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I see 10-10-10 in stores, and Diana recommended 8-8-8 at one time. Those seem to be equal as far as balance goes, but are they stronger? If 8-8-8 is recommended, could I use 13-13-13 at about half strength?

I have a lot of Miracle Gro (in bottles) on hand, and I thought that I’d use that for foliar feeding as the plants got “up”. But, I’m looking for something beyond manure and compost at the beginning. (Of course I’ll have ltos of manure and compost in there too.)

I forgot to mention that when I dig my holes to transplant I sprinkle about a Tbs. of a fert called Tomato-Tone (3-4-6) along with a pinch of soil sulpher into the hole and mix it in good around the interior walls of the hole. I did this with all my veggies last year and this year. Worked fine.

I have seen some 10-10-10 around (bulk 40lb bags) but could not find any this year in the big box stores or the local nurseries.

When plants are young, I use the liquid 8-8-8 (lighter mix) and manure tea or compost tea or a light kelp or fish fertilizer solution. Basically, whatever packaging broke that day at the store, LOL!

As they get older, I move up to a 10-10-10 or a 20-20-20. I like Miracle Grow just fine, and I also like the entire line of Espoma plant foods, formulated for specific things:

http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/fact_sheets.html

I LOVE Espoma HollyTone for my evergreens. It ROCKS. My FIL gives me ‘Charlie Brown’ trees at the end of his selling season; I’ve used HollyTone on them, and they are beautiful trees now. Except one. Harold. He’ll always be a weird-o, but we love him, anyway. :)

(Of course, you can’t BEAT liquid Algoflash for tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.) :)

I’ve never had any problems burning my plants. I don’t think you gain anything by over-fertilizing, though. If anything, you’ll get pretty looking plants, but less blooms and fruiting/veggie production action.

Use a 10-30-20 on your hanging baskets and ‘showy’ pots of flowers. You WANT that higher bloom boosting middle number for those. BUT in July, switch back to 20-20-20 (Miracle Grow) because otherwise your foliage can look just horrible!