20 Best Potting Mix For Fiddle Leaf Fig (2023 Updated)

This potting soil is Ok, it’s not great. You can mix your own using the same ingredients of higher quality for less money. The lava rock is a joke…maybe 1-2 handfuls throughout the bag. My tropical plants seem happy.

I also never use any soil straight from the bag. I add activated charcoal, vermiculite, coir, perlite, and sometimes shale or sand as a topper. Mix everything together evenly, then put into a closed plastic ziplock bag and leave in the sun for 2 days to ensure it’s sterile.

Yeah, you might kill some good microorganisms but they’ll return or you can add nutrients later. Your plants will not get root rot and die. Inconsistent watering, insufficient light, poor air circulation…all contribute to rot.

With any grow medium you might have to adjust your watering…pay attention – use a moisture meter and clear pots. I’m tired of people complaining about fungus gnats. They are VERY easy to get rid of and I’m talking about heavy infestations.

Repot if you can with fresh soil, rinse off the entire plant especially the roots, do not water plants until 5-7 days after repotting (don’t water at all when you repot) and use a systemic pesticide drench…3-4 months later introduce beneficial insects.

I’ve tried a lot of different potting soils- I have a bit of a “plant problem” lol. What I’ve noticed is that this soil in particular has not caused any little mushrooms to grow in my potted plants, and I have not had any gnats from it either.

I have also frequently used the miracle grow cactus blend, but had a lot of fungus gnats that never really went away, but this blend is much better. Some monstera plants I just transplanted had been looking sad and were slow to grow, upon repotting with this soil, they are now thriving, and I have new leaves already starting to unfurl after 2 weeks post repotting! I highly recommend this!.

I’ve been using Miracle Grow potting mix for longer than I can remember, 3 to 4 large bags every growing season. Never had any issues with the product until my most recent purchase. When I opened the bag the first couple of scoops seemed normal then I started getting large clumps of some fibrous material.

My initial reaction was that it was fiberglass but upon closer inspection it appeared to be some type of organic material. It was dry and hairy in appearance and seemed to have black mold embedded in it.

The further I got into the bag the more of these clumps I encountered. The clumps were baseball to softball sized, very compact and there were over a dozen of them in the bag. Each clump had to be thrown aside as they would not fit in the pots I was using, nor did they appear to look like any potting material I had ever come across.

I would have thought that the potting mix would go through a screening process prior to bagging but that is not possible as these clumps would never had made it through such a process. Long story short, either Miracle Grow had a breakdown in their processing of potting mix or they have eliminated the screening process to save money.

In either case, this bag was a waste of money. I’ve seen cheaper potting mixes on the shelves but always gone for the Miracle Grow because of past experience. I think that it’s time to sample the alternatives.

I purchased several bags of MG potting mix for container vegetable gardening. I have used this product in the past over about a ten year period. The materials in the mix just purchased are not the quality ingredients I have used in the past.

In the past the mix was more uniform with smaller bark pieces and uniform shredded peat with enough perlite to actually promote good drainage it was easily used to fill cell packs. Most importantly it drained well and did not compact.

The current mix is garbage compared to what it used to be. The stuff I got h to his year has large chunks of wood and sticks large rocks huge chunks of hard organic matter globs peat like material the size of golf balls.

The mix does not drain well and packs down tightly. There is not enough perlite to maintain a good air to water ratio when wet. The mix used to be very similar to a traditional Cornell Peat lite mix but no longer.

It does not perform well doesn’t drain well and overpriced for the quality of product.

Last year I decided to not let living in an apartment keep me from growing & keeping plants something I have loved most my life since my grandfather taught me how to garden as a child. So I have only bought Miracle Grow brand soils since the beginning of my endeavor last year.

Shortly after I started noticing the gnats not thinking much of it I ignored this (big mistake) within a matter of weeks most my plants were dead dying or not growing & looking sickly after turning to the internet & a few professionals for answers I was told I had a serious fungus gnat problem so serious that I ended up disposing of everything from the plants to my pots & gardening accessories for good measure.

Then had to very thoroughly clean every surface & surrounding where my plants had been. Discouraged it took me a while to want to attempt to have plants again but I did this time w/ Christmas Cactuses & some ivys so again I buy Miracle Grow soil the Cactus/succulent blend & some other reg Miracle Grow potting soil in a matter of days the gnats were back I was livid cause never in a million years did it occur to me that it was my dependable name brand soil that caused all this damage.

