Alternative to fox farm that's available in Australia?????

hey guys, I'm in Aus and completely new to this, I've heard nothing but use fox farm!!

But unfortunately you can't get it here :( only online and it's like a hundred bucks shipping, so I was wondering if anyone on here is in Australia or knows of someone in Australia and could tell me what products and or brands to look at, ANYTHING is helpful to me as I have never done this before. (My autoflower so are one week in so kinda in a hurry)

Cheers


P.S my local landscape supply guys only have two types of organic soil and they are loam with chicken manure and loam with mushroom compost, does anyone know which may be better if I can't get any other info??
 

MadFlavour

Active Member
Another Aussie here, frustrated with either everyone just saying 'Fox Farms' or spelling out some super weird recipe that is all greek to a beginner. I've spent hours trying to research it as a noob. I just want a soil I can go buy and start with in a tent grow, some people will say just grab a bag of premium Osmocote from Bunnings. Then others will shoot that idea down as stupid, you don't want any 'NPK soils'.
Then the 'coco' suggestions come in. In threads that ask what SOIL in a indoor grow is needed.. huh that isn't soil? So now we are growing hydro yeah? Which everyone says is way harder for a beginner, just do a soil 1st grow, you don;t need to worry as much about ph of water.. so then the loop starts again.. what soil? Fox Farms!
Then others say get a 'living soil' that only need water. But then others will say no they actually add nutes to that water in living soil grows. Huh? That living soil in Australia is (a) crazy expensive (b) always stocked in some middle of nowhere location and (c) out of stock everywhere.
All I want is a step by step Australian based guide as to what soil to get for a 4x4 tent grow under LED, where to buy it, and not using strange terms like 'guano' or 'lifter' like a beginner knows what the heck they are (I know it's a lot to learn but I can't even pin down what to buy and not make a mistake that rears it's head in 4 months).
I thought the light choice was hard to pin down through a sea of opinion and sponsored posts but this basic thing - soil and where to get it in my area, super frustrating especially now I have all the other kit ready.
 

CTGrown203

Well-Known Member
I’m from the us but I’m pretty sure I see a soil in my hydro store made in australia named cyco wormix, the cyco company makes all kinds of stuff should b easy for you to get, but the loam with mushroom compost from ur local should be just fine ( make sure there’s perlite )
 

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
If you are going to feed liquid nutrients then any peat based soil would be fine, just mix in some perlite to help it drain. The only think you really want to try to avoid is soil that has time released nutrients mixed into it. There’s nothing magical about fox farms soil. I ran it when I started but I actually preferred ProMix HP.
 

CTGrown203

Well-Known Member
If you are going to feed liquid nutrients then any peat based soil would be fine, just mix in some perlite to help it drain. The only think you really want to try to avoid is soil that has time released nutrients mixed into it. There’s nothing magical about fox farms soil. I ran it when I started but I actually preferred ProMix HP.
Gonna have to disagree absolutely nothing wrong with slow release dry amendments especially for a beginner 1/4 the work and 1/10 the price of over priced, over pushed, and over hyped liquid nutes
 

MadFlavour

Active Member
Thanks for the replies but they both leave me confused
'but the loam with mushroom compost from ur local should be just fine ' Is this even english words? I have no idea what you are saying.
'any peat based soil would be fine' - so many people on forums would say no. Brand? I dont know ANY 'peat based soil' and seems like you assume a beginner does
'nothing wrong with slow release dry amendments' - dude I get slammed for suggesting it is in my shopping list on this and a whole bunch of other forums hence my frustrations!
 

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
Gonna have to disagree absolutely nothing wrong with slow release dry amendments especially for a beginner 1/4 the work and 1/10 the price of over priced, over pushed, and over hyped liquid nutes
I wasn’t talking about organic soil that comes with mixed in dry amendments, or mixing in your own, I was talking more about time released pellets like you see in miracle gro.
 

