I use pro-mix or sunshine mix which are peat based and contain no added nutrients and I still wait at least 3 weeks before I even think about adding anything extra. Even then, I start at 1/4-1/2 strength. I use the Botanicare Pure Blend Pro line of nutes and had pretty good results. I never used fox farms soil or nutes, but everyone seems to love them on here. The fox farm soil is pretty expensive, so I figure I'd use something cheaper like promix and add nutes when I need them. Look around, I'm sure you can find pro-mix or sunshine mix locally, althought it might be a little harder to find now since it's october, haha. There is a small local chain of hardware stores in my area where I can get 3.8 cu ft bales of promix for around $35. It's compacted and when broken down it comes out to about 7 cu ft. Actually now that I think about it, any Ace Hardware can get it for you. I think Ace is a national chain. I couldn't find it online but the item number is 7136385 for the 3.8 cu ft bales. They have smaller 1 cu ft bags for around $5 and the item number is 7008634