Miracle-Gro Finds New Market

Fertilizer news: Scotts Miracle-Gro Looks to Help People Grow Marijuana.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has long sold weed killer. Now, it's hoping to help people grow killer weed.
Scott's Miracle-Gro is hoping to cash in on the growing medical marijuana business. WSJ's Dana Mattioli reports. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In an unlikely move for the head of a major company, Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn said he is exploring targeting medical marijuana as well as other niches to help boost sales at his lawn and garden company.
"I want to target the pot market," Mr. Hagedorn said in an interview. "There's no good reason we haven't."
Raids on pot-growing operations have turned up Scotts products. Mr. Hagedorn takes that as a good sign of brand awareness, but he fears that some growers would be reluctant to use a mainstream product.
Rollitup.org, a website geared toward the marijuana-growing community, has several forums that debate Miracle-Gro's effectiveness. A user with the moniker Weedqueen12 wrote: "i think [Miracle-Gro] works well." Another user, dannyboy602, countered that Miracle-Gro causes pot plants to "burn and stress."