I may have Poisoned my Strawberries!! Organic gardner in need of help.

[Daniele]

Hello All,

I am a new organic gardener and I have started a strawberry patch in a raised bed. I did everything I needed to do to get them going but I made one fatal mistake. I feed them plant food intended for indoor plants in a vase. I am sure it is a toxic plant food not edible.

Have I totally messed up the strawberries? Do I need to throw them away and start over?

Is my plant dirt okay? Do I need to re-dirt my bed?

Thanks in advance and I will be here to answer more questions.

 

[Chuck]

Not to worry .....YET. What was the exact product you used.

 

[TomatoTango]

Just act like you’re starting over. Feed the soil mycorrhiza, molasses, and several organic amendments like bone meal, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, etc... Add compost and manure at the same time, as a side dressing and beyond. I’ve revived and burned out soils a few times. Short of nuclear waste you can revive anything.

 

[Daniele]

Not to worry .....YET. What was the exact product you used.

I used Flora Life flower food. Two little black packets in 5 gallons of water.

 

[Daniele]

Just act like you’re starting over. Feed the soil mycorrhiza, molasses, and several organic amendments like bone meal, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, etc... Add compost and manure at the same time, as a side dressing and beyond. I’ve revived and burned out soils a few times. Short of nuclear waste you can revive anything.

Thanks so much.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Thanks so much.

Chuck rules! Plus indoor or shade plant food is usually really weak compared to food for more robust or productive veggies.

 

[TomatoTango]

If you just fed them chemical food once or maybe even a few times, it’s usually not a big deal in my experience. If on the other hand you feed them something like 5-50-35 once a week for a few months, you may fry your microbes for a year or two and cause runoff. I experiment with low dose hybrid fertilizers although I recommend organic for most purposes.

 

[Chuck]

I used Flora Life flower food. Two little black packets in 5 gallons of water.

I looked up the ingredients and you are OK. They are citric acid, sugar and bleach. Just do as @TomatoTango stated in post #3 and you will be fine.

 

[Daniele]

Thanks guys so much! I really appreciate your help