Ocean Forest vs Happy Frog Please Weigh In

I know I should be mixing my own soil but I'm busy so its easier to just buy it. The nursery by my house sells 1.5 Cubic Foot bags of OF for $18 and the 2 cubic foot HF is $19.
I've been using OF for a few years with good luck, I'm switching to full Organics this next grow. I noticed that HF is a better deal so I'm thinking of switching over just to save a few bucks.

Any pros/cons?
Peace

i like the ocean forest and have used with good results. The only problem is it's "hot" your clones may burn (or will) If using you should mix with 1/2 peet moss. I would like to mention that it is not a fully organic soil that is why I stopped using.

I used Happy Frog last grow. I really liked it at first. Plants did too. Then ~bam!~ it ran out of nutrients. No prob; I ferted. (Scuse me.) But what bugged me is that for the last month of flower, the soil began to become duck's-back hydrophobic. Water would bead off and take forever to penetrate the soil. And then the soil ball began to crack, and my waterings raced right through without being significantly absorbed. So I love it and hate it. cn

you needed a bigger pot probably had root balls canna..

Seven-gallon Smart Pot. I'm wondering if using a cloth pot was part of the problem. I'm sticking with hard pots.

That'll address the channeling but not the loss of wetting ability. cn

hmm I just switched over to the "smart" pots...seem to be going pretty well I;m in week 2 of flower...the only problem is see is the water will run out after a watering fairly quickly I let it collect in the catcher and wait like 10 minutes for it to re-absord into the pot...then I dump off the excess...Im only using 3 gal pots

thebeej72 said:

hmm I just switched over to the "smart" pots...seem to be going pretty well. I'm in week 2 of flower...the only problem is see is the water will run out after a watering fairly quickly I let it collect in the catcher and wait like 10 minutes for it to re-absorb into the pot...then I dump off the excess...I'm only using 3 gal pots

Click to expand...

I noticed the wetting problem around week 5 or 6. I'll have to check with you later and see how it went for you! Best luck. cn

i switched to a different soil from my local nursery that they make...hopefully I dont have that to look forward to!

Gotta agree with cannabineer. I've have great success cloning with HF but that word hydrophobic always pops into my mind when I'm watering during flowering. I've started to cut OF with HF or Espoma potting mix and it's helped with OF's "hotness" and I just auger the plant a bit before watering to ease the hydrophobic behavior. Good Luck and Happy Growing!

fox farm changed their formula for ocean forest. now its worse than before. oh and every where sells it for $10 to $13 per 1.5 cu bag. anymore than that and its a rip off. fox farm does not run hot at all. it just has way too much nitrogen. hot soil does not burn it just causes heat stress. if it ran hot it would cause your leaves to cupple and look like venus fly traps not burn them.. that happened to me when i used empire soil. now that runs hot.

ive tried everything except canna tera. thats not sold in the U.S. due to bacteria strains in it. anyway ive used ffof, ffhf, black gold, empire, mg organic, 2 different dr. earths, and roots organic original and 707, i will tell you roots original is the best. wish i used that from the beginning. dont have to cut it with perlite. it already has a lot of chunky perlite in it. does not clump up like ocean forest does. i swear everything grows so much faster in the roots. one con to it is its kind of fluffy. since they measure by area and not weight you have to buy more of it. its about 9 gal per 1.5 cu bag


i mix in roots uprising and epsom salt(magnesium) in the soil once a month and top dress with gh ancient forest every 2 weeks. feed a compost tea every 7 to 10 days and just water the other times. it kicks ass.

i stopped using OF because there's no place around here that sells it for less than 20 bucks for a 1.5 cf bag, and that's just plain rape. it's very good soil, but i can get gardener's gold from the nursery for 14 bucks for 2 cf, and amend it to hell. that's 25% more soil for 25% less $$, and with the savings on one bag i can purchase enough amendments to last me for a year.

i've been starting seeds in HF for a couple years, and no matter what anyone tells me, i refuse to believe it is "too hot" for seeds. i have an almost flawless sprout rate and healthy vigorous plants, and that wouldn't be if the soil was too hot. they get plain ol' tap and the plants are starving by the end of week 3-4, which is just perfect because that's when i stick 'em in their permanent pots with my own mix. i would never attempt to start seeds in OF.


OF is a bit hotter. that's the only difference i experienced. if i were the OP i'd go for the HF at that price, or i'd test drive an even cheaper brand. 19 bucks for 2 cf isn't bad at all for that stuff. if i could get it for that price it would be my new base soil.

Wow great input y'all. I've been cloning in OF for two years and only have had 1 or 2 failures so I can't figure out why people say it's too hot. I'm going to try the happy frog next time, and maybe I'll even try some el cheap organic soil.
My gogi og from bodhi started poking up from the soil today...so exciting!

