Soil Comparison

[Sir_Syzurp]

I have been using Fox Farms Happy Frog as my soil for a little while now. I have been turned on to Pro Mix and am wondering the pros vs cons of these 2 products. I am trying to determine whether I should switch to Pro-Mix, stick with Happy Frog, or try out Coco Coir. A few buddies say go with Pro Mix, only 1 is saying stick with Frog, and a couple others are saying try the Coco because they have had good results.

I was also informed that Monsanto has purchased Fox Farms so I am trying to wean myself off especially if they alter the soil composition which my buddy told me has already happened, they are supposedly slowly removing out certain additives to replace them.

Before Fox Farms I was a Sunshine #4 user and would ammend the soil to fit my needs because it was such an easy to use soil.

 

[s00thsayer]

fox farm and pro mix are both peat based so you would probably see little difference between the two products. i buy peat in compressed bales like pro mix because it's cheaper and goes a long way.

 

[turbo14]

Pro Mix has much more aeration in the soil with at least double the amount of perlite than Happy Frog. Happy Frog has much more organic amendments in the soil such as Humics.

turbo

 

[yortbogey]

the 2 products are completely different....
pro-mix is a BASE medium used in commercial setting w/ a neutral ph...
happyfrog is a peat /soil/compost...w/ a higher level of nutrients and amendments...

growing in C0C0.... is COMPLETELY different than soil...
uses hydro nutes and feeds in that respect
the medium is just a subtract too carry the nutrients over to the roots from the liquid feedings...

where AS w/ soil U feed the soil/microbes which then in return feeds the plant....

 

[s00thsayer]

happy frog has more ammendments than promix but promix and happy frog are not "completely different" - they are both peat based and can be used interchangeably with basically the same growing techniques. promix is fine to use right out of the bale, no additional ammendments needed so I am not sure why yortbogey says it's a base medium. sure you can add stuff to promix but you don't need to. but yes, coco is completely different from growing in peat based mediums like promix and fox farm happy frog.

 

[supermanlives]

you can buy happy frog bagged ferts and add to promix lol. i like sunshine 4 better than promix myself. and if your going ff try piece of mind dry. better than happyfrog.

 

[Sir_Syzurp]

I am not trying to get out of doing my homework, but what are some of the major differences of coco vs peat based products?

 

[Hank Hemp]

Your homework - https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=228020 read

 

[s00thsayer]

Comparison of Coconut Coir and Peat as Soil-less Media
http://www.usu.edu/cpl/PDF/CoconutCoirPaper.pdf

 

[DrFever]

Hey all thought i would share my soil recipe which works like a charm

first off MJ likes lots of nutrients in all stages of growth so here is a easy way to a healthy garden forget all the bone meal, kelp, blood meal, bat crap hahaha
which most growers can't get or have to order which inreality becomes a security risk

if you think you are going to have good yields by cheeping out on soils you got another thing coming nothing is cheap spending around 100.00 will give you a smoking medium and lots of it

3.8 cubic feet of pro-mix BX with mycrohize 30.00
2 bags of sheep manure 8.00
2 bags of sea compost ( Shrimp) or any other type 8.00
2 bags of top soil 6.00
2 bags of organic soil 12.00
1 bag of perlite 10.00
1 bag of peatmoss 8.00
2 bags of sand 6.00
1 bag of Dolomite lime 8.00
______
100.00

Now open bag of pro- mix up place it on a tarp break it all up good place both bags of sheep manure and sea compost in it stir it up and mix it in real good then both bags of organic soil same thing mix it up real good now 1 bag of sand sprinkle it all over mixing it into medium
Now with perlite open bag up and place it all into one big metal screen rinse out the dust several times till water is clear let sit for 1/2 hr then sprinkle it all over at the same time put 16 cups of dolomite lime in soil and get mixing real well now were ready for peat moss
what i do is break open peat moss in a 5 gallon pail so its broke up real well
i get 10 liters of really warm water and put 10 table spoons of sulfured molasses in water mixing it real good now i put it in a sprayer and start spraying peat moss in my 5 gallon pail so it becomes moist once its moist i will then dump it on my soil and get mixing it in adding more peat moss till i get a real airy medium
That's it your good to go medium is done and good for Veg growth up till 5th week or flip

Home made plant food

in a 5 gallon or bigger pail fill it half full of luke warm water put all your vegetable scraps onions , potatoes, carrots, apples bannana's as well as egg shells stir it up daily within one week you will have over 2000 ppm of natural plant food strain out the junk and water it back you will have massive yields

 

[Musicianized]

LOL but not everyone has room for a dump truck full of soil lol.

FWIW, I have extremely healthy plants and yields on a mix of OF and HF. Of course I add some Perlite and Dolomite also..

I wish i had room to make a big batch though just for experimentation.


25 days old on the FF mix... No feedings.

 

[DrFever]

LOL but not everyone has room for a dump truck full of soil lol.

FWIW, I have extremely healthy plants and yields on a mix of OF and HF. Of course I add some Perlite and Dolomite also..

I wish i had room to make a big batch though just for experimentation.


25 days old on the FF mix... No feedings.

Nice here are 30 - 35 day water every 4 days can't find any 20 - 25 day pics anyways 15 0z dry per plant i found my medium of choice Cheers Doc

 

[Sir_Syzurp]

I just decided to mix Sunshine 4 Aggregate with Happy Frog, I ammended with mycorrhizae, dolomite and 1 tablespoon of Peruvian Seabird, Indonesian & Mexican Bat Guano mix per gallon of soil since my ladies are getting close to bloom phase. First watering is going to be with a light dose of Superthrive (I am hoping to ease the shock of transplanting).

On a side note, has anyone used Real Water in their garden? I have been drinking it for years. http://www.drinkrealwater.com/about/

I was thinking of using it off and on in my soil grows and monitoring my ph closely.

 

[DrFever]

I just decided to mix Sunshine 4 Aggregate with Happy Frog, I ammended with mycorrhizae, dolomite and 1 tablespoon of Peruvian Seabird, Indonesian & Mexican Bat Guano mix per gallon of soil since my ladies are getting close to bloom phase. First watering is going to be with a light dose of Superthrive (I am hoping to ease the shock of transplanting).

On a side note, has anyone used Real Water in their garden? I have been drinking it for years. http://www.drinkrealwater.com/about/

I was thinking of using it off and on in my soil grows and monitoring my ph closely.

Good luck should work out OK you got any perlite to help with
aerating soil please keep us update in progress pics

 

[Sir_Syzurp]

lol I forgot to add that to the post, I added 1 shovel of perlite per 4 gallons of mix so 10 shovels worth. The Sunshine 4 Aggregate has a a decent amount of perlite in it, would say roughly 25-30% perlite. Ill post some pics as soon as I can find my damn digital camera. Its buried somewhere in a bunch of boxes. The genetics as well are kinda unknown, I started with 22 seeds of mixed genetics I have collected over about 7 years. Had some Purple Kush, Master Kush, Jamaican Shaman, Purple Urkel, Sour Diesel, Blueberry Purple, OG Kush, and an unknown strain I called Underdog.