I checked the leftover soil in the bags that were stored in a sealed bucket & sure enough eggs lots of them even showed the soil to a person who works at nursery to confirm & they said it was definitely infested.

Should have read the reviews for this I blame myself but I still can’t believe a company that’s been considered a household name & is so trusted by so many would allow for this to not just happen but continue to happen I get that after something leaves their wearhouse or packing plants that it’s hard to control every aspect of the product but surely something could be done to better protect from these things? Now I’m fighting to keep my remaining plants alive since it seems I’m locked into an on going battle with these pests.

My Birds of Paradise are starting to look terrible it really is depressing to see.

I’ve purchased myltiple bags of this product every year for my garden and house plants. Up until this year, I’ve been very satisfied with my purchases. This year I also purchased several bags for my garden and house plants, but have been extremely disappointed.

Inside the “soil” I’ve found strips of plastic and other non-organic materials. All of the seedlings that I up-potted into Burpee Organic Potting Soil have become sick, the leaves turning yellow, and some dying completely.

I have never had this problem before, and I’ve been gardening for over 6 years with this product. There were also large chunks of what I assume to be compacted manure inside the bags. Usually the soil is well mixed, light, and fluffy – but this year there seems to be extra coco coir along with these large chunks of manure.

Tldr; I’ve loved this product for years but don’t recommend it any longer.

I have bought this product many times before for my planting needs and have always been satisfied with the quality and results. I purchased a bag over the weekend to transplant my tomato and pepper seedlings.

I knew something was different when I opened the bag. It was overly moist, almost wet, and smelled of overpowering, raw manure. Within 2 days of transplanting, my beautiful, healthy green vegetable seedling had turned yellow and the leaves curled before dropping.

Definite fertilizer burn. I lost over half of my plants, and the others, at this point, are debatable as if they will survive. Extremely disappointed with this product. I will not purchase again.

While screening this mix to make my soil blocks, I found a lot of trash: bits of plastic shopping bags, shreds of what I think is mylar, shards of hard plastic, a plastic bottle cap, and broken glass.

After screening about a quarter of the bag, I found enough bits of garbage to fill an 8 ounce measuring cup. I grow and sell food. My customers trust my cleanliness and integrity. I can’t possibly grow produce in this mystery mix.

I’m returning all the unopened bags at once. I wouldn’t want to eat anything grown in this. Would you?.

I used this product for the first time and I was excited because I also got a mini greenhouse. I thought that my plants would be amazing this year. Unfortunately, I too have mold growing in the soil and on my plants.

Some of my plants are even dying off. I’m super sad about this! I’m keeping the greenhouse open to allow more air to circulate and hoping they’ll get a second wind. I won’t water too much (I keep the soil moist since there’s a grow light in there too).

I don’t dislike the product because I think it’s my fault, but I’m really not sure – hence the 3 stars. I have some plants that are kicking butt, while others are dying off with moldy soil. It’s really bizarre.

I’ll buy new seeds and just plant them directly in the garden because I’m struggling with some of my plants. I’m still hoping they’ll recover, however. Although my experience hasn’t been awesome, I have seen some success with some of the plants.

I’d still suggest using this product.

DO NOT BUY THIS UNLESS YOU PLAN ON POURING BOILING WATER OVER IT, OR BAKING YOUR SOIL FIRST. I used this, indoors with our grow light to start all our seedlings this year. Started noticing a problem with small black ants not long after.

Finally discovered the source was in one of my seedling pots. There was an ENTIRE colony of ants living in my 5” pot that I filled with this soil. We had to toss all our seedlings and we’re now 4-5 weeks behind in our growing season because this soil was full of ant larva/eggs.

It all went in the compost, but I regret not saving t and sending it back as proof. I will be filing an official complaint with Miracle Gro and hope they take my complaint seriously.

I can drive to another state to find this and still get a better deal!

This is the very best potting soil I have used and I’m 69. It allows roots to grow easily for bigger yields.

The pros are simply put it is great soil with the right amount of near everything and it’s of nice fine sift. It’s great for one go of 4 months or so. After that it lacks slow release nutrients “that can be added” on the big con is “bugs” “larvae” this can be fixed with a bit of prep with neem oil and insecticidal soaps.

