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Fox Farm Ocean Forest is now recycled soil

S

SicKSKills

i live in the 707 and over the last two years ive leaned away from using ffof because i was getting inconsistent batches which i suspected might be based off recycled soil...i switch to coco for my main media and having good success but recently wanted to take it back to the old days for me and do an organic soil run, went and got some ocean forest and was sadly disappointed the moment i dumped the first bag on the mixing tarp....CLEARLY using recycled soil from their outdoor crops....you used to have to add perlite to OF but this stuff was chock full of it and old poorly decomposed roots...

needless to say im boycotting their company, who knows what sort of disease pathogens and pests could be in there, i hope you all will notice for your selfs and adjust accordingly... I am all for reusing and recycling but when you go to buy bags it should be fresh unless your told its not, scam imo... i only pay 8 bucks a bag but used to pay 20 when i didnt live in cali and i know a lot of people still are paying that much, makes me wonder if they are making two different batches and bagging them both as OF...people in 707 who pay nothing and use tons of it get the used shit, while people paying 20 a bag and only buying 10 or so bags are getting the the real shit i dont know just a thought.....thats why i love coco 99% consistent.
 
S

SicKSKills

btw this is a great forum for norcal outdoor growers who reuse soil year after year instead of carting in new pallets each year...i hope this place sees a lot of action!
 
O

optic sizzle

Member
SicKSKills said:
btw this is a great forum for norcal outdoor growers who reuse soil year after year instead of carting in new pallets each year...i hope this place sees a lot of action!
Click to expand...

That sounds like regular organic grower behavior to me. Which is why the best place to discuss it is the regular forum.

Dig deeper bro, you'll find out why this forum is here.
 
D

dongle69

Ocean Forest has always been recycled soil.
They get stuff from the Sun Valley Bulb Farm, complete with pesticides.
 
M

Mr. Fantastic

Im fairly certain that I got root aphids from using their soil
 
B

bterzz

Active member
Veteran
Maybe thats why, when running 28 of the same strain, various plants would throw out gnarly deficiencies where some would look healthy as can be..

I too noticed the soil was not NEARLY as LOAMY as two years ago when I first started..
 
T

tokinafaty420

Pro-mix, add your own compost and fertilizers. You won't be disappointed.
 
Clackamas Coot

Clackamas Coot

Active member
Veteran
SicKSKills said:
i live in the 707 and over the last two years ive leaned away from using ffof because i was getting inconsistent batches which i suspected might be based off recycled soil...i switch to coco for my main media and having good success but recently wanted to take it back to the old days for me and do an organic soil run, went and got some ocean forest and was sadly disappointed the moment i dumped the first bag on the mixing tarp....CLEARLY using recycled soil from their outdoor crops....you used to have to add perlite to OF but this stuff was chock full of it and old poorly decomposed roots...

needless to say im boycotting their company, who knows what sort of disease pathogens and pests could be in there, i hope you all will notice for your selfs and adjust accordingly... I am all for reusing and recycling but when you go to buy bags it should be fresh unless your told its not, scam imo... i only pay 8 bucks a bag but used to pay 20 when i didnt live in cali and i know a lot of people still are paying that much, makes me wonder if they are making two different batches and bagging them both as OF...people in 707 who pay nothing and use tons of it get the used shit, while people paying 20 a bag and only buying 10 or so bags are getting the the real shit i dont know just a thought.....thats why i love coco 99% consistent.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking that shipping costs account for the majority of the price variances.

The current list price in Portland is $15.00 for FFOF

Mix your own for about $5.50 per c.f.

CC
 
K

KindSmoker

Member
If you check your runoff coming out of pro mix BX(orange),I think you will be unpleasantly surprised by how high the EC is. They say they put a "small" starter nutrient charge in the soil but it seems to be quite a bit more than "small",not sure what they use to provide that nutrient either. IMO it's all about Roots Organic's soil(less) mixes,results so far dominate the Pro Mix and the Fox Farm both,I always add big and chunky perlite to any of them as well as 5% castings.
 
