Need New Soil Mix

friend said go with mg organic. i dont know if i can do that to myself. im thinking of either black gold or go with ff ocean and light warrior and vermilate. trying to keep it simple after having a problem withs roots organic and i know ff had issues awile back. anyone got info? and what would the the mix be with the foxfarm?

yeah, im wondering if FFOF is worth what I paid for it. I am going to be trying out an experiment to see if foxfarm is any better than dr. earth.

my wifes uncle uses mg organic and his bud is great, but he has growing down to an art form lol.

What kind of problems are you referring to?

Organic is fine, organic based is easier and often more practical. The biggest issues I generally see are composted ingredients that technically meet the criteria but may not be fully enhanced with all the biology (bacteria and fungi) expected. These along with mychorizzae and other inoculates may give a bacterial body count, but often don't refer to the "active" count. Also many folks are paying a small fortune for organic "bloom enhancers", bug sprays, etc that are nothing more than watered down molasses or dish soap you could by cheap and mix easily enough.
I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water, but the best results are achieved with quality ingredients. That doesn't necessarily mean big name brand. Also pay attention to the NPK if it is listed. They can be real small.

Vermiculite holds quite a bit of water and can make your potting mix soupy if too much is added. Other options are1/4"-5/16" lava rock, or diatomaceous earth chunks like bonsai growers use and of course perlite.
FF/OF has a high nitrate N that is very mobile in the mix. That means if it is watered until it drains the water is washing away the nitrogen over time. I personally like to water until about 15% of the water added runs out to keep the salts down. Keep an eye on the nitrogen for best results.
I looked up the label for the MG Organic and it has a pretty low NPK. You're going to have to fertilize right away IMO. I noticed that the main fertilizer is "pasteurized poultry litter and manure". I'm going to give them a call to see if they have screened for clopyralid and aminopyralid. These are broadleaf herbicides that continue to show up in manures and are resistant to composting. I don't know how they react to pasteurization. I am not saying it is in their mix! I don't know. Just whenever I see manures I like to check it out before using it.
Black Gold Natural and Organic mix reads as follows:
"Our 100% organic base consists of screened earthworm castings, Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, compost and forest humus. We blend in perlite and pumice to ensure optimum aeration."
I couldn't find any NPK listing. It generally isn't required for planting mixes that don't add fertilizers. I can't say much other than I suspect considerable fertilization would have to occur right away.

Did I help or just ramble on like a boob?

bamfrivet said:

yeah, im wondering if FFOF is worth what I paid for it. I am going to be trying out an experiment to see if foxfarm is any better than dr. earth.

my wifes uncle uses mg organic and his bud is great, but he has growing down to an art form lol.

Click to expand...

Alot of people like to knock on FFOF for being hot and for some batch batchs that happened awhile ago but it was the basis of my soil recycling program when I started and its served me very very well.

Dr. Earth products have also been very good to me but Ive never tried their soils.

Also checkout the moonshine mix. You may have to google it. 1 large bag of FF happy frog or original planting mix, 1 large bag ocean forest, 1 bag light warrior. For extra drainage some people add more perlite. I will also be adding coco coir to my batch plus lime because the ph tends to swing with FF in my experience. The full mix/theory calls for amending and multiple transplanting so you never need to add anything but water but that is the basic mix for it.

i liked the roots but i started getting bad gnats and the ph in the soil was real low after 3 days of planting a new seedling. it wasent with the 707 it was with one of the other ones. it was richer. so i went to see my hydro guy today and he said he talked to the company and that the roots problem was fixed so im going to try the 707 again. wish me luck. thanks for the info.

40%ff ocean forest+40% ff happy frog+20%perlight= AMAZING RESULTS

I've been very happy with Kellogg Patio Plus. I get it at Home Depot in Southern California for around $6 (1.5cu. Ft.). It contains chicken manure, kelp meal, and worm castings. I grow in raised garden beds and would go broke using organic roots or foxfarm.

I've grown several strains of Nirvana White Rhino side by side, comparing $18 FoxFarm Ocean Forest to the $6 Kellogg soil. The FF has a few things better in it, but just looking at my plants I couldn't tell which ones were using which soil until I got close and physically felt the soil. For what it's worth, FF does feel sexier.