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Anyone using fox farm ocean forest?

Mallory

Mallory

I saw there were a couple of older threads on FFOF, but I would really like to hear opinions from anyone who has grown with it.
 
Some people say it is too hot as a seed-starting soil, and even too hot for transplanting seedlings. Others seem to have great results using it for both.
 
I already started some seeds in it yesterday, so too late to change anything, but I have another set of seedlings just getting their first set of true leaves. They are in a mix of miracle gro seed starting soil and orchid soil, and haven't been given any nutrients. I would like to transplant them soon into FFOF, if other people have had good results doing this.
 
 
 
Yea in hindsight I should have gone with happy frog, or picked something to cut the OF with. Instead I bought 2 large bags of the OF because I found a good price and now I don't want to spend any more if I don't have to. But I also don't want to fry my seedlings...
 
It's the best bagged soil i've ever used.
 
Nowadays I cut it down with coco choir and other stuff, but I've used it straight for sprouts and transplants, never had a problem.
 
I always re-use the leftover soil in the seedling cups, mix it with fresh product, then throw it into the larger pots.
 
Jetchuka said:
It's the best bagged soil i've ever used.
 
Nowadays I cut it down with coco choir and other stuff, but I've used it straight for sprouts and transplants, never had a problem.
 
I always re-use the leftover soil in the seedling cups, mix it with fresh product, then throw it into the larger pots.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, I think I will go ahead and try it.
 
Ocean forest is great, but it's probably worth mentioning that it's very easy, even for a beginner, to combine just a few ingredients to make a fantastic potting mix that is probably as good, but for half the price. You would just need a very large container to mix everything in. I use a $15 plastic kid's pool from home depot, and then give it away.

Peat moss + perlite + tomato tone will get you 95% of the way there
 
I tried mixing my soil last year. It was nominally OK. It seemed integrating the nutrients, especially organics, into a raw medium is trickier than I thought it would be.
I tried Miracle Grow Moisture Control mIx and it worked much,much better.
This I'm experimenting with the same protocol that Blister is using -pure coco coir with hydroponic nutes and it is performing very well though the plants are not as dark a green as I think they should be.
I'm also using FFOF and it is performing very well also, plus the leaves have a nice deep color.
 
My recommendation would be use the Ocean Forest and experiment with a small portion of the grow on the side. When peppers are ready for a one gallon pot, they are probably a little more forgiving  in their medium. But baby peppers want something close to perfect for excellent performance.
 
On the  other hand, on I got my struggling little plants in some rich ground, they sputtered a bit, then took off and made a decent crop.
 
my .02
 
FFOF is very good soil, but  only for well established transplants. It's very trendy product, kind of "designer soil", where half the price you pay is for brand name. I used it last year but gave up on it because I got same results with home made mix.
Way too hot for staring seeds, or plants with less than 2 true leaves. Last year I germinated seeds in rockwool (95% germination rate), after transplanting to FFOF (cotyledons only), half of all transplants were gone in less than 2 days to damping off. 
For starting seeds and very young plants(up to 2 sets of true leaves)  (40% sphagnum peat moss, 40% screened compost, 20% perlite). Make this mix 2 weeks before starting seeds.
For transplants (35% sphagnum peat moss, 35% compost, 30% perlite, and 1/2 cup per 5 gallon of soil mix "Jobe's All Purpose Organic Fertilizer 4-4-4"). Make this mix 4 weeks before transplanting. This mix requires further feeding when plant gets big (1-2 months after transplant)
Bulk ingredients are easy to find at Lowe's or Home Depot. These two mixes will work just as good if not better than FFOF, and are waaaay cheaper (about 50%).
 
