • dale92539 Riverside Co SoCal
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    The Dilution Factor Setting depends on the Nutrient concentration
    desired. The previous post stating the 1.5tsp per gallon setting with a 12% nutrient solution
    concentrate would give about 234ppm Nitrogen rate.

    To Calculate the tsp per Gallon
    setting for the PPM desired is:

    tsp/Gal setting =(PPM Desired/1000000)*(768tsp)/(% of Nutrient in concentrate/100)

    1 Gal=768tsp “*” is Multiplication and” / “ is division

    Example What is the tsp/Gal setting for 100ppm
    Nitrogen using 5% Concentrate.

    tsp/Gal setting =
    (100/1000000)*768/(5/100)=
    1.536
    tsp/Gal setting

    Note: If the tsp per gallon settings are too low, you can dilute
    the Concentrate Solution to the desired value.

    Edit: You may also use the various Venturi Type Mixers, such a the HozOn adapter which mixes about 16:1 ratio.

  • Vicky Laursen
    7 years ago

    HELP! All i want to do is have one end of my hose attached to my faucet, the other end to my sprinkler. In between, i would like a reservoir/ tank? to add liquid fertilizer. Does this even exist? Thank you so much!

  • dale92539 Riverside Co SoCal
    7 years ago

    Hozon and Others make Siphon Mixers that mix stock solutions at different dilutions, http://hozon.com/

  • Vicky Laursen
    7 years ago

    is this what the term is? siphon mixer?

  • Vicky Laursen
    7 years ago

    i couldnt find anything else called siphon mixer online. is this the only maker?

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    7 years ago

    Use these search words:

    hose siphon mixer fertilizer

    Al

  • dale92539 Riverside Co SoCal
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Some website Links:

    Jacks-Classic-70010-Hozon-Siphon.

    Dramm-22625-Syphonject-Siphon.

    Note: The Hozon (Brass Unit) is one of the higher quality units. It is available at most Garden Centers and Online.

  • Vicky Laursen
    7 years ago

    thank you so much!

  • Vicky Laursen
    7 years ago

    are there any cheaper versions that hook up to my faucet?

  • bragu_DSM 5
    7 years ago

    cheaper than 15 bucks? well, father's day is coming up … you might find a deal somewhere

  • robert sobus
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    How to do the math. Dissolve 10 TBSP Miracle grow in 10ounces of water ( which equals 1 TBSP miracle grow to 1 ounce of water). (use hot water to make it dissolve easier. If you want to spray at a rate 1 tbsp/ gallon of water, Simply set the dial to 1 ounce /gallon- which will be 1 TBSP/gallon of sprayer output. whatever you set the dial to will equal that amount of miracle grow per gallon.

    Should you have the good fortune to speak to the Miracle Grow people, tell them to call me, if they can handle 3rd grade Math, I should be able to teach them how to use their product. If not I have holes that need digging!

  • PRO
    Home and Garden spaces
    5 years ago

    So those of you whose feeder has gone bum use a regular dial and spray feed and set it accordingly. 1.5 teaspoons per gal.

  • HU-422285460
    3 years ago

    So I also bought the same thing at Home Depot, figures it out, quite simple, at the bottom of the box it says that 1 tbs covers 10square feet or if you do it manually, 1 tbs per gallon. The bottle itself covers 400sq.ft, so 40 gallons worth, so you just add 40 tbs inside ( or about 3/4 of the bottle) and the rest water. It’s going to look like the ratio isn’t good, but it’s very soluble. Now fertilizer when adding water turns very cold, so it might not completely dissolve immediately, but I’d just leave it overnight to dissolve completely and just wait til the morning when your going to fertilize outside.

  • HU-422285460
    3 years ago

    Btw my mix is 24-8-16

  • Joy Klinger
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    reuse Liquafeed refill bottles 1 W/ a butter knife pop top of Liquafeed bottle 2 With a funnel add 8tbsp Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food into a 8-oz water bottle (3) Fill rest of bottle with warm water replace lid shake well until dissolved (4) W/ funnel pour mixed solution in refill bottle and replace the cap.