Product Safety - Scott's Miracle Grow Recall and Cocoa Hull Mulch

The EPA asked nine national chains to pull illegal Miracle-Gro pesticides from shelves of
Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, Ace, Do-It-Best,True Value, Sam's Club, Meijer and K-Mart.

EPA is asking the retailers to remove Miracle-Gro Shake 'n Feed All Purpose Plant Food Plus Weed Preventer and related pesticide products which can be identified by the invalid"EPA registration number" 62355-4 listed on the package.

Photo of a possom that ran up into a tree when we tried to snap his photo. He is undoubtedly the culprit that broke open the Cottonseed Meal bags this winter and nested in the piles of food.

"We're taking these steps to ensure that the product does not end up in consumer's homes,"said Region 5 Administrator Mary A. Gade. "Our advice to people who have purchased these products is to not use them and store them in a safe, cool and dry place such as a garage or utility shed."

The EPA and its state partner Ohio Department of Agriculture are conducting laboratory analysis of the unregistered pesticides. Updated information about Scott's recall effort will be posted online as it becomes available at this EPA link.

Or call the EPA at 888-838-1304 (9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.Central Daylight Time). Questions may also be answered by the National Pesticide Information Center at 800-858-7378 (6:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.,Pacific Daylight Time, including weekends).

Photo-of an Ixora coccinea or Jungle Geranium taken at Blossom's Garden Center.

Speaking of product safety, Sandra Mason, guest contributor at Donna Dawson's I Can Garden has a post about the safety of using mulch where furry friends live. While most natural product mulches are safe for dogs to be around, cocoa hulls are not. Basically, dogs eat everything in their environment and even small amounts of cocoa hull mulch can make them sick.

Good growing!