Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Just feckin’ humongous trees lolits why I use rockwool blocks dtw. indoors.
no bugs no mold, no fungus amongus.
AVOID FOX FARM - aka thrips breeding pack
- Thread starter Splash Gordon
- Start date
green_machine_two9er
Well-Known Member
Bingo
green_machine_two9er
Well-Known Member
Now those are definitely thrips. But the source of these still is not likely to be soil. Thrips don’t just hang out in soil, there is no food there. What are they gunna do for months and months or even years in a bag palletized and sitting. Fungal gnats yes. Random other soil dwelling insects? of course. But thrips. Not really. The eggs hatch when temps are just above freezing, and without a food source (plants) they will move on.
I’d blame yourself; not fox farm. Looks like you have thrips in the grow space already on these plants? Or are these the seedlings you germinated in the bucket of water/ plastic wrap thing.
Either way. This time of year thrips are fuxking going nuts outside. It’s very easy to bring them in on your shoes/ cloths. Or just not having a positive pressure sealed grow environment is enough to have them find their way in.
Spinosad works well for them. Capt jacks is available almost everywhere. Insect soap and citric acid would be my next product to hit them with after that. Good luck. I don’t mean to come off like a dick at all but I’ve worked a grow store and you wouldn’t believe how many times we would get the same story. “YOUR SOIL RUINED MY GROW. iT HAS BUGS!!!” And I went deep digging into the subject because of these angry customers. Who by the end understood that it’s not fox farms fault. Its not the stores fault. If you have a plant pest, the pest come in, breed on, and survive off PLANTS!
Rant over. Good luck either way. Roots organic origanol soil is really similar to ocean forest NpK and supposedly they don’t mix their soil outside at all. And they don’t have “ forest material” in the product list like FF products. You might have luck with that brand.
MissinThe90’sStrains
Well-Known Member
Maybe consider making your own soil? You can start with a base mix of peat, aeration, compost/castings, and amendments. You can start bug free, recycle and re-amend your soil, and maintain a closed loop system to limit vectors for contamination. Take a look through the organic forums and some of the soil recipes. Over time, it’s cheaper than buying bags.
Antidote Man
Well-Known Member
ocean forest sucks.
happy frog. no perlite, just happy frog. some grow big and tiger bloom in small amounts during grow and you'll be happy.
happy frog. no perlite, just happy frog. some grow big and tiger bloom in small amounts during grow and you'll be happy.
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
I've seen bags crawling with larvae before, absolutely horrible quality, the last time I got fox farms I was stabbed with a rusty fish hook and had to go get my tetanus shot. Literally the bag had a fish hook and other rust n shit in it. Upon further research they make their soils using communal compost and who knows what people are putting into their compost bins. Your paying money for dirty, contaminated, infested trash, literally.
Phytoplankton
Well-Known Member
I’ve used FFOF for ten years, the stuff I get is made at the original plant on the North Coast. I’ve had thrips once, and I can’t say if it came from the soil. They showed up midway through the grow. What I can say is that soil sat outside in the bags for 8 months before I used it. So if thrips came from the soil. When did they get in there?
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Getting thrips from soil, would be like, getting spider mites from soil. Odds = almost non existent. Those insects feed on plants, not decaying organic matter. The only soil insects you need to worry about, are fungus gnats. Even then, unless you have a major infestation, that you're letting go unchecked, no biggie really.
Ipm is pretty easy, and works really good, if you use it....... correctly.
Ipm is pretty easy, and works really good, if you use it....... correctly.
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
All of these problems can be solved with a little Spinosad soak. 
I'm never going to stop hating on Fox Farms.
I'm never going to stop hating on Fox Farms.
Budzbuddha
Well-Known Member
All palletized bags of “ soil “ can get bugs during outdoor storage ( nurseries - warehouses ) / transportation and regional sources. Even seen weep holes in bags.
I always remove from bag / dump in tote and add about 4-5 cups of neem meal. Keeps the goody bugs happy and helps control the other “ pests “.
There are always other bagged medium.
Dr. Earth
Recipe 420 ( e b stone )
Black magic
Kelloggs
Promix
Sunshine 4
Etc.
I always remove from bag / dump in tote and add about 4-5 cups of neem meal. Keeps the goody bugs happy and helps control the other “ pests “.
There are always other bagged medium.
Dr. Earth
Recipe 420 ( e b stone )
Black magic
Kelloggs
Promix
Sunshine 4
Etc.
I always open the bag of potting soil and empty it into a plastic tote, leave the tote open to dry out in the garage for at least a month or two. Letting it dry out will typically kill any larvae or eggs in the soil.
I once had a terrible infestation with fresh soil in the winter, I tried sterilizing the soil by cooking it in the oven, that worked to kill any pests but it also killed the soil. The plants I tried to grow in that soil struggled badly until I got new soil, then they perked right up. So in my experience, cooking the soil is not preferable.
I once had a terrible infestation with fresh soil in the winter, I tried sterilizing the soil by cooking it in the oven, that worked to kill any pests but it also killed the soil. The plants I tried to grow in that soil struggled badly until I got new soil, then they perked right up. So in my experience, cooking the soil is not preferable.
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
Maybe look into Super-Soils too, they usually come as dry blends and its wayyy less likely to be contaminated. I used M3 Mix for a while but they charge $100 per 4 bags (8 cu/ft). It is genuinely water only even with RO water until bloom, they suggest top dressing with "papas poo" but I just used biothrive bloom at normal strength through bloom with no problems. Still sucks you gotta mix nutes cause it does not carry them to the end otherwise, the plants will start looking hungry and have dinky buds in experiments when I gave the suggested "water only".
I've thought about trying other soils, but the only time I've ever had a problem was when I got a new bag in the winter and used it without letting it dry out first. I normally stay ahead and keep soil drying in the garage, but I miscalculated and had to buy a new bag to use right away. Live and learn, I've got 2 new bags drying in the garage right now, ready to go for September (I take the summer off, too hot inside and I don't grow outside).
I was really surprised at the results I got from cooking the soil, I read online that ag extension services even recommended sterilizing soil to kill potential pests. There were no pests, but it was dead soil, the plants I tried to grow struggled the entire time. I finally got new soil, after ruling out everything else, and the plants started growing well. I had even used the mykos beneficial bacteria but it didn't seem to help.
In any case, unless I have more issues even with drying out the soil, I'll probably stay with FF, they sell it locally and I try to buy locally as much as possible. Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it.
secretmicrogrow420
Well-Known Member
my brothers favorite media too grow in was rockwool drain too waste. he said the best weed he ever grew was in coco but rockwool was just a higher performing media!its why I use rockwool blocks dtw. indoors.
no bugs no mold, no fungus amongus.
green_machine_two9er
Well-Known Member
Where do you get m3 for 25 a bag!?!?