Should I mix happy frog an ocean forest for starting seeds?

First time growing. First time using fox farm soil. Happy frog an ocean forest. Should I mix the 2 together for planting seeds or just use one? I want to plant directly into permanent container unless y'all think otherwise. Any help an advice is greatly appreciated.

MudGypsy11 said:

First time growing. First time using fox farm soil. Happy frog an ocean forest. Should I mix the 2 together for planting seeds or just use one? I want to plant directly into permanent container unless y'all think otherwise. Any help an advice is greatly appreciated.

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Just start with the happy frog, and start in a small container, like solo cup size.

All i do is i layer the weaker compost/soil on top so when it pops its in seedling mix then grows into the stronger stuff I use biobizz allmix but its the same idea or start in solo cups with the weaker stuff like hollatchaboy says

MudGypsy11 said:

First time growing. First time using fox farm soil. Happy frog an ocean forest. Should I mix the 2 together for planting seeds or just use one? I want to plant directly into permanent container unless y'all think otherwise. Any help an advice is greatly appreciated.

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This is a common practice for autos which have no room for stressing from a transplant. They can be transplanted, I've done it/do it myself but for a first grower I'd put Ocean Forest for bottom half of the pot. Next put happy frog until you are 2 inches from the top of the pot. Plant the seed into the happy frog and water with a spray bottle or table spoon or turkey baster. I give my seedlings roughly a tablespoon or 2 of water every day. The large pot will make it easy to over water. Don't do that. As the plant grows you'll be able to give her more water. Lastly, when she starts looking a little hungry top dress with more Ocean Forest on top (that's what the 2 inches is for above the happy frog). You don't have to worry about top dressing for probably a month or so. 2 inches is enough room to top dress a couple times. You'll need to add some nutes to finish flower but this soil program will get you a long ways with just water.

No do not use any kind of Fox Farm soil for sprouting seeds. Take it from me. Look at my grow journal.

It is a bad medium for starting seeds because the seeds won't take very well. They say it's too hot. Not sure what that means but the success rate for germination and developing seedlings is low with Fox Farms soil.

I bought Coast of Maine seedling soil recently. It is much finer an more airy than the Fox Farm stuff. The seeds seem to take much better than the Fox Farms.

smokerjimbob said:

No do not use any kind of Fox Farm soil for sprouting seeds. Take it from me. Look at my grow journal.

It is a bad medium for starting seeds because the seeds won't take very well. They say it's too hot. Not sure what that means but the success rate for germination and developing seedlings is low with Fox Farms soil.

I bought Coast of Maine seedling soil recently. It is much finer an more airy than the Fox Farm stuff. The seeds seem to take much better than the Fox Farms.

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I use jacks magic for top layer but i think thats a uk and eu thing more so same idea tho its just a decent seedling compost mix

smokerjimbob said:

No do not use any kind of Fox Farm soil for sprouting seeds. Take it from me. Look at my grow journal.

It is a bad medium for starting seeds because the seeds won't take very well. They say it's too hot. Not sure what that means but the success rate for germination and developing seedlings is low with Fox Farms soil.

I bought Coast of Maine seedling soil recently. It is much finer an more airy than the Fox Farm stuff. The seeds seem to take much better than the Fox Farms.

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Not sure what you're doing wrong but happy frog is a great seed starting soil. I do run the soil through a sifter before I plant seedlings in it but I do that with all soils for all seedlings. Are you using a heat mat and dome?

Beeswings said:

Not sure what you're doing wrong but happy frog is a great seed starting soil. I do run the soil through a sifter before I plant seedlings in it but I do that with all soils for all seedlings. Are you using a heat mat and dome?
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Yes I use all that. Fox Farms soil is not for seedlings. I'm not saying you can't grow seedlings with it. It's just not that good and you'll have better success with other stuff.

smokerjimbob said:

Yes I use all that. Fox Farms soil is not for seedlings. I'm not saying you can't grow seedlings with it. It's just not that good and you'll have better success with other stuff.

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Fox farm is the name brand of the soil, they have multiple different types of soils for different uses. I use happy frog as my starting mix every time with not a single issue. I think your brain is stuck on Ocean Forest being too hot for seedlings.

smokerjimbob said:

Yes I use all that. Fox Farms soil is not for seedlings. I'm not saying you can't grow seedlings with it. It's just not that good and you'll have better success with other stuff.

