pro mix and rust spots

jessica d

jessica d

Well-Known Member
i purchased alot of bales of promix last yr and it was very expensive. many were packaged wet from factory and molded inside but i also noticed rust spots on the bags right away with fresh bags with very new packaged stamp. after some research on google and other growers and photos thru the summer along with root photos i can see a major amount of problems linked to promix bx. anybody else take notice or have rust issues with there plants?
 

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The Pipe

The Pipe

Well-Known Member
Didn't have any problems with mine. No mold or rust... hope this was a contained instance and not a quality compromise
 
FR33MASON

FR33MASON

Active Member
Those 'rust spots' are most likely concentrated tannins from the peat. Just like tea stains. I first discovered promix at the nursery I worked at around 10 years ago. It has always been consistent for me. It's unfortunate the bales are saturated with water but that staining will happen with any peat growing medium. My biggest problem right now with my bales of promix is they are frozen and it takes almost a week to defrost them.

Cheers,
FR33MASON
 
jessica d

jessica d

Well-Known Member
thanks for input. frozen bales are a pain but nothing like rust fungus aka leaf spot. i have always had gd luck as well until last yr and it was only in the bx. the pgx and hp didnt have mold in them or rust spots on them. what really caught my eye was the plants in the pgx or hp didnt show many signs of rust fungus like the bx and they had no spots on the bags.

i will be inspecting my bales this yr to make sure they dont have these rust spots. they are $30 per bale and horse manure is cheap lol it could be how they are stored at the stores i purchased them from with a really wet spring outdoors standing water. premiere is using peat moss that has tree leaves with leaf spot in my view and the wet peat spreads it over water. hard to get away from nature with peat moss.
 
jessica d

jessica d

Well-Known Member
the trees and grass in my area are filled with rust aka leaf spot and 2yrs ago a major drought killed lots of trees then very wet weather spread this spot and powdery mold bad. i really shouldnt be surprised it is everywhere including the grass we all walk upon.
 
FR33MASON

FR33MASON

Active Member
Rust has a 2 part life cycle. It starts on spruce and pine trees and then goes to other plants. So if you are getting rust fungus, look at your local spruce and or pine. Promix is sterilized as is most inert growing mediums.
 
FR33MASON

FR33MASON

Active Member
Also wanted to add that at the nursery, we used to avoid watering the foliage, especially roses as many diseases like powdery mildew were spread by the water. The nursery used a lagoon to supply it's water so whatever microbes landed into the water would infect the supply.
 
Sunbiz1

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
jessica d said:
thanks for input. frozen bales are a pain but nothing like rust fungus aka leaf spot. i have always had gd luck as well until last yr and it was only in the bx. the pgx and hp didnt have mold in them or rust spots on them. what really caught my eye was the plants in the pgx or hp didnt show many signs of rust fungus like the bx and they had no spots on the bags.

i will be inspecting my bales this yr to make sure they dont have these rust spots. they are $30 per bale and horse manure is cheap lol it could be how they are stored at the stores i purchased them from with a really wet spring outdoors standing water. premiere is using peat moss that has tree leaves with leaf spot in my view and the wet peat spreads it over water. hard to get away from nature with peat moss.
Click to expand...
All Premier does is add about 1/3 cup lime/gallon to their own peat along with some perlite...then call it Promix.

If you use a lot of it, mixing it yourself will cut cost in half.

Peace
 
FR33MASON

FR33MASON

Active Member
Sunbiz1 said:
Question for Promix users:

Are you folks adding any nutes to this product?.
Click to expand...
Of course, it has no real nutrient content and is rather inert. I consider it either as an inert growing medium or as a base for organic compost mixes.
 
Sunbiz1

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
FR33MASON said:
Of course, it has no real nutrient content and is rather inert. I consider it either as an inert growing medium or as a base for organic compost mixes.
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I use quite a bit of Premier peat as a base, then add about 6 other items. The other issue w/this company is fungus gnat larvae, which unfortunately they cannot control once the shipper pokes holes in the bales...then they sit outside just waiting for bugs to enter. I've torn apart entire pallets looking for zero holes, Home Depot hates me...lol.
 