Plenty of ways to fix but for the price. maybe should already be done. The only problem with the cost is that the distribution is scarce. Very much so in rural areas. It’s a solid hour and 45 minute drive to my nearest dealer/carrier but if you take the trip and find one you’ll be sour that the price on the 1.

5 cubic feet bags are only $15. 99 and that’s full retail per one bag. They go on sale and offer discounts on larger purchases. I understand shipping costs. I only wish they would get this stuff in more locations.

Tractor supply or Co-OP at least. It’s a bit of a black market with a bug problem. I spray with neem oil and soap “notdawn” then flip the soil and repeat 3-4 times. I then let soil completely dry out again placing in extreme cold helps too.

I then re-warm and re-wet with spring water adding bone meal, broke up organic jobes fertilizer sticks, blood meal plus perlite and vermiculite for drainage and anti packing properties and finally about 5 lbs or 6 gallons of cocoa coir.

Best soil I’ve personally ever used after a little prep work. ps: the neem oil and soap will keep away the bugs gnats and larvae best part its completely natural and from a tree. Smells bad and I do not recommend during flowering cycles.

I discovered this product last year and was totally blown away! You can literally see your plants growing once you pot them using this soil. My garden is in pots on my deck and I am amazed with how well they all are doing.

I started some seeds last week and decided to use this soil instead of my seed starter soil. In 3 days my seeds had sprouted and are doing great! I told my son this product is soil on steroids lol! I can’t remember how many bags I used last year but to date this year I have purchased 8 bags.

I have repotted houseplants using this soil and they grow like crazy!!! Best soil I have ever used, they have a customer for life!!!.

I spoke to Fox Farms because theres little information on this bag. I was told to treat it like potting soil, but it still grows like coco. It is PH buffered, and has enough nutrients for ABOUT 3 weeks.

However I start light feeding when the 1st permanent appear. Whats even better is coco is even better the 2nd time around. , Rip your plants and main roots out shake off excess back into the pot and top it off with a little fresh.

Its best to add an enzyme routine to your feeding but not necessary. By now the coco which is usually very unstable PH wise has become stable from all the Cal Mag, it also has lots of bacteria, and microbes that are great for your roots.

What ever you do, do not throw out your used coco loco after the 1st grow its just broke in and your plants will love it. My last harvest was 674 grams off 2 plants using subpar lighting. Would have been a lot better if I had more wattage.

Just remember coco loco is triple washed, so there is no dust, its ph buffered, and has nutrients for about 3 weeks, its really good stuff. But ask your local nursery to order it. because its only around 15 bucks for 2cu.

Good quality, hydrates fairly quickly leaving a few dry chunks to be broken down by hand and mixed in. It combined well with vermiculite and sand to make my seed-starting mix. Good price compared to other vendors.

Coir is a slightly better environmental choice than peat moss and is also pH neutral. It’s more expensive than peat moss, but it’s easy to work with, compact to store, and very lightweight before hydrating.

Pro-Mix is a peat based medium with perlite and some other additives. (see Pkg). It is most often used in planters and mixed into 3-1 soil in raised beds. It provides a good growing medium for plants in that the peat will hold water.

However, if allowed to dry out completely, it will take time to rehydrate. Note: you must fertilize your planters and fertilize/add compost to raised beds. I have used Pro Mix for many years and highly recommend it.

Pro-Mix is like the Frank’s Red Sauce for gardening! I find it’s one of the key ingredients for making up fresh mix for containers (which I use a lot). Mix with any reasonable dirt (don’t need to buy expensive stuff), add some slow release granular fertilizer like Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed (always goes on sale).

I mix in a wheelbarrow and fill pots. You can also remove a few inches of dirt from last year’s pots and mix in a shovel full of Pro-Mix to renew. Great moisture retention and helps aerate dense soils.

The compacted bale goes a long way.

Promix all purpose is well worth the cost of the bale. Mixed with garden soil and manure it makes planting nursery or home grown plants pop into their beds comfortably. Used on its own in pots or grow bags it is a great medium for growth of annual flowers and vegetables.

Of course if used alone, it needs daily checking for watering.

I used this for a few pots. I’m not a great plant parent, so I didn’t put much hope into growing anything and just picked easy stuff. I have potatoes growing in this mix and they are doing just fine.

It’s on the patio, so I haven’t noticed any gnats. I also started some “Zombie Plant” seeds in another container of this soil. Again, on the patio so I can’t say if there are gnats. The seeds sprouted and are doing well.

