Economical potting soil

I have been using miracle grow and scotts from homedepot and I noticed after a while the soil tends to loose its loose soil and what is left is a lot of woody fiber. The water now runs through it and does not hold. Without good holding I know the nutrients are being lost. Is there an economical way to put together or buy soil that lasts? I am having to replace the soil once or twice before harvest.

Thanks. For me this is not about top soils but economical.

Go to home depot or lowes or even walmart. Buy peatmoss, compost, perlite and your set.Oh yeah you want some pulverized garden lime also. If you are actually interested let me know il give you some mixing options

I reccomend FoxFarm OceanForest soil. 100% organic and retains moisture very well. You can find it at most hydro shops or online.

Anything would help. I dont know any mixes or ratios other than knowing to add perlite into most soil for better drainage and root growth.

Just trying to find what I can get the most of for a buck these days and I dont have much experience other than a few bags of miricle grow. So far been doing well, but not what it could be. Using Fox farm nutrients schedule to the T.

5 parts peat moss
3 parts perlite
2 part (black kow, mushroom compost, worm castings if you can find them)
add 2tbsp pulverized lime per gallon that you mix up, then i recommend buying a bag of Bio-Tone and add 2 tbsp of that, you wont be sorry. Should cost you around $20 and you will have a decent amount of soil to use, then next time you should only have to buy the peat moss.

smppro said:

5 parts peat moss
3 parts perlite
2 part (black kow, mushroom compost, worm castings if you can find them)
add 2tbsp pulverized lime per gallon that you mix up, then i recommend buying a bag of Bio-Tone and add 2 tbsp of that, you wont be sorry. Should cost you around $20 and you will have a decent amount of soil to use, then next time you should only have to buy the peat moss.

Click to expand...

I owe you a J. Thanks for the info. Going to try it next grow.