FR33MASON

FR33MASON

Active Member
I only live about 50 miles from one of their harvest areas. I can go there and pick up peat moss by the truck load for super cheap. I personally don't have issues with fungus gnats but at the nursery, you would sometimes choke on the gnats when you went to water or move flats. I hand water what I grow personally so there are no perpetually wet surfaces with my grows and therefore no gnats.
 
dopeydog

dopeydog

Active Member
does the pro mix bx have micos in it? could this be the mold if so? it wouldn't form unless wet, if it were dry you would never know.

the rust looks kinda like dried up run off from it, can't be certain from pics.
 
dopeydog

dopeydog

Active Member
Sunbiz1 said:
Question for Promix users:

Are you folks adding any nutes to this product?.
Click to expand...
for spouts and seedlings I will use it straight out of the bag for 2 weeks and then treat it as if it is totally nute free. I believe the bag sais they have a small nute charge in it. I'm using sunshine right now but have used pro-mix many times ad will treat it the same. it works well as a base for "supper soil" mixes.
 
jessica d

jessica d

Well-Known Member
those pics were from:the day i picked up that bag and the store i got them from received the pallets a couple days earlier. they were packaged close to date i picked them up by premier so although they might sterilize they must be storing or shipping near evergreens. i guess there could be issues with there sterilization process if they cant package a dry product lol the mold is from packaging wet which is how rust spreads. i have never had issues before with pro mix or rust on plantsbut things change over yrs. thanks for all input
 
jessica d

jessica d

Well-Known Member
yes sunbiz and ddog there is mycorrhizae fungi in the bx vermiculite as well. i used seaweed along with b vitamins and i didnt add much nutrients. the promix hp didnt seem to carry the disease with plants 3ft away that did this is what really got my mind moving.
 
Sunbiz1

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
dopeydog said:
for spouts and seedlings I will use it straight out of the bag for 2 weeks and then treat it as if it is totally nute free. I believe the bag sais they have a small nute charge in it. I'm using sunshine right now but have used pro-mix many times ad will treat it the same. it works well as a base for "supper soil" mixes.
Click to expand...
I have been very tempted to make the switch over to sunshine coco blend, for the simple reason it is stored indoors year-round in a retail area. The added cost is worth ridding myself of the unwanted guests and pests due to combination of manufacturing quality control, poor shipping methods, and mishandling by warehouse employees at home supply centers.

Plus the grow store backs their products, whereas returning a bale of peat to HD after it has infected an entire greenhouse is a complete waste of time.
 
jessica d

jessica d

Well-Known Member
Hey sunbiz there response was comical. Rust fugus happens:-)all the time and make sure you buy bales that arent out of date 1yr. Furthermore rust by itself wont kill a plant lol never again will i buy another product from them. That is terrible i spent thousands on that companies products and they simply dont care that they have problems. Just buy more closer to the packaging date lol
 
jessica d

jessica d

Well-Known Member
Most farmers have better soils across the country and care more about there manures. i can add perlite vermiculite or aeration of many kinds and make my own soils for peanuts in comparison. i actually used to really like there products but never again will i buy there products after those comments. "very common with our mix it wont kill the plants by itself lol"
 
dopeydog

dopeydog

Active Member
I believe problems are rare with sunshine or pro-mix. when I worked at a nursery we used 100s of bales every spring potting plants and besides the water logged issue (which were very rare working there) I personally have used 100s If not 1,000s of pro-mix and sunshine all 3.8compressed bales and never had mold problems or mite problems. the mites do love the stuff by the time I get growing i will attract some if do not keep on top of it.

have you ever bought supersoil with micos an and the bag came with 2" of mold (mycelium?) on the top of he mix? I hear it often and if pro-mix bx has it added then i would wager that is the mold on top of the wet mix.
 
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