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If it doesn't work for you then it doesn't work and you should stick with what works well for you. I have no problem disagreeing with people and it's a weed, there's more than one way to skin this cat for sure.

smokerjimbob said:

No do not use any kind of Fox Farm soil for sprouting seeds. Take it from me. Look at my grow journal.

It is a bad medium for starting seeds because the seeds won't take very well. They say it's too hot. Not sure what that means but the success rate for germination and developing seedlings is low with Fox Farms soil.

I bought Coast of Maine seedling soil recently. It is much finer an more airy than the Fox Farm stuff. The seeds seem to take much better than the Fox Farms.

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I should take direction from someone on their second grow? I've started in both Happy Frog and Ocean Forest without issue. Assuming viable seeds, I think most germination/sprouting problems are too much water or other errors.

Yes that's correct this is my second grow. However in those two grows I have tried germinating seeds with fox farms soil more than a handful of times. That's a good sample size. What I did find is that for some reason the autoflowers germinated really well using the fox farms happy frog that I used. Like 10/12 seeds germinated in the soil. However for photoperiods, my success rate with happy frog has been like less than 50% for both germination and growing after the seeds sprouted using the paper towel. In this site, I have heard from multiple people that fox farms runs hot and has too many nutrients for seedlings. Overall, my experience has been that of the seedlings that do sustain life using happy frog, the growing is very slow. When I look at the Coast of Maine seedling soil it is much finer, airier, and lighter than the happy frog and I believe should lend itself for healthy seedling growth. That's just my experience. YMMV

smokerjimbob said:

Yes that's correct this is my second grow. However in those two grows I have tried germinating seeds with fox farms soil more than a handful of times. That's a good sample size. What I did find is that for some reason the autoflowers germinated really well using the fox farms happy frog that I used. Like 10/12 seeds germinated in the soil. However for photoperiods, my success rate with happy frog has been like less than 50% for both germination and growing after the seeds sprouted using the paper towel. In this site, I have heard from multiple people that fox farms runs hot and has too many nutrients for seedlings. Overall, my experience has been that of the seedlings that do sustain life using happy frog, the growing is very slow. When I look at the Coast of Maine seedling soil it is much finer, airier, and lighter than the happy frog and I believe should lend itself for healthy seedling growth. That's just my experience. YMMV

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That would be a problem on your end.

Meh....I've mixed them together and added perlite, coco coire, worm castings. I never had any problem with it. Yeah it's kinda nute heavy (aka "hot"), but with the extra stuff to make it more open and airy, it's fine. I water to the point of excessive runoff every time....which depletes all the nutrients in about 3-4 weeks....basically through the veg period. I don't feed them anything extra at all during this time. After all the excessive runoff from watering that way, the mix becomes an inert medium that must be fed, thereafter, with some kind of nutrients -more or less a drain-to-waste hydro system. I choose the Jack's 3-2-1 nutrients and that's what I run all the way to more or less week 8 of flower. After that, it's just plain water until the chop.I've done several runs with FFOF and FFHF as the starting base. You just have to "fluff" it up a bit and then water the shit out of it (literally!)

On the next run, I'm curious to try the Bruce Bugbee mix -which is a combination of regular peat moss, vermiculite and dolomite lime.

And what might that be?

Fox Farm makes a specific mix just for starting seeds (it’s actually the only Fox Farm product in my grow room), or you can put them in root-riot cubes. Their other soil is just too hot and will burn many genetics.

Just to set the record straight, the common seed starting mix from Fox Farm is called Happy Frog and it is favored for starting seeds because of the all the things listed under "Mycorrhizae Content"

The other really common Fox Farm soil is called Ocean Forest. It contains all types of goodies from the sea.

Neither is too "hot" for seedlings. I use them together. Check the NPK. DO NOT FEED ANYTHING to these soils when planting and for the first month after! Nothing except beneficials and plain pH water. No cal mag, no fertilizer, no bud sweetener, no molasses, no worm castings, no perlite, no anything except water and something like recharge every so often. Fox Farm makes great soils that have been producing great weed for years.