12 replies to this topic

[Estimated Prophet]

How are their bagged soil mixes and line of nutes?
Had a guy at the grow store telling me that they blow away the Fox Farm stuff.
Opinions?

[Jipo]

How are their bagged soil mixes and line of nutes?
Had a guy at the grow store telling me that they blow away the Fox Farm stuff.
Opinions?

Depends how you use it. Fox Farms is hot, roots is not, some people have major issues running fox farms because of the lower ph, roots tends to be a bit more stable. If you dial in your Fox Farms soil I don't think any pre-mixed soils can honestly touch it with how rich it is, however its easy to do a lot of damage with something that rich as well. If you're used to hydro I'd recommend finding a nutrientless mix like Promix BX or Coco fibers, if you're on that likes to control the feed, but still want a living soil that provides for the plant as well, then I'd go roots, if you're sparing on your nutrients and water with clean water often, fox farms. Its all in what you make of it.

[Z71_420]

Personally fox farm is like buying walmart brand, go with sunshine mix, and if you want mix in roots organics. I ran fox farm for 2 cycles, and had better results with miricle grow soil! Plants yellowed each time 2wks into flower with FF dirt, sunshine mix is the bunny muffin!!!!!

[Z71_420]

Lmao they changed S H I t, to bunny muffin.....

[Timmahh]

its the language filter in place Z71. lol ya its sum funny bunny muffin... lol



ive been using FF Happy Frog. not a huge issue, but.. im thinking of going to SS #4 myself.

[thanks2]

There nutes are great. They are different than many of the brands because they do not kill the beneficial bacteria. Most nutes kill the soil. Also, the nutes are buffered, so there is usually no need to ph them.

The soil is also very ph stable. It has more coco, which is ph neutral and less peat, which has a ph as low as 5. Roots green fields is hot like FF soil. The regular roots is great for seeds and clones, but still has lots of nutes in it.

[Estimated Prophet]

Only bummer about Roots soil is the gnat infestation that comes with every bag.

[I wood]

Only bummer about Roots soil is the gnat infestation that comes with every bag.

Interesting, I always had fungus gnats, until I switched from ff to roots (707).
I never had any problems with either, just switched to 707 formula because of the coco content, evironmentally better.
I think any bag, with holes in it, coming from another state has ample chances to get infected along the way to its consumer. I can't even imagine haw hard it would be to eliminate them once a warehouse is infested.
R

Edited by I wood, 15 February 2012 - 08:18 AM.

[thanks2]

Only bummer about Roots soil is the gnat infestation that comes with every bag.

One of the factory ware houses kept the soil outside and ended up spreading gnats all over the country. They have corrected the problem now and are gnat free. There is also green sand in roots, which makes the soil a hostile environment to gnats. Gnats are a risk for any soil, but usually do not come from the factory. Gnats are a real big pain for organic growers. Yellow sticky traps, fans blowing on the soil, and letting the pots dry out between watering will eventually get ride of them, eventually...

[Estimated Prophet]

Gnats are annoying, but part of being an organic soil gardener I guess.
Has anyone tried Mosquito Dunks to control the larvae in the soil?

Just went to my local gardening shop and the pallet of Ocean Forrest was steaming hot.
Soil bagged and shipped while still composting and throwing off a lot of heat.

[sunkist]

Personally fox farm is like buying walmart brand, go with sunshine mix, and if you want mix in roots organics. I ran fox farm for 2 cycles, and had better results with miricle grow soil! Plants yellowed each time 2wks into flower with FF dirt, sunshine mix is the bunny muffin!!!!!

I'm a newbie to this forum, but I find the comments about soils interesting. I formulate specifications for finished mixes and source components for over 20,000 yards of commercial Nursery & Greenhouse soils in Michigan each year. High quality mixes aren’t cheap, let alone once amended with the “goodies” that MM growers seem to swear by. Many of the retail branded soils appear to use wood residues and/or yard waste to increase profits and reduce cost - just run them through a coarse sieve and see for yourself. No doubt the lack of quality offerings has contributed to so many of you concocting your own. This prompted me to try to fill the void by formulating a retail blend using the same high quality components I spec for my commercial clients, but also amended with ingredients favored by MM growers:

Long-fibered blond Canadian Sphagnum peat
Composted northern red pine bark
Screened deciduous leaf humus
Horticultural perlite
Horticultural vermiculite
Worm Castings
Mycorrhizal rooting stimulants
Amino acid and vitamin complex
Humic acids
Kelp extracts
Alfalfa, Poultry, Fish, Crab and Lobster Meals
Complete starter nutrient package
Wetting Agents
NO YARD WASTE RESIDUES
NO SAWDUST OR WOOD FILLERS
NO BIOSOLIDS

I’m marketing locally, direct to growers - complete with logistical challenges but hopefully offset by reduced grower prices and bringing a superior product to the market. I'm running 100-200 bags (1.5's) per batch, but have capacity to ramp up if growers find it successful. Feel free to contact me if interested in trying: pottersgoldpremium@gmail.com or toll free at 1-855-dirtman. Thanks!

Edited by sunkist, 29 February 2012 - 08:17 AM.

[widmayer4]

roots 707 is working great for me.

[Estimated Prophet]

Sunkist that sounds like a healthy mix. What part of the state are you distributing in?

Has anyone tried the M3 organic soil?
I think it is bagged out near Grand Rapids.
It was way to rich with nutrient and I had pretty much every lockout / deficiency known.
Now i use subcool's supersoil on the bottom layer with Roots bagged soil on top. Plants dig it.