People like to blame others for their own mistakes. I agree that its not too hot, I've grown lettuce heads from seed in FFOF no problemo, just add water. I also agree that roots original is better IMO. Mainly because it also has coco coir in addition to peat, and more amendments added in too. The coir solves the HF hydrophobic issue (peat just gets that way), plus there is no need to cut in more perlite as aurora gives us a nice helping of chunky perlite AND pumice for aggregate. The 707 is great too. IMO FFHF is for beginners who would just burn the crap out of their plants as they follow the directions on the fert bottles in a richer soil. If you are willing to read the plants a little early on and hold back on fertilizing too soon then the richer mixes will grow healthier plants with less deficiencies in the long haul.

cannabineer said:

I used Happy Frog last grow. I really liked it at first. Plants did too. Then ~bam!~ it ran out of nutrients. No prob; I ferted. (Scuse me.) But what bugged me is that for the last month of flower, the soil began to become duck's-back hydrophobic. Water would bead off and take forever to penetrate the soil. And then the soil ball began to crack, and my waterings raced right through without being significantly absorbed. So I love it and hate it. cn

Click to expand...

This is the main reason I NEVER LET MY SOIL DRY. I keep the top soil moist because of the peat content in HF/OF and keeps the plant well fed too.

If you are using cuttings how about starting with HF and stepping up with OF? It depends a lot on your gardening methods and seed strain, too. I am using HF in a 55 cubic foot planter and it's great but your strain may require a bit more oomph (that's a horticultural term). So,by starting mild and building up you will have a safe growing medium.

A lot of good info on this thread, just watch out for the 5% bull. It's enough to ruin a grow.

Never used Happy frog, but have had great results starting seeds and also cloning straight into Ocean Forest... It is less about the soil, and more about the watering...As long as you are using a good quality soil...

Used both pretty extensively... Happyfrog is a more basic mix while OF is more complete. Little do people know, but you can "cook" your soils just like supersoil. Throw it in a garbage can from the bag and water it a little set the lid back on and let it start activating more microlife. You can also add simple amendments to HF or OF like mycos or other beneficial microlife - some can give a base soil an added "boost". Keep it in the can for as much time as you have until its needed, a 2-4 weeks is good. I've known people who "cook" their OF and use it only for flower, it acts more like a supersoil and will sustain the plant for the full flower cycle instead of running a little short like usual. Same can be done with the HF to make a good veg mix because it will only last a month or less before you need to fert - so unless you amend HF with extra guanos/poops I wouldn't use it for flowering... at least not on its own. In my experience OF can get a plant through a month of veg easy, HF can run out of gas after 2 weeks with some strains and you'll need to fert. And for flowering OF can get you through a full cycle depending on strain, where as HF cannot and you will need to fert fairly early. I cut all my pots with at least 1 handful of light warrior - both for more diverse soil life and to make the soil just a tad lighter overall.

I recently stopped using fox farms products and switched to Roots Organics Original Potting Soil and supersoil. The HF and OF had serious drainage issues both at the end of veg and flower. I have 4 jack the rippers in 5gal pots and what was described above by another poster is the same thing that happens to nearly all my HF/OF grows. The soil gets very compact inbetween waterings (even if you're catching it before it gets fully dry) and it creates soil channels very easily. I always hit each plant with a shot of plain water before I use teas or ferts - expands the soil and will allow it to act more like the sponge it was intended to be. Even still I find a lot of water runs out of the pots during the beginning of watering sometimes... Hence why I switched to roots and supersoil (which uses roots as the base).

It's really spongy and does not seem to compact or channel nearly as much or as quickly as the HF/OF. It is sometimes not consistent in terms of batches because I've had my hydro shop tell me "careful its running a little hot"... or "careful lot of people getting thrips from it".... that kind of thing. But its usually nothing that your average grower shouldnt be able to work with. If its hot I cut it with something more neutral like light warrior or HF. Thrips or bugs? Neem oil or azamax those fuckers! Sometimes my clones wilt or look poorly for a 3-5 days but then they take off unlike any other soil mix I've used. I'm stickin with roots cause I believe it grows healthier plants faster.

Damn, thats pricey. Where I live, both Ocean Forest and Happy Frog go for 12 bux per bag

Hmmm...I have tried Roots Organic and It seems that it has fewer available nutes, but more that are available later...Like OF is really strong at first, but once it wears off it is gone...I get more early yellow when using OF as opposed to Roots, but you can't beat vegging with OF...I deally vegging with OF and then going to Roots for flower would be what I have seen to be the best, but as opposed to all that I believe I have decided to switch to coco...I like it much much better.

Well Hell!I'm using a 50/50 of HF and MetroMix900 amended with worm castings,bonemeal,kelpmeal,&rock phosphate.Using 5gl buckets outside and watering a lot because of the heat we have,now drought,and use the tea from my worm bins about once a week.What do y'all foresee me doing come August when flowering is in full swing?Like always I'll be watching my babies like a hawk for trouble.