Nutrition Fertilizer For Garden!!

AnimalHouse36 said:

I'm planning on making a pot garden for my guinea pigs. I have gotten, Parsley, and Cilantro, but I don't know what fertilizer to use. The store suggested Miracle Grow but I'm worried that it has fertilizer in it. Any suggestions are needed!!lol

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Miracle Grow has fertilizer. But grocery store vegetable has fertilizer too. If you use fertilizer moderately, and avoid spraying weed/bug killers, I think it will be ok.

Home Depot sells organic fertilizer in very cheap price if you are concerned. I also raise earthworms to consume kitchen garbage and generate great fertilizer for me.

I use snail traps instead of poisons. I fill jars with beer and cigarette and bury it. They work great and attract all the snails around. Well, I think snails are having better death that way too.

Thanks for the quick reply! I think I will use Miracle Grow since I already got alot for our flowers.

Do you have any suggestions for their garden?

Leafy lettuce grows really well. But low price in grocery stores makes it waste of space unless your garden is large. I grow tomato, beet, bell pepper, and other salad greens. But beware, home grown vegetables taste real good and usually end up in human mouths.

Justin said:

But beware, home grown vegetables taste real good and usually end up in human mouths.

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Haha I'll stay aware. I'm really just planning on making it a pot garden, you know ones that grow in the house. I'm not sure if I have to green thumb so its going to be a trial and error. I hope Parsley and Cilantro are hardy plants!
thanks again!

I wouldn't use anything for decorative plants. I use Vegan 3-2-2 and FloraBlend. I'll mix up my own as needed. For starting plants inside, I use coir and perlite.

There are tons of great gardening books about organic methods, pest control (I only use nonlethal methods), good conditions for various plants, etc.

Weatherlight said:

I wouldn't use anything for decorative plants.

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I'm confused by what you mean. The cilantro and parsley will not be decorative plants. They'll be fed to my girls. As for the flowers, they are outside plants in flower pots. PLease explain. Also, what is perlite and coir? I have never actually gardened so you'll have to take it slow with me.

Weatherlight said:

(I only use nonlethal methods)

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How do you control snails? I hope you don't put them in your neighbor's garden and call it controlled. (I know someone who does it)

Justin said:

How do you control snails? I hope you don't put them in your neighbor's garden and call it controlled. (I know someone who does it)

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That's actually...really hillarious...which I'm not sure what that says about my character.

I've also planted some green bell peppers and yellow bell peppers in my grandparents garden, but I saw some cheap pot started cilantro and herbs such as that at Meijers so I think I might add them in too. That is if I can sneak it past my grandmother.

I mean I wouldn't use products that are for use on decorative plants. I use things that I know are safe for growing plants for human consumption.

You can google about perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, and coir. Here's the wiki's pages on what I use:

Perlite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coir - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Haven't had to get rid of snails yet. From a quick search it seems mechanical barriers and not giving them a luxury hotel are likely candidates. For the latter, it would be pretty stupid to complain that snails are moving in while one has tons of low vegetation, keeps everything damp and waters at night, has stuff lying around like piles of weeds, bricks, etc. Same goes for leaving spilled food, crumbs, open containers of food, etc lying around and being shocked to find insects or rodents in the kitchen. I'm not the one who does most of the reading and researching, so I'd have to ask if anyone around here has other ideas. Too lazy to read more myself.

How many snails do you get? What do you mulch with?

Weatherlight said:

How many snails do you get? What do you mulch with?

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I think my gardening practice invites some snails. My mulch is 20 years old rotten tree barks. I will see what I can do to repel the snails instead of giving them booze and weed. Anyway, I get a pint jar full in weeks. I think I can just add some salt and sell it as delicatessen.

GuineaAddict said:

That's actually...really hillarious

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That someone was my wife. Can you believe that?

I'd think you'd have pretty good fertilizer in the guinea pig cage...

paperlady said:

I'd think you'd have pretty good fertilizer in the guinea pig cage...

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haha, yeah your propably right! Thanks everyone for the helpful posts. I'll check out the links weatherlite.

My tip for fertilizer is...pig poop! My Veggie patch has thrived since I started using it, and the worms absolutely love the soil now. When I first started is was horrible, now 3 months later it's incredible...you do need to mix it through the soil quite well though as it can take a bit to break down.

As for snails. Try beer. I'm not kidding! It's a commonly used home remedy in Australia. Buy a plastic snail trap and fill it with a little bit of beer (they don't really seem to mind what one) and you will have to empty it out after rain etc. Just be careful, make sure no dogs/cats/native wildlife can get to it.

To make guinea pig poop into fertilizer do you have to do anything special..or just dump it in and mix it in with the dirt?

Just dump it on and mix it in. You could also buy a tub of worms from a garden centre and it will help with the break down of all that yummy goodness!

I compost pig poop along with old hay and rotting veggies ^^ My soil doesn't need it being mixed in directly. Lucky me.

I asked my partner (who does the research) and he said sand (and something else, gravel?) can be put around the plants. Snails dislike crossing it. I feel bad about making them feel bad, but better than making them feel worse and cutting their lives short.

Try sand around the plants. You can also sprinkle used coffee grounds around the plants as well if you're a coffee drinker then hooray for you!