Is it true about Fox Farm potting soil

JeffWix67 · Feb 6, 2025

Fox Farms is for shit. Hell if it's your first grow, go for it. But if you want something a little better than piss you need to start making your own soil mix and top dress or just stick to the bottles.
It is so easy to make your own soil mix and there are many examples of soil mixes that work...I just do not see the point buying sub par shit and encountering problems.
There are better options as well for bought soils...
Personally, I make my own soils and big surprise...I compost it initially outside. It gets no bugs because it is cooking and very hot...I keep it covered too...I have minimum 15 horses at all times and I compost the collected manure mixed with hay etc...you could put a copper coil in that pile and water would come out almost boiling...I then simply mix promix, rice hulls, pertilite vermiculite, limestones in my cement mixer and then add the appropriate amount of Dr Earth 4-6-3 for veg and then top dress with 4-4-4 when I get close to flower and the first few weeks of flower until I switch to 3-9-4 to finish...it's so simple...

Oh yeah, Rollitup sucks and so does Sunni!
30 days... ECSD bx from Shoreline

LoveGrowingIt · Feb 6, 2025

Gmix said:
I’d rather build my own soil

Same here. If Mother Nature can do it, so can we!

But soil quality is mostly a concern for organic growers. If using synthetic nutrients, the soil does little more than distribute water and nutrients while anchoring the plant to keep it from falling over. To the organic grower, however, good soil is essential.

LoveGrowingIt · Feb 6, 2025

Here's a story about soil from my current grow. This involves two Zkittles and one Royal Medic, all grown from seed. Each in a 5-gallon bag.

I thought I mixed enough soil for three bags. The third bag came up a little short, so I lazily topped it off with some Fox Farm Ocean Forest that was old, dry, and needed to be used. So, I just added some perlite and stirred the FFOF into the top of my mixed soil. I didn't think it would make much of difference.

The plants in my soil mixture without FFOF grew well, but the plant in the soil with FFOF added showed what looks like nutrient burn. It struggled for a while and grew much slower than the other plants. It eventually recovered, though, and I'm sure it will make it to harvest. I suspect it improved because the roots reached deeper into "better" soil.

Here's a screen grab of what happened to the first leaves. It sure looks like a nutrient problem.

The plant is looking healthy now.

Phyto · Feb 6, 2025

How much are you guys paying for FFOF? I get it for about $12 a 1.5 cu ft. bag, and $22 for a 3 cu ft. bag, although they don't always have the 3 ft bags. I also have a bulk soil company nearby that made a 420 mix, it was $140 a Cu Yd., unfortunately during flu they were unable to get all the ingredients, so they stopped making it. But I can still get good a good planting mix for about 40/cu yd, but the FFOF is better

Natep · Feb 6, 2025

Gmix said:
Maybe I’m being old fashioned and not moving on with the times but this pre loaded soil I’m not a fan off
It’s like the art of making your own soil from scratch has become a lost art
I kinda see it as growing for dummies with all the work taken out darn you don’t even have to feed them
I’d rather build my own soil

I know I’m being a stick in the mud
I dunno I just see it as taking the fun outa growing

Change my mind as they say

It is definitely a precharged living soil. But you can’t take away from the fact that it works and works very well. I’ve done both made my own and used build a soil. If you are doing a lot of soil like in my 5x5 that has 160 gallons of soil it is more cost effective to make your own. If you are doing a smaller amount like in my 2x4s one has 2 city picker pots that equal 22 gallon and the other has 2 15 gallon grass roots pots 30 gallons. It is better and easier just to buy pre made. To make a good soil it takes a lot of ingredients. Some times it is hard to make in small batches.

LowOdorMicroGrower · Feb 6, 2025

I have purchased 7 different bags or Fox Farm Soil, Happy Frog, Ocean Forest, and Coco Loco

I live on the East Coast US...

Each bag of soil was purchased at a different nursery... Some storing the soil outdoors, some indoors..

I've noticed that flies hover around ALL the soil at my local nurseries, indoors or out.

Yes, every bag of Fox farm I've purchased is LOADED with fungus gnats. BTI teas are my friend.

Gmix · Feb 7, 2025

Natep said:
It is definitely a precharged living soil. But you can’t take away from the fact that it works and works very well. I’ve done both made my own and used build a soil. If you are doing a lot of soil like in my 5x5 that has 160 gallons of soil it is more cost effective to make your own. If you are doing a smaller amount like in my 2x4s one has 2 city picker pots that equal 22 gallon and the other has 2 15 gallon grass roots pots 30 gallons. It is better and easier just to buy pre made. To make a good soil it takes a lot of ingredients. Some times it is hard to make in small amounts

I was thinking about the soil tbh I haven’t used it witch I should before I take a stand one way or the other

LowOdorMicroGrower said:
I have purchased 7 different bags or Fox Farm Soil, Happy Frog, Ocean Forest, and Coco Loco

I live on the East Coast US...

Each bag of soil was purchased at a different nursery... Some storing the soil outdoors, some indoors..

I've noticed that flies hover around ALL the soil at my local nurseries, indoors or out.

Yes, every bag of Fox farm I've purchased is LOADED with fungus gnats. BTI teas are my friend.

that’s because your buying soil from a nursery
It’s nothing to do with the brand it has everything to do with it being a nursery as they store there soil outside

If you want gnat free soil buy it from a hydroponics shop or your equivalent that stores it inside stores that do 100% store the soil inside will NOT contain gnats

LoveGrowingIt · Feb 7, 2025

Fungus gnats being attracted to soil is an indication the soil is good for organic growing because fungal mycorrhizae are what makes organic growing happen.

Imnew2cannabis · Feb 7, 2025

ArtfulCodger said:
I've done a lot of runs in Happy Frog and Ocean Forest, and you can definitely get some fungus gnats, but if you dry it out in a tub for a few weeks before planting in it, any bugs or larvae will die.

What do u mean drying it out in a tub... explain plzz

ArtfulCodger · Feb 7, 2025

Imnew2cannabis said:
What do u mean drying it out in a tub... explain plzz

Phyto · Feb 7, 2025

Gmix said:
I was thinking about the soil tbh I haven’t used it witch I should before I take a stand one way or the other

that’s because your buying soil from a nursery
It’s nothing to do with the brand it has everything to do with it being a nursery as they store there soil outside

If you want gnat free soil buy it from a hydroponics shop or your equivalent that stores it inside stores that do 100% store the soil inside will NOT contain gnats

I agree, I buy from a soil/hydro store that has a semi that goes to the FF plant and picks up soils regularly. They store their FFOF/HF indoors, they also move a lot of product, so it's fresh and hasn't been sitting around, never had any soil critters.

C0pperh3ad · Feb 12, 2025

amneziaHaze said:
i mean a bottle of great shark or some cheaper would work i guess.just how good does it rewet after the bake

You wet it pretty well and then seal it before baking it so it doesn't dry out. In effect your actually steam sterilizing it

Oldchucky · Feb 12, 2025

It doesn’t seem to be a problem till you use it indoors! That seems to be the root of a lot of problems!

Is it true about Fox Farm potting soil

Is it true about Fox Farm potting soil

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