RicoT

RicoT

Active member
This thread has definitely discouraged the use of FFOF my next go round... especially being a victim of the $20+ a bag
 
reckon

reckon

Member
Muleskinner said:
wow, my last bag of FFOF looked & smelled great
Click to expand...

so did mine,...I just went and dug out my receipt after reading this and it was $13.99 for my sack of FFOF at the HYDRO SHOP (not the cheapest places around),...the fucking light warrior was $19.95 (WTF?)

I mix all my soil in a big ass tub BY HAND, so I'd KNOW if I was getting roots or crap in it, this last sack looked just like all the rest, dark rich, smelled clean, nice and loamy.

you SURE that's REALLY FFOF soil in that bag your buying?

I'm not about to accuse anyone of cheating, but times are tough now, and how hard is it to re-bag "soil" in a FFOF bag, and re-seal it with a heat sealer?
 
Blckbrd

Blckbrd

Member
tokinafaty420 said:
Pro-mix, add your own compost and fertilizers. You won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...

I'm doing this with FFOF ... adding bone meal, blood meal, sulphur, cow manure, humus, humic acid, calcium, and perlite. .... oh yeah, and worm castings too.

To kill off bugs/pests/microbes, I soak the soil mix with water + physan-20 before using. Ideally, that sterilizes/kills any preexisting bad stuff.

I've heard too much good about FFOF to write it off completely, but I won't trust it completely either.
 
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U

uglybunny

Member
Buddy of mine just bought a bag FFOF, its pH was shit, and the soil quality wasn't what I was expecting after reading people's experiences. He mixed it equal parts with light warrior and added perlite, and it still choked a couple of his plants out. Now I dunno he may have compacted the soil, but his experience will make me stick with my Edna's Best + amendments.
 
maxmurder

maxmurder

Member
Veteran
Mr. Fantastic said:
Im fairly certain that I got root aphids from using their soil
Click to expand...
yeah me too, this is total bullshit. i got those suckers in my moms and just about killed 'em trying to get rid of 'em. what's weird is i also had a couple plants outside in my girlfriends veggie garden which has 2 grapevines in it and none of her veggie plants or my od plants got 'em at all but some how they got indoors but only in my 2 moms. what really sucks is my sfv og fucking love that ocean forest and 6-3-3 fish for veg. i keep checking back on this thread and i'm suprised no one really seems too pissed?? :dunno:
 
chef

chef

Gene Mangler
Veteran
Mixing my own from scratch for awhile now. I did have some inconsistencies right before starting to mix my own tho & specifically remember wondering if 1 bag of FFOF was bottom of the hopper? Lots of fines & overly hot.

AFAIK, most large commercial soils are mixed at various regional plants with regional ingredients. My best guess on the inconsistencies people are reporting.

Pirated knockoff FFOF is totally possible too. Faux Farm :D
 
maxmurder

maxmurder

Member
Veteran
BAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! "Faux Farm" too funny.. I use sunshine#2 in flower so I've been mixing 8 parts ss#2, 1 part ew casting and 1 part big perlite, but had mag def right off the bat, I got one of those gnarly atomizer/sprayer deals and mix some 6-3-3 fish, calmag plus and dutch master penatrator once a week in veg and the defs went away. Faux Farm OF uses crab shell or something for pH (?) , I think I might try roots organic green fields, my bro said that stuff is mixed indoors up in OR. I'm gettin kinda bummed on the sunshine, seems like the little sticks and twigs are getting bigger and more of em. My local shop is getting in the new humboldt nutrients soil so I'm getting some and giving it a try, I posted if anyone has used it yet but noone replied. Gotta pick up some stuff from there today, maybe it came in.
 
W

whiterasta

Am a huge fan of roots products their soils are top notch every batch for yrs now. Some diatomite and Humate for extra looseness and kelp, oyster and FF seafood and it is good to go.
WR:tiphat:
 
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