Not sure what the actual name of these are, but they seem to be thriving. This soil shipped well and lots to be just fine for my needs.

This succulent mix is exactly what i was looking for. This mix drains extremely quickly, Definitely much faster than any peat moss base mixes that I have encountered in the past. Also has plenty of perlite, which i am sure helps with the drainage.

Definitely a solid purchase I will be making again.

I bought this along with Perfect Plant’s succulent fertilizer, those two products pair together nicely (they should make a package deal). I think the type of soil you use for succulents matters. I’m happy with the purchase.

I’m not sure why this has so many good reviews. I bought many bags of this to fill 40x 5g and 3g fabric pots. The perlite it comes with is very small and not enough, does nothing. I added A LOT of perlite for extra drainage about a 70%Soil/30%Perlite.

I also added worm castings and other organic soil amendments. This soil soaks up water like a blanket and does not let it go. There is no drainage. It becomes one big soaked clump of crap that strangles and overwaters your plants.

All plants turned yellow and were just crying for someone to get them out of the water. They drowned to death. All 40 of them.

This potting mix worked well for adding to pots I have with tropical plants. If you have tropical houseplants, they will love this soil. Very airy and the roots won’t get waterlogged like with regular potting soil mix.

Highly recommended!.

best place to buy my a/v soil–they sure know how to pack the merchandise. not one bit in box. last time i bought this item (another Place) I had to cleanup every where the bag in the box sat. no packing paper either.

First time I bought from you but wont be last. helping grandson to purchase a first time car but then I will go to my list I made up for things I want from you. Already using my soil, Hope you dont ever run out as I will be back for more.

best soil for a/v.

Soil appears to be legit. Too soon to tell. I purchased this bag because of the volume and lack of fertilizer in it. Costs a lot more than Miracle Grow (which I use all of the time for other types of plants.

) African Violets are very particular so I purchased what appears to be quality soil without fertilizer. This is a Canadian product. I always TRY to buy American. If I cannot buy American made, I look of options from favorable countries of origin, like Canada, as I avoid Chinese origin goods even if the price is double.

Best container media for any growing vegetation hands down. Use this brand for container flowers and vegetables and the African violet soil designed just for them.

I tried an experiment where I planted 4 types of tomato seeds on a 12 cell pk container. I planted 4 seeds in a row in my homemade soil mix and the rest in black gold soil. In 3 weeks time most of tomato plants in my homemade soil grew well and almost 3-4 times talker with better developed leaves.

The tomatoes grown in the black gold are not growing very well. Also I had to throw away my batch of tomato plants I tried to grow with black gold soil; they were stunted and sickly looking. I had also used the black gold for houseplants and had to change out the soil after the plants looked like they were dying.

Good, peat based organic potting soil. I use it as the base for my container garden mix. It has a good amount of perlite in it, so it allows oxygen to reach the roots, and it drains well. You’ll need to add your own slow release organic fertilizer to it, as there’s not much food in there for your plants after their first three weeks.

This potting soil has a nice fine texture, with few stray pebbles and small wood chunks. I rarely encounter a tiny piece of shredded plastic. The price per 1. 5 cu ft bag has really jumped lately, maybe due to the increased demand from the large number of pandemic inspired, new home vegetable gardeners.

It’s better quality than the mega lawnseed companies’ sludgy/chunky potting dirt, but not nearly as good as a plug-and-play, loamy, pre-fertilized potting mix like FoxFarms ‘Ocean Forest Soil’, or Coast Of Maine’s ‘Bar Harbor Mix’.

started growing lettuce seeds and whear grass, mostly to keep fresh greens in a daily diet. kind of fun really. this is a high quality, clean and usable medium that produces great tasting lettuce and sweetwheat grass juixe.

not sophisticated enough to comparison shop, my experience with organic soils is pretty dated, but there is so much to gain and learn, worth the effort. cost effective, you get about as much net soil using the plant material makes it a growing concern.

if you have some one who can learn from this, great way to teach nutrition. nothing tastes better than fresh organic lettuce. there are new slow juicers that are about $100, they don’t heat the juice and it preserves rhe nutrients and tastes great.

living out of a can is ok, but live plants are so much better and cheaper. this is real nutrition, not a vitamin pill that will damage your digestive system.