whats the best soil i can buy for autos????

im starting my grow a bit later than i had planned, i really need to know a good soil i can just buy from a local garden shop or what ever thats not too expensive but will do the job??? im trying to keep the expense down a bit after all the equipment ive just shelled out for! ive just bought 10 x Northern lights autos, a 600watt super hps kit, 5 litre pots, ph kit and a few more little things i still need to get including the carbon filter! if anyone can recommend a good soil please do help lol ive looked at most of the crap cheap stuff and that just wont do, any ideas???

Roots organic soil is very nice.

Im using Dr Earth premium soil at the moment, it was a freebie from the hydro shop, the plant will be 9 weeks tomorrow and I don't have any complaints....not sure why Ive seen bad reviews about it, maybe I'm just lucky I guess...

It's best to avoid the cheap stuff, mostly because you'll be getting mostly bark in those mixes. Even some of the higher quality soils aren't very good, in my opinion. One example is Miracle-Gro Moisture Control. Once it dries, it is a pain to get it to absorb water again. Though it may sound cliche, Ocean Forest and Roots Organic are both good. I'd really recommend making your own mix though. I use the following mix and have had great success with it in the last few months.
25% Ocean Forest
25% Roots Organic
25% Earth Worm Castings
25% Coco Coir (the finely ground stuff, not the course as it tends to cause the same issues that too much bark and sticks cause in the cheaper soils)
To this mix I had a handful or two of a few more items
Ironite
Diatomaceous Earth (as an anti-caking agent and for calcium. However I admit that I am not sure that DE actually provides calcium to the plant)
Epsom Salts
Happy Frog Tomato Food
Vermiculite ( just eyeball this as you will need to add different amounts depending on how much of the base ingredients you're using)
I have my own compost pile and access to manure which I will had just a bit, if you don't have this... it's not a big deal.

Now, this may be pointless, but when I moisturize the coir, I like to add some liquid kelp, Microbe Brew, SuperThrive, humic acid, root stimulator, and molasses to the water I will be using.

Mix all the ingredients really well and spray with a hose to add more moisture if needed. Should be light, fluffy, and slightly moist.
This mix is great in my opinion because it is loose, airy, and doesn't remain wet for very long periods.
It may be a bit of an investment, but it really will last you a long time.

So, if you're only looking to buy one soil I'd go with Ocean Forest as long as you're not planning on germinating seeds in it as it is very hot when used alone. The reason I don't like Roots the most is the perlite used in the mix is too course for my purposes. I have heard of many people mixing Light Warrior and Ocean Forest together. This seems to be a very popular mixture. Also, you can do a quick search for SubCool's Super Soil. His recipe sounds good, but I dont' like to mix up so much at once hence the reason I made my own.
Another thing you can do which may prove very helpful assuming you aren't renting and have access to soil of your own. You can send a sample to one of several universities to have it tested. They will give you a long print out of every micronutrient in the soil and some will even have some recommendations of what you should plant.

Sincere Regards,

Additionally, check your local Craig's list. You can often find people selling compost and manure. If you can find you a good source of compost, that might be your best in regards to quality for price.

some good indoor soil and mix almost half and half perlite and soil if your gonna use nutes if not your gonna need more soil in the mix

5 bucks for the perlite
5-10 bucks for a bag of indoor soil you really dont want "the feeds up to 4 months stuff" just some good organic style that isnt real sandy or contains clay it would feel slick when wet
auto's like really pourus/ high drainage soil
i would suggest "technaflora recipe for success" its hard to go wrong with ,this one can really be dialed in has enough to last for multiple grows seeing as how most of the time you dont use over half strength for most auto's just follow the chart mix and dividethe full strength measure to fit your needs start at 1/4 str and slowly work up, runs around 40 bucks after shipping well worth it it's like a 7 part system i believe, has nutes for every stage and really good results


if you do a little research you can make your own mix and its a little less obvious then a fox farms bag if you need to be discreet

just please stay away from Miracle grow if you can they lack cal/mag from the start the auto water stuff in it causes problems aswell as the unstable nutrients and its usually rather hot out of the bag

carbon filter you can get a 6" and a 240 cfm fan its rather loud not gonna lie but for 80 bucks it works well for my setup

I found some good mushroom compost at a local farm supply store. I think it was kinda random though. I had mushrooms popping up next to my watermelons, etc. lol.

If this is your first auto grow, it's probably worth mentioning. Start your seeds off in the size of pot you wish to finish with as it's best not to transplant autos. Autos dont grow indefinitely (to the best of my knowledge) so you only have a short time and don't want to shock it and slow its growth/development.

Vermiculite
Perlite
Pro mix organic soil (its a green bag)
Worm castings
Peat moss

Been a great combo for my grow. I also put a layer of small stones in the bottom.