Can't buy Foxfarm Soil in Canada - Options?

FoxMulder

FoxMulder

New Member
Hey all you hosers out there...hows it goin eh ?
everyone says how great Fox Farm soil is, but its not available to us Canucks.
So fellow Canadians, what is a good soil to buy?
I just tried Schultz soil, and found that seeds and seedlings did not like it, plus i now have a huge infestation of gnats. Grrrrrrr!!!!
I am in Winnipeg btw, if any fellow Peggers can recommend where to get good soil.
Thanks and good growing to all!
 
They arent gnats, they're springtails and they are definitely a pain in the ass, but not a huge issue. I use schultz soil too, and always have the same bug problem
 
My pests are definitely fungus gnats, I used a magnifying glass and compared them to internet pics. I bought those yellow sticky strips to get the adults, and bought some houseplant insect spray to soak the soil. I hope it works, because they are eating the root hairs and turning the leaves yellow.
I will look for Sun Gro soil, but which type is best, they have many?
 
ive tryed fox farm ocean and there light warrior mixed 1 bag to one bag. or what im useing now and love it, roots organic..
 
For potting soil, there is not much to choose from in the big box stores here in the Peg. I will NEVER use Schultz soil again, what a nightmare with fungus gnats. And no one on this board seems to care for Miracle-Gro soil. Has anyone in Canada tried Scotts brand potting soil ?
 
Scotts and MG the same company and I've used the mg organic choice for over 4 years of successful grow; its OMRI certified and not as hot as FFOF. I also can't get FF round here so I ordered it online after hearing all the hype bout it and besides the $20.00 price tag for it I had a $30.00 shipping cost. I didn't find any better results with it than with MG Organic Choice. Good luck with whatever you get. :cheer:
 
Trunk5 said:
ive tryed fox farm ocean and there light warrior mixed 1 bag to one bag. or what im useing now and love it, roots organic..
Click to expand...
Agreed! The ROOTS ORGANIC orig. mix is SUPER STUFF! I recently transplanted some clones into 5g pots in 50/50 ROOTS/FF OF. Just to mess around, I planted one clone is nothing but the ROOTS stuff. The plant is LOVING it!! It drains quite well w/out any add'l perlite and overall I'm quite impressed. :peace:
 
Okay, fellow Canadians. I got some Scotts Premium Potting Soil and some Perlite from Home Depot. Looks like good soil, but glad I got some perlite for it as it doesn't have seem to have any. Mixed them 2 to 1. Started some clones rooting in it, will let you know how it goes!
 
Cool FoxMulder; what's the contents of the soil: like the n-p-k value and does the bag say what it's best to use it for?
 
Scotts Premium potting soil
NPK is 0.07-0.01-0.03
"With patented Osmocote Slow Release Fertilizer - feeds for up to 6 months"
"Excellent for potting new plants or repotting old ones"
"Promotes strong root growth and drainage for container gardens"


I looked at the Miracle-Gro potting soil which was 0.14-0.14-0.14, and that seemed a little too agressive on the fertilizers, especially since I was going to be cloning babies, so I passed on that one. Others on this forum have said that MG is not the best for babies, even tho it may be good for adults.
 
Ok well like i said, growers mix up all the mg soils with the mg organic which is .10-.05-.05 There's a thread here all about Osmocote fertilizer that's well worth the read; I wanted to get the OS PLUS for my coco coir plants and couldn't find it in 4 stores and 1 nursery that I ventured out to but I'm keeping my seat here for updates on the grow with it for future reference. :high-five:
 
Thank you very much for the tip, I just searched the forums for Osmocote and found hundreds of threads. wow, got some reading to do! I didn't know they also make a standalone fertilizer called Osmocote Plus. These are awesome forums...
 
Go to a local nursery or garden centre (notice the centre instead of center?) and buy Coco Coir. I live in Canada, too and it's not as easy to find grow supplies here as in the U.S.

I would avoid Scott's or MiracleGro, if at all possible. I had heard horror stories about it. When I ran out of soil, I bought "Nature's Blend," which is also be Scott's and is similar to MG.

I cut it with 50% perlite, so that it would not be too dense. It was still awful. My plants languished for months until I repotted them in Coco Coir. Then they perked right up and are now totally healthy.

If you haven't heard about Coco Coir, it's the ground up husks of coconut fibers. It is compressed and sold in blocks. You can also get it hydrated to use straight out of the bag.

It's very economical and is sold for gardeners to use outdoors. It is steam cleaned and packed under pressure, so there are no pest problems. It's fairly easy to rehydrate and actually works better than soil!

If you look at my journal, you will see two long posts about rehydrating and using Coco Coir (lots of pictures, too!).
 
FoxMulder said:
My pests are definitely fungus gnats, I used a magnifying glass and compared them to internet pics. I bought those yellow sticky strips to get the adults, and bought some houseplant insect spray to soak the soil. I hope it works, because they are eating the root hairs and turning the leaves yellow.
I will look for Sun Gro soil, but which type is best, they have many?
Click to expand...
Sunshine Advanced Growing Media, Including Mix #4 Sunshine #4!


ggrant said:
Go to a local nursery or garden centre (notice the centre instead of center?) and buy Coco Coir. I live in Canada, too and it's not as easy to find grow supplies here as in the U.S.

I would avoid Scott's or MiracleGro, if at all possible. I had heard horror stories about it. When I ran out of soil, I bought "Nature's Blend," which is also be Scott's and is similar to MG.

I cut it with 50% perlite, so that it would not be too dense. It was still awful. My plants languished for months until I repotted them in Coco Coir. Then they perked right up and are now totally healthy.

If you haven't heard about Coco Coir, it's the ground up husks of coconut fibers. It is compressed and sold in blocks. You can also get it hydrated to use straight out of the bag.

It's very economical and is sold for gardeners to use outdoors. It is steam cleaned and packed under pressure, so there are no pest problems. It's fairly easy to rehydrate and actually works better than soil!

If you look at my journal, you will see two long posts about rehydrating and using Coco Coir (lots of pictures, too!).
Click to expand...

Agreed :thumb:

I just started using Sunshine #4 mix. A friend has been using it for some time now in his full blown 5k watt setup and loves it. His results are amazing.
Not only does it drain great and allow a ton of oxygen to the roots, it also has Mycorrhizae in it. I have the fattest, whitest roots I've seen poking through the bottom of my 1 gallon fabric pots...the clones just rooted 3 weeks ago.

Coco coir dries out fast so if you can't water every day it might not be the best.
 
Here's a list of recommended brands of soil from a review at mandala seeds dot com: Farfard potting, Kellogg, Supersoil, Sunshine All purpose, Mg Potting, Mg organic choice. Well worth the read at that site, it's quite thorough and also has a detailed easy-to-read fert guide.
About the gnats, Another grower used Mosquito dunks from local box stores, directions on the pack and it worked for him; also I read to put potato slices on top of the soil and the gnats draw to it that way. Good luck with ridding em. :peace:
 
Just go to a garden store and mix your own! Almost any large ish garden center (greenhouse types with lots of plants come spring) should ahve your basic assortment of earths, soils, organic material etc. If you aren't interested in building your own soil, there should be some "veggie" mix, or even just "Gardeners mix" with very light nutrients. Right now I'm working with a bag of seasoil and a bag of promix veggie, a bit of extra verm and perlite, and a little sprinkling of mixed organic amendments. I dont use bagged manure in this mix anymore as it came with lots of seeds and bugs usually.

The coco coir idea is pretty decent too if you want to run that way.
 

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