Down To Earth All Natural Fertilizers Organic Starter Mix - Plant Food for Starts, Transplants, New Gardens, Containers 3-3-3, 1 lb

I'm a nursery manager by trade but also grow things as a hobby. I've used this brand in many different varieties of product in many different applications. The starter mix is a gentle way to fertilize indoor vegetables or container plants. I use it whenever I'm potting up vegetable starts or at the bottom of my plug trays when starting vegetable seeds. I even use it in my tropical house plants. The ingredients break down over time offering a long-lasting balanced and gentle fertilizer amendment in any soil mix. I keep it in a jar next to my potting bench and use it as needed.

This is quality fertilizer, anything down to earth is excellent stuff...

Every year my small non-profit organization grows a variety of tomato, flower, herb and vegetable starts from seed for our all-important spring fundraising plant sale. Despite using heat mats, adequate lighting and proper hardening-off timetables, our plants were just "okay". When some local professional plant growers suggested we try Down To Earth Fertilizer Mix 3-3-3 for better performance and healthier plants, we bought it and were thrilled at the difference we saw. More seeds sprouted and plants grew like mad. We use the mix twice: at seed-starting time, and at transplant time. It's gentle enough that once after we discovered a volunteer accidentally using too much during potting-up, our alarm turned to relief when the tomato starts in question turned out just fine.

I mixed the box in with 1 bag potting soil and 2 bags seed starting mix and 1 bag of perlite. My seed starts are super healthy and growing strong. I love that I don't have to worry about fertilizing them again until I plant them outdoors as this feeds for 3 months.

Really like the biodegradable package. I have compared the use of this product versus just using seeding soil. The roots are more developed on the seedlings that I added this to versus just using a seeding soil. Very happy. Will be using more Down to Earth products in the future. In the future I will buy the 5lb box instead for the better value.

That said, I was surprised by the 1 pound box (most DTE mixes I order come in 6 lb. or up) and the price is similar to their other products at that 6 lb. weight. If not for the size/price, it would get 5 stars for sure... Keep in mind: You won't need near as much product for seed starter / cloning soil, so this box goes further than one might think.

I wanted to like this fertilizer, but every transplant I put in the ground with this stuff mixed into the soil under it is repeatedly dug up by raccoons overnight. None of the plants that I used synthetic fertilizer with have been dug up. It's so infuriating. Also, it stinks once it's been watered. Must be what's attracting the raccoons. So, if you know you have raccoons in the area, don't use this.

I did a tray of tomatoes with and without this fertilizer the babies that had this fertilizer in their soil have much stronger stems and seem overall sturdier and healthier. Thank you!!