Ok guys....you all might have already figured this out due to me being slow to the party. But...I used to use Fox Farms a lot. I will NEVER use it again. Why? a combination of it being crap and me finding what seems to be the best soil on the market. Sunshine Natural and Organic and PROMIX. *this is not proven* A guy told me he used to live where they made the Fox Farms. He says the land looks like dogshit because they have overfarmed/used it in the last 5 or so years. So lately FF has gone south.. I can personally attest to compressed wood/ twigs/sticks/ and mulch being in my FF. The other stuff is tops. Great perlite to soil ratio. Not much perlite needed. It is a really really smooth good looking soil. It does need some additives so using it strictly as your median is probably not a good idea. Add in some castings, lime, azomite, and feed with your organic nutes and you're fucking good to go. Compost would not hurt either.
Ok, so you want to get something else that you have to add stuff to it? Including compost, which a lot of commercial compost consists of...wood, twigs, sticks and mulch. How much is left depends on how long they let it, well, compost. Homemade compost is a lot different since you not selling it and you can control what you put in it. I have a new bag of Fox Farm Happy Frog that all I add is a little more perlite too. It doesn't seem to have anymore shit in it that other soils do. Just my 2 copper pieces.
I've heard complaints before (last year I think) at the store that the PH was off in the soil. It seems that they weren't letting it sit long enough to have the PH stabilize as they were just trying to hit production demands and hoping transit and sitting waiting to be sold the soil would finish. Not a fan of FF, was a long time ago, not so much anymore. I love when people call their ferts organic though....I stopped even trying to explain that to some.
IMO Fox Farms has been slipping for quite some time. They were the "Go To" for most growers when I was first learning to grow, but due to the increase in people growing and the number of hydro stores they had to speed up and increase production. I saw at that time that quality was slipping. Useless had made a post recently about a rumor that Fox Farms had been possibly bought out by a Larger Company and that their Land Use Lease was up on one of their major Land Leases causing them to source material elsewhere. I also had a thread concerning Sunshine's Soilless mixes and he said that it was Sunshine that took out half of his genetic's stable. Some kind of a fungus in the mix. I personally LOVE the Roots Organics Formula 707. It needs absolutely nothing added to it. Perfect texture and consistency. Good aeration, drainage and water absorption ratio. Well amended to feed during vegetative growth. Unless their quality goes downhill I will continue to swear by this soil. Absolutely the best, ready to go, potting soil I have tried. Should be pretty widely available at most hydro stores.
Always used FFOF for everything between transplanting from cloning to prepping holes. But as RAS mentioned 707 that stuff works great. If didn't get FF so cheap we would definitely be using 707
707 is crazy expensive here on the East....not sure why besides obvious shipping things another note....I just made some new moms, used FF OF in 5 gallon buckets.....I got these YELLOW MUSHROOMS popping up everywhere around my plants....WTF is up with that.....some of that shit is seriously poisonous, I don't need that crap
Most mushrooms pop up in soil that is still composting and moist. The 'shrooms are just eating the rotting materials left. Usually not much of a concern.
707 is great, but I'm running my next round in Empire Builders soil. I have four plants vegging in it now. A 2 yard bag is about $19 and will fill four three gallon pots. Great consistency, smell and appearance and it drains really well. I know a couple people who have used it and swear by it. There's enough in it to go without for for the first couple weeks.
Empire Builder is OK, but I found it lacking in regards to PH control. It can't buffer tap water as well as Roots or FFOF. I prefer the Roots Organic original. The 707 is great, the only difference between original and 707 is more peat moss which holds moisture better, so less watering. But the Original just fits with my feed/water schedule better. CC, got any pics of those shrooms?
I did, I do have the dead remains tho....I took em with my phone and got all 'noided out, erased them a few days ago.......they were yellow with black spots on em....they grew 1 in my Lemon Thai pot, then 4 in the White Rhino pot....pulled them, then a few in the LT and more in the Rhino a few days later ill get em up by dinner time est.
