F U to the maker of Black Gold potting soil (adding resilience)

Ruined the best seed and clone starter soil I ever used. I have no clue what nutrients are in this "resilience" crap but the soil is now useless for my seeds and clones. Burned up 20 new seedlings, (10 mango and 10 lost coast) and stunted my newly planted clones until whatever nutes were in the soil burned themselves out. Gnats like mad after 2 waterings. Never saw a bug in their soil in 5 years of using it.

Been using this stuff for years and then they go and change it. Now I'm in the market for a new seedling and clone mix. Any suggestions out there? It seems all of a sudden many soil and mix makers have added this resilience crap to their lineups. I want to stay away from anything that has this crap in it.

Looking for a soil/mix that has no ferts in it. Thx

Sun Shine mix. I got some free samples and gave it a try, worked out pretty well. I grow in soil for the most part. Happy Frog is great had my best yield to date using it, Roots Organics Original is what I am using now and i feel it is better than HF.

Hotwired said:

no clue what nutrients are in this "resilience" crap

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Looks like it's silica. I don't understand why they would put that in a seedling mix. (Silica usually adds K, but their guaranteed analysis doesn't reflect that.).

I use Rapid Rooters placed directly in a 22oz seedling cup of soil. I've thought about trying Jiffy seedling mix with some fine perlite for better drainage.

This is how i start my seeds now, good seeds split in under a day.

az2000 said:

Looks like it's silica. I don't understand why they would put that in a seedling mix. (Silica usually adds K, but their guaranteed analysis doesn't reflect that.).

I use Rapid Rooters placed directly in a 22oz seedling cup of soil. I've thought about trying Jiffy seedling mix with some fine perlite for better drainage.

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Do not use Jiffy pots! Stick with what you are doing, if it ain't broke...

loquacious said:

Do not use Jiffy pots! Stick with what you are doing, if it ain't broke...

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I didn't say "pots." (I wouldn't use those.). But, I thought the seedling mix might be interesting. I tried a Jiffy Pellet and it was kind of wet/dense/heavy. But, I like the texture of the material. I'm going to try removing it's peat from the net which holds it together, add some fine perlite, and see how that works (scoop out a depression in the soil, replace it with this "pellet" material as a seed bed.).

I imagine the Jiffy Seedling Mix is just that same stuff in the plug, just not compressed. I handled a bag of it recently, and it felt like the same fine peat.

I'm just playing with things to get different experience. I like the RRs. I'm just curious if I could get the same fine texture plus aeration with fine peat and perlite.

az2000 said:

I didn't say "pots." (I wouldn't use those.). But, I thought the seedling mix might be interesting. I tried a Jiffy Pellet and it was kind of wet/dense/heavy. But, I like the texture of the material. I'm going to try removing it's peat from the net which holds it together, add some fine perlite, and see how that works (scoop out a depression in the soil, replace it with this "pellet" material as a seed bed.).

I imagine the Jiffy Seedling Mix is just that same stuff in the plug, just not compressed. I handled a bag of it recently, and it felt like the same fine peat.

I'm just playing with things to get different experience. I like the RRs. I'm just curious if I could get the same fine texture plus aeration with fine peat and perlite.

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i've used that jiffy seedling mix with pretty good results az, but you're right, it definitely needs some perlite added for better drainage ime..

fox farm light warrior

FVCK black gold. bought a bag when my shop was out of light warrior, utter garbage "soil" for sure.

The Light Warrior sounds like it might work. Thx for the tip. I start my seedlings in rapid rooters also. Works great. I just wanted to use a decent mix with no nutes in it. Seedlings dont need much for the first week to 10 days.

az2000 said:

Looks like it's silica. I don't understand why they would put that in a seedling mix. (Silica usually adds K, but their guaranteed analysis doesn't reflect that.).

I use Rapid Rooters placed directly in a 22oz seedling cup of soil. I've thought about trying Jiffy seedling mix with some fine perlite for better drainage.

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Silicon would be found with K (Potassium) if it was or contained potassium silicate.

Si is believed to play some role in reducing plant stress while it is not an essential nutrient. If there is too much Si it can compete with other nutrients. I sort of doubt the supplement is the direct cause of the issue though, what else is going on here? Have you been running this grow continuously, starting back up again? What else if anything changed?

It would be even less likely to be connected to any pest problem. For example Diatomaceous Earth is made up of mostly silicon dioxide and is sometimes used as a soil sweetener and/or to add Si.

I have used Black Gold for years with seedlings and clones. They recently changed their whole formula and added this resilience. Has killed everything in my garden since purchased. The soil is the only thing that has changed, nothing else.

I have been looking for a better soil as well. I just ordered this stuff called buffaloam. Looks decent.