Looking for a good organic storebought soil?

[Supacalabala]

Hi guys I'm new to growing . I am currently on my second grow and for my 3rd grow I wanted to mix my own soil. Been to a few store like wallyworld , HD and all I have seen are soils by the scott's company (makers of miracle grow, hyponex , earthgro and scott's brand). Anyone have any recommendations?? I might end up going with earthgro potting soil.

 

[Guest423]

are you near a hydro store or even some garden places? Foxfarm makes some good pre-mixed organic soils.

 

[Suby]

Fox does make some good soil mixes, my favorite is Promix HP with Michorizae, most hydrostores can get it.
In reality any peat based soil mix with perlite is fine, beware of poting mixes as they cab be heavy and mostly dirt, I'm not familiar with the brand you mentioned.
What you are really trying to avoid is any mixes with timed release fertilizers to really be organic like some Miracle Gro or Scott's mixes, although they now make an organic blend.
Be sure to mix some organic additives to enrich the soil and any soil can be a good organic base, add 30% perlite to any base.

Sub's

 

[guineapig]

One thing you can do is to go to the Bright Orange Despot of Home and grab:

-Lots of Scott's brand Perlite (around 30% of your final mixture)
-Mushroom Compost. This stuff is very rich in beneficial microorganisms as well as
other great amendments like Gypsum.....check out the label for more information...
-Kow Manure compost (made by the same company as mushy compost)
-Sphagnum Peat Moss by Scott's or if you want to get this "Moisture Control"
product made by Miracle grow (mix of peat and coconut fiber)....i like the
Coco personally......maybe use until like 15% of final volume.....
-Vermiculite by Scott's? (Not sure if you will be able to find this, but use it sparingly
and wear a mask because it is bad for lungs. Same with Perlite btw)
-Bone Meal (for Phosphorous during flowering) and Blood Meal (for Nitrogen during
vegetative) by the Vigoro company you should also find available. These 2 products
are your main sources of Nutrients, since the other products listed above are very
low in nutrient content (including the mushroom and Kow compost).....Check out the
labels and don't overdo these products because seedlings and younger plants will
often not tolerate a soil mixture which is too over-loaded with Blood and Bone meal
(we call this a "hot" soil mix) and your plants could die.....larger plants can handle it.

Voila!!! There you are!!! Buy some garden plants too. They look good in your cart...

ps....If you are absolutely unable to find a specialty garden store or a local hydroponic
hobby store, then the above list is the best you can do. However, if you can
find "Mycorrhizae Powder" and "Rare Earth," dump them in too.....

pps....Some people like to use "Earthworm Castings" as their primary source
of Nitrogen (instead of Blood Meal)....see if you can find this product..
If not then i think Blood Meal is the best option......

ppps....The one Nutrient which really I haven't found is a good source of
Potassium (K). Hopefully the mushroom compost has enough, but it
would be a good idea to get some "Maxicrop" seaweed solution....
Maybe WallyWorld has a garden product high in Potassium, not sure...

yer pal the guineapig

 

[Suby]

GP have you ever tried wood ashes from a campfire for K?
I've tried it in teas but never in my soil mix as I use ground kelp.

 

[BurnOne]

Why not make your own? It'll be MUCH better...

Here are two very good organic soiless mixes...

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Check the link in my sig line below for cheap earthworm castings. Free shipping to the eastern USA.

Or, if you use Pro Mix or Sunshine Mix...
LC's Soiless Mix #2:
6 parts Pro Mix BX or HP / Sunshine Mix (any flavor from #1 up)
2 parts perlite
2 parts earthworm castings
Powdered dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
If you use a 3 qt. saucepan as “parts” in the amounts given above, it equals about 1 cu. ft. of soiless mix and you can just dump in a cup of powdered dolomite lime.


If you're absolutely going to buy a store bought organic medium, try Fox Farm Ocean Forest. But you'll still need extra perlite and powdered dolomite lime. Use the amounts listed above.

Burn1