Ocean Forest now different?

[Matanuskan Flo]

I was in a hurry, didnt have time to build my own mix, so I bought some ffof... I now have fungus gnats, spider mites, and maybe root aphids. Never, never had any of them before I brought that shit in..... I am fucking pissed off, going to throw the whole fucking mess into the river, sterlize the whole fucking house, and start over with my own mix....

FUCK

i also neevr had any buf issues till i brought the bag into my house. it was never even opened tho, but the coincidence is too much to overlook. since replacing the infested soil with FF, the situation has abated. so, i dont know. you do bring up a good point tho man.....still i say its the luck of the draw. the mix coulda been great out their doors, but the route to the hydro shop & whats in the hyfto shop is suspect....

 

[EatMoGrass]

I did email Fox Farm earlier today and have received a response asking where and when I bought it and if I still have it. I hope they would be honest and tell the truth if there is a serious problem here. But after dealing with a Toxic Sun Hut I am somewhat doubtful they will admit a problem. If they do admit a problem and offer credit for the 5 bags I just used (2 Ocean Forest and 3 Light Warrior) I will dig up my 17 girls and replant in some good Ocean Forest if it is still available. I have recommended Fox Farm products to many others over the last 5+ years. If this doesn't work out well I don't think I will be recommending Fox Farm any longer.

 

[EatMoGrass]

Well I took the two bowls of Ocean Forest back to the grow shop that I purchased them. The store owner was a little short with me but asked if I wanted to know the truth about what is going on. Of course I answered yes. He said that Fox Farm has now set up an East Coast production that is now making their soils for customers on the East Coast and in the Midwest. He said he can no longer order the Fox Farm soils produced in California. He bluntly told me that if I don't like I should sent Fox Farm an email telling them so. I know that the old Fox Farm Ocean Forest is a terrific soil and they have many other great products as well. I'm not sure what to think of this. Over the last 4+ years every single gardener I know I have recommended Fox Farm products to. I can't really see myself recommending Fox Farm products any longer. Cost cutting=Huge mistake

 

[slackx]

Yea i got one bad bag of OF when i bought it from a retail store. The hydro store on the other hand i have never ever had a problem with.

 

[EatMoGrass]

Supposedly this East Coast production is brand new. The store I purchased it at here in the Midwest always has the freshest Ocean Forest as they sell tons of it. If the story I got is correct we may be hearing allot more about this in the near future.

 

[PistilPete]

My last few bags of FFOF were mostly twigs and bark and i had a hell of a time keeping the ph stable. I suspect it's also where i picked up the f%$#ing root aphids. Really frustrating because i have to order it online and shipping costs are unbelievable..... i was paying about $40/bag with shipping. I moved on to coco when i couldn't get any answers or help from FFarm, a decision i do not regret at all.

 

[Matanuskan Flo]

damnit, root aphids are popping up along with FFOF all over the forum. i already see a correlation. hmmm, this new EC operation is news to me & also quite disheartening. I hope that we can keep up w/ those west coast boys. i mean, damn, i doubt they are shipping too many items from cali to here. so, i bet they are using local assets which must be different. i am calling FF tomorrow & getting some info.

 

[phan]

Even though I am on the west side, this is something I want to know! Let us know what you find out.

 

[EatMoGrass]

Tara from Fox Farm emailed my back today and confirmed that they do indeed have an East Coast production facility in South Carolina. She also stated that the California made Ocean Forest and Happy Frog are not distributed East of the Rocky Mountains at all. I will be building my own soil again from now on.

 

[BirdManFlyHigh]

I picked up a couple bags of Ocean Forest on Friday for only $14 a bag sale price. Normal price round here is $18. I opened up a bag today and noticed it is totally different than the last 50 bags I have used. I found square root balls and much more perlite than ever before. I also found some greenish mold in one place. There is so much perlite it almost looks like a bag of light warrior. I think the Ocean Forest may not have been mixed correctly. It is less black than normal. I think they may have left out the worm castings. I am very concerned as I have 17 girls that need to be trans planted now!

There have been talks about the Brand Cutting Corners

 

[Matanuskan Flo]

i will let you all know asap, it is still 630am here, so gotta wait for pacific time & I am calling my contact. if he gives me permission, i"ll specify details of the source etc. either way, Ill convey the info he gives me, if any....but, even if he won;t say, i plan on calling FF directly anyhow. have a good day all.

 

[EatMoGrass]

When Tara from Fox Farm emailed me back yesterday to confirm the existence of their East Coast production facility in South Carolina, she also told me about the recipe. She said the only difference in East Cost Ocean Forest recipe is that they use pine bark instead of the redwood bark that is used in the California made Ocean Forest. She says this is done to save the end user money. I guess she forgot about the extra perlite and root balls. Just as I thought, cost cutting ruined another American company. I would have been happy paying another couple dollars more to get the same stuff as always. Now I wouldn't used their soil if it was half the price.

 

[bcell]

Grown in "new, East Coast" FoxFarm OF soil with nothing but water so far at 3 weeks. No mold, bugs, extra perlite, root balls found. No difference from what I can tell. I am sticking with it for now.

 

[green_thumb...]

The dude at my local nursery told me that FFOF got so popular that they ran out of fully processed compost and are using pre-compost now,i still use it myself works great. I mix FFOF,happyfrog soil conditioner,perlite and recentlu Bcuzz coco great airration drainage and roots seem to thrive in it just water damn near the whole time.

 

[EatMoGrass]

Well thats great news. I am very happy others are not having a problem with the new stuff. I was very concerned as I just put 17 girls into that New Ocean Forest mixed with Light Warrior, a few types of guano, Happy Frog dry fertilizer, powered lime, mag, sulfur, and crushed oyster shells. It is definitely a much lighter mix than I would normally use because of all the extra perlite found in the Ocean Forest. I should have added a cu ft of worm castings to make up for the extra perlite. I bought the Ocean Forest because up until now it has always been consistent over the last 5 years.So far my girls are all good but they have only been in the soil for 3 days. I will update if anything bad happens.

 

[bcell]

Coast of Maine Bar Harbor is one that I did not have good results. Any other commercial soil in the same league as FFOF?

 

[EatMoGrass]

I'm thinking about checking out Black Gold soils or the Roots Organics. My worm compost will take 4 months to begin producing as I have let all my worms die off. Building quality homemade 100% living organic soil takes some time but is well worth it in the end.

 

[EatMoGrass]

So far no real problems with the "new" Ocean Forest. I did however add a topping of the old Ocean Forest 5 days ago. Within days I had hundreds of fungus gnats. A friend also is using some Ocean Forest that was purchased a week earlier than my "new" OF and he is having serious gnat problems as well. I have been gardening indoors for over five years and have never seen a serious gnat problem. I always use a couple yellow sticky traps and they have always kept numbers of gnats very low. I am wondering if Fox Farm had a problem with gnat contamination before they changed the soil. The "new East Coast" Ocean Forest I used had no gnats, but then again it looked like it was just peat and perlite, nothing more. Seems like I have read to many recent posts about bugs in Fox Farm's Ocean Forest.