Bowlingball_bag_bob

Active Member
Another Aussie here, frustrated with either everyone just saying 'Fox Farms' or spelling out some super weird recipe that is all greek to a beginner. I've spent hours trying to research it as a noob. I just want a soil I can go buy and start with in a tent grow, some people will say just grab a bag of premium Osmocote from Bunnings. Then others will shoot that idea down as stupid, you don't want any 'NPK soils'.
Then the 'coco' suggestions come in. In threads that ask what SOIL in a indoor grow is needed.. huh that isn't soil? So now we are growing hydro yeah? Which everyone says is way harder for a beginner, just do a soil 1st grow, you don;t need to worry as much about ph of water.. so then the loop starts again.. what soil? Fox Farms!
Then others say get a 'living soil' that only need water. But then others will say no they actually add nutes to that water in living soil grows. Huh? That living soil in Australia is (a) crazy expensive (b) always stocked in some middle of nowhere location and (c) out of stock everywhere.
All I want is a step by step Australian based guide as to what soil to get for a 4x4 tent grow under LED, where to buy it, and not using strange terms like 'guano' or 'lifter' like a beginner knows what the heck they are (I know it's a lot to learn but I can't even pin down what to buy and not make a mistake that rears it's head in 4 months).
I thought the light choice was hard to pin down through a sea of opinion and sponsored posts but this basic thing - soil and where to get it in my area, super frustrating especially now I have all the other kit ready.
Get some of this
and cut it with 25/30% perlite, handfull of gypsum, some Searls Kickalong fertilizer and some Natra Min +Phos
 

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies but they both leave me confused
'but the loam with mushroom compost from ur local should be just fine ' Is this even english words? I have no idea what you are saying.
'any peat based soil would be fine' - so many people on forums would say no. Brand? I dont know ANY 'peat based soil' and seems like you assume a beginner does
'nothing wrong with slow release dry amendments' - dude I get slammed for suggesting it is in my shopping list on this and a whole bunch of other forums hence my frustrations!
You need to look at the ingredients of the soils available to you. A peat based soil would be a soil that shows peat as the highest percentage ingredient. Stop worrying so much about what people on forums say, do some research, and decide for yourself what is best for you. People in forums will tell you soil sucks and you need to grow in hydro or coco. Others will tell you you need to use 20 different bottles of nutrients to have great results. If you want more of a care free approach then learn how to build your own soil that won’t require constant feeding and just mix it up. It only has to be as complicated as you want it to be. I’m just starting my first organic grow now and it can be confusing but, if you want to be less confused about it, then you need to learn about what needs to go into the soil rather than just take the word from random people regarding which premixed soils are the best. Opinions are like assholes...everyone has one and most of them stink.
 

CTGrown203

Well-Known Member
loam is soil found naturally there’s acouple kinds.
Mushroom compost just mushrooms left out to decompose.
after that u will need some nutrients many different options
N- nitrogen /. P-phosphorus. / K-potassium

and pete moss is just a soil substitute for gardening
 

MadFlavour

Active Member
You need to look at the ingredients of the soils available to you. A peat based soil would be a soil that shows peat as the highest percentage ingredient. Stop worrying so much about what people on forums say, do some research, and decide for yourself what is best for you. People in forums will tell you soil sucks and you need to grow in hydro or coco. Others will tell you you need to use 20 different bottles of nutrients to have great results. If you want more of a care free approach then learn how to build your own soil that won’t require constant feeding and just mix it up. It only has to be as complicated as you want it to be. I’m just starting my first organic grow now and it can be confusing but, if you want to be less confused about it, then you need to learn about what needs to go into the soil rather than just take the word from random people regarding which premixed soils are the best. Opinions are like assholes...everyone has one and most of them stink.
Firstly - I appreciate the time take to post, and admit I'm salty from trying to self learn an area I have zero experience with.

I am trying to do research but I'm in a country that has draconian laws and no one I know who has even tried growing has had any noteworthy results. So all I really am left with is forums. All my grow videos are ancient from an era where there would be no LED's. But the whole legal thing has been in place so long for the most active people on the forums they all talk in code and lingo that really isn't beginner friendly. The intention is good but even in this thread there is hard to decipher conflicting posts. 'Natra Min +Phos' - HUH?

I really don't think the easiest path here is to make my own soil? And doesn't this take weeks?

Can anyone link a product to consider that is Aus based? Likely I'm just gonna do the hour drive and pay through the nose for this https://accenthydroponics.com/easy-as-organics-water-only-soil-25-litre/
 

Bowlingball_bag_bob

Active Member
Firstly - I appreciate the time take to post, and admit I'm salty from trying to self learn an area I have zero experience with.

I am trying to do research but I'm in a country that has draconian laws and no one I know who has even tried growing has had any noteworthy results. So all I really am left with is forums. All my grow videos are ancient from an era where there would be no LED's. But the whole legal thing has been in place so long for the most active people on the forums they all talk in code and lingo that really isn't beginner friendly. The intention is good but even in this thread there is hard to decipher conflicting posts. 'Natra Min +Phos' - HUH?

I really don't think the easiest path here is to make my own soil? And doesn't this take weeks?

Can anyone link a product to consider that is Aus based? Likely I'm just gonna do the hour drive and pay through the nose for this https://accenthydroponics.com/easy-as-organics-water-only-soil-25-litre/
 

MadFlavour

Active Member
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