MiracleGro seed starting potting mix

[Mikea454]

Just a warning, this seed starting potting soil from miracle grow never dries. I planted several seedling trays of 15 bins with little drainage holes. 10 days out it's still mud, despite removing from the drip tray and putting outside in the sun and breeze. I had to comb through and grab out my seeds before they all rotted, took forever. Spare yourself the trouble and mix it with something to increase drainage

 

[19Mateo83]

Try a 60/40 mix of perlite and coco coir, it won’t stay wet and won’t become hydrophobic when it dries. most “seed starting” soils are absolute trash.

 

[Mikea454]

Thanks for the advice.I'll pick some extra peat up
for next time. I had a little brick of peat, so I did 1/3 of that, One third of the potting mix and one third perlite. Seemed far better mixed than the potting Soil alone which just went from light and fluffy when dry to as dense as clay when wet. 14 days and 1x1" seedling cups still not dry

 

[Mikea454]

*coco (not peat) - sorry

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have had horrible trouble with their raised bed soil. It was too loamy (certainly for a raised bed, where drainage is critical) and grew tiny flies/gnats with larvae that apparently loved roots. It smells like it contains uncomposted manure. If you were growing mushrooms, it might work well. But for trees, it was a root rot magnet. Never again.

FWIW most of the JM nurseries around here use a mix of pine bark fines and river sand. I have gone back to my classic mix of pine bark fines and screened peat, or pine bark fines and small pumice, and my problems disappeared.

 

[Cajunrider]

The only Miracle Gro soil I use is the garden soil which is often on sale every spring for $2/bag and only for BC growing. Miracle Gro soil nowadays contains precious little of anything other than bark. They are practically all organic and retain so much water.

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Ive been using this for years with good success for cuttings and seeds.

 

[Mikea454]

I have had horrible trouble with their raised bed soil. It was too loamy (certainly for a raised bed, where drainage is critical) and grew tiny flies/gnats with larvae that apparently loved roots. It smells like it contains uncomposted manure. If you were growing mushrooms, it might work well. But for trees, it was a root rot magnet. Never again.

FWIW most of the JM nurseries around here use a mix of pine bark fines and river sand. I have gone back to my classic mix of pine bark fines and screened peat, or pine bark fines and small pumice, and my problems disappeared.

oh crap, dont.tell me that, I just planted a ton of flowers using that.... uggg

 

[Bonsai Nut]

oh crap, dont.tell me that, I just planted a ton of flowers using that.... uggg

Forewarned is forearmed. Watch that you don't overwater. Read the reviews of the product on Amazon and you will see I'm not alone.

 

[Srt8madness]

I have had horrible trouble with their raised bed soil. It was too loamy (certainly for a raised bed, where drainage is critical) and grew tiny flies/gnats with larvae that apparently loved roots. It smells like it contains uncomposted manure. If you were growing mushrooms, it might work well. But for trees, it was a root rot magnet. Never again.

FWIW most of the JM nurseries around here use a mix of pine bark fines and river sand. I have gone back to my classic mix of pine bark fines and screened peat, or pine bark fines and small pumice, and my problems disappeared.

Do you get your pine bark fines online, local, or local and sift your own? I've looked and looked, I could get it from Bonsai jack for the same price as pumice or lava, but refuse to pay that much for pine bark. Been trying to find a reasonable source for a while.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Do you get your pine bark fines online, local, or local and sift your own? I've looked and looked, I could get it from Bonsai jack for the same price as pumice or lava, but refuse to pay that much for pine bark. Been trying to find a reasonable source for a while.

I currently buy 2 cu foot bags of pine bark mulch and sift my own. I get about 75% fines - the larger material I sift out I simply use in landscape. They cost about $3.50 per bag at my local Lowes.

There is a large landscape vendor near me that advertises "pine bark fines" that I am going to visit soon. If I can buy by the truck, that's where I'll be getting my fines.

 

[Dabbler]

I stopped using miracle grow long time ago - everything I use is organic now just for peace of mind and not something weird in it

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I stopped using miracle grow long time ago - everything I use is organic now just for peace of mind and not something weird in it

The Miracle-Gro Raised Bed Soil is 100% organic... which is why I think there is hot manure in it. It certainly smells like it has hot (uncomposted) manure in it.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

The Miracle-Gro Raised Bed Soil is 100% organic... which is why I think there is hot manure in it. It certainly smells like it has hot (uncomposted) manure in it.

That stuff is sold over here as compost. It's leftovers from gourmet (agaricus) mushroom farms; hot horse dung. The mushrooms, as far as I know, only munch down on the fibers and take some nutrients with them. The dung is so concentrated in everything else, that nothing really grows on it.

Before it's even allowed in potting soil, it should be left out for a year.