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Post by daylilydude on Feb 15, 2018 5:09:56 GMT -5
I know some of us use Miracle-Gro and the like plant food... how long do you think it last and how do you store it?
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Post by tomike on Feb 15, 2018 6:01:26 GMT -5
This is what I found and even without proof would tend to agree.
Dry fertilizer comes in granular form and, according to the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, these fertilizers have an indefinite storage life and do not expire.
I would want to add that proper storage is probably very important (ie. kept dry).
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Post by paulf on Feb 15, 2018 9:23:26 GMT -5
I do use the plant foods and like to mike says, kept dry last forever. I have a cabinet in the garage where all the garden chemicals a stored. Even if the humidity causes them to cake, when chipped out of the box it still works.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 15, 2018 10:55:38 GMT -5
I only use that type of thing for my seedlings and I don't worry about it expiring. I buy a small amount and it lasts 2-3 years and then I buy a new bottle.
I worked in a chemistry lab for years and we gave all of our chemicals a 5 year expiration date when we received them. I am sure that they were probably good for longer than that but if chemicals absorb moisture they can become less pure and these chemicals were used for testing so they had to be replaced every 5 years.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 15, 2018 10:57:29 GMT -5
^ What they said. It keeps forever, if you can keep it dry. It's also a lot easier to use if you don't let the humidity get to it. The original packaging (usually a non-resealable plastic bag inside a paperboard box) is pretty lousy for keeping it dry in a high humidity environment like mine. Plus if the bag gets a hole or if you spill some inside the box in a humid environment, it will leak right through the box and stain *everything* underneath it. So I like to transfer it to a plastic container with a very tight lid. I actually got some great ones from Chinese takeout years ago - wide shallow bowls with a tight, clear snap-on lid. They offer a lot of advantages: 1. They are watertight, so they keep the fertilizer dry. 2. The wide shallow form factor means I can lay the measuring scoop right on top of the fertilizer so I don't have to hunt up a measuring spoon every time I want to use it. 3. I can write how many tsp or TBSP per gallon for each use right on the container lid. No skimming through paragraphs of tiny print to get to the important information! 4. It's easy to carry and hold in one hand (the boxes are awkward to hold in one hand if you have small hands). 5. It's easy to scoop from - unlike those dratted bags that always catch around your wrist and knock the fertilizer out of the scoop! 6. The clear lid means I can check my supply without opening the container. I keep two containers. One I keep inside for seedlings - and houseplants if I ever get any more. I added a 1/8 tsp measuring spoon to this container, so I can easily make a very dilute mixture for seedlings. The other container I keep outside, and I mostly use it to give a boost to plants in Earthboxes late in the season.
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Post by guruofgardens on Feb 17, 2018 22:45:49 GMT -5
We're lucky to live in a very dry climate, so my dried kelp and other fertilizers keep for a long time. I buy the 50 lb. bags of kelp, alfalfa pellets, and smaller bags of corn meal or cottonseed meal. I think they last about 4-5 years in the cool basement.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 18, 2018 13:29:06 GMT -5
If you don't live in a dry climate, keeping fertilizers in plastic as Laura_in_FL, suggested is a really great idea.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 18, 2018 15:07:53 GMT -5
If you live in a humid climate, the best thing to store these types of things in is glass. As with food, nothing seals better than a glass jar with a rubber seal! I don't have these types of fertilizers, but the powdered ones in my basement, that I use in hydroponics, I keep in glass jars. daylilydude, Maybe you can get empty gallon jars from that place you get all of the buckets from? I used to get a bunch of empty pickle jars from a restaurant I delivered to.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 18, 2018 17:03:07 GMT -5
I agree glass is superior for sealing out moisture, but I am too much of a klutz to use any glass outside.
I have dropped and broken a glass container in the garden. Even though I thought I had picked up all of the pieces at the time, I found a shard a few years later. Remember I have kids who walk in the yard barefoot in the summer...I was lucky no one stepped on it. It also could have ended up in the pool where it would have been invisible until someone got cut (Hopefully I have found all of that glass now.)
So, no more glass containers are allowed in our yard or garden any more.
For inside storage, yes, glass would be great.
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Post by tomike on Feb 18, 2018 17:58:34 GMT -5
Just for the record, I'm not a Miracle-Grow fan but at one time many years ago, I used the product and it worked Okay.....
Times have changed and now I'm more into compost tea and more "natural" chemicals for fertilization....
Back on subject, in-line with recent discussions..... I agree that glass containers are better but may not be as practical.....
There are some good and cheap plastic containers out there and even "free" recycled containers that are much safer....
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 18, 2018 19:05:03 GMT -5
There are some plastic containers out there that have threaded tops, with rubber gaskets, but you will probably need to buy them. I never see any of the ones that I buy food in with the rubber gaskets. And trying those kinds with just flat plastic lids, like peanut butter jars, wouldn't keep my dried peppers dry and crisp for even 3 months, way back when I tried them. So I'm sure the humidity would get absorbed just as fast by chemicals, even with what seem like tight fitting lids.
Something related this: something that I save from many items I buy are those packs of silica gel. Great for absorbing moisture in things, and they can be "recharged" by drying out in a very low oven. Good for drying out seeds, if it's overly humid.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 19, 2018 0:05:45 GMT -5
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Post by september on Feb 19, 2018 15:57:23 GMT -5
I like the clear plastic jars that mayo or roasted snack peanuts are packed in. The lids may not have rubber gaskets, but they screw down tight enough for my purposes and are free. My husband prefers Taster's Choice instant to real coffee (not me!!!) so he can supply me with an infinite number of nicely shaped glass jars with tight fitting lids.
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