Fred, I got the Miracle Gro in a large container - I don't have enough seedlings to warrant huge bags. I now have my seedlings outside - we were at 83 degrees today! Rain has stopped until tonight, but our freezes are over - unless we get an Easter surprise. I have put some alfalfa pellets around the seedlings - as they got rain, the pellets got soft and crumbly, now they look like they are part of the soil. Maybe its my imagination....but they are looking stouter, greener....this is the only fertilizer I have used on them. The pellets do great things for roses, and I read they were really good for daylilies too. Going to try a diluted spray of the MG on the leaves.
For aphids, I have had good luck just using that Safer spray. I think its supposed to be organic and gets rid of them.
I enclosed a photo of a seedling [Blue Pink Beauty x Fancy Border]. All this one has had in the way of fertilizer has been the alfalfa pellets. It was potted in a small pot last fall and moved up to this one later in fall. Getting ready to move it to a one gallon.
Glad to see a little sunshine, and the plants are really responding!
Judith