Yup, used it last year along with some others side by side. No complaints at all. I like this and some other hippie dirt called Lady Bug.
 
liger88web said:
FFOF is very good soil, but  only for well established transplants. It's very trendy product, kind of "designer soil", where half the price you pay is for brand name. I used it last year but gave up on it because I got same results with home made mix.
Way too hot for staring seeds, or plants with less than 2 true leaves. Last year I germinated seeds in rockwool (95% germination rate), after transplanting to FFOF (cotyledons only), half of all transplants were gone in less than 2 days to damping off. 
For starting seeds and very young plants(up to 2 sets of true leaves)  (40% sphagnum peat moss, 40% screened compost, 20% perlite). Make this mix 2 weeks before starting seeds.
For transplants (35% sphagnum peat moss, 35% compost, 30% perlite, and 1/2 cup per 5 gallon of soil mix "Jobe's All Purpose Organic Fertilizer 4-4-4"). Make this mix 4 weeks before transplanting. This mix requires further feeding when plant gets big (1-2 months after transplant)
Bulk ingredients are easy to find at Lowe's or Home Depot. These two mixes will work just as good if not better than FFOF, and are waaaay cheaper (about 50%).
Click to expand...
 
:welcome:  Liger88. 
 
Good call on letting the new mix set a while before use. 
 
I've heard others also say OF was too hot for seeds and seedlings.
Maybe it is, but my seeds have popped in OF and in a  day or two transplanted to OF with no problems of dampening off.
Moving cotys and/or young TrueLeaves to any mix different than, or significantly different, could also be too big of a shock. Maybe not.
On the other hand, my germ rate and time to germ may not be quite as good as last year, but I suspect temp is more of the issue, maybe even time of the year. 
 

 
Sometimes I cap them with a sifted home-brewed batch of soil from last year.
 
This is one of my oldest plants this year, 25 days in OF.
 
 
I use FF Ocean Forest and I will not use anything else again. It does cost a little more, but I have had ZERO weeds, no mold problems, or anything negative if you use it correctly.
 
For my seedlings, I cut the FFOF down by making 2 parts Ocean Forest, 1 part perlite, and 1 part peat moss. The run-off of this mix is still pretty high in PPM's, but none of my seedlings show any sign of stress.
 
I grow the adults with a straight FFOF plus Perlite mix. I buy the large bag of FFOF and add 1 8-quart bag of perlite and my plants are SUPER happy. 
 
I even turned my dad onto this soil because I was having such good results.
 
After you run a bunch of water through and the ppms on the run-off start to dwindle, the soil holds any added nutes well also, so regardless of your growing style, this is great soil to use. I HIGHLY recommend it.
 
JJJessee said:
 
:welcome:  Liger88. 
 
Good call on letting the new mix set a while before use. 
 
I've heard others also say OF was too hot for seeds and seedlings.
Maybe it is, but my seeds have popped in OF and in a  day or two transplanted to OF with no problems of dampening off.
Moving cotys and/or young TrueLeaves to any mix different than, or significantly different, could also be too big of a shock. Maybe not.
On the other hand, my germ rate and time to germ may not be quite as good as last year, but I suspect temp is more of the issue, maybe even time of the year. 
 

 
Sometimes I cap them with a sifted home-brewed batch of soil from last year.
 
This is one of my oldest plants this year, 25 days in OF.
 
Click to expand...
Hi Jessee, 
Thanks for the welcome.
 
"Moving cotys and/or young TrueLeaves to any mix different than, or significantly different, could also be too big of a shock."
This is very good point i didn't consider. Rockwool to FFOF switch may have caused sever shock to young seedlings. Seedlings that survived absolutely flourished in FFOF.
 
liger88web said:
"Moving cotys and/or young TrueLeaves to any mix different than, or significantly different, could also be too big of a shock."
This is very good point i didn't consider. Rockwool to FFOF switch may have caused sever shock to young seedlings. Seedlings that survived absolutely flourished in FFOF.
Click to expand...
 
I second that idea as a posibility...
 
My method, I tend to run Rockwool cubes and transfer them to soil, but I cut the FFOF with perlite and peat AND I start off with a very low ppm mix that i run through the rockwool a week before I transplant, this will help acclimate them. and it strecthes out the FFOF for use in more plants.
 
I am happy to say that the seeds started in OF are beginning to sprout and aren't showing any signs of burn, the caribbean red habs and ghost peppers took about 6 days. The seeds I started in Miracle Gro seed starting mix/orchid mix did not sprout this quickly under the same temp conditions. I like the OF because it is dense. The seeds are staying put, whereas in lighter seed starting mix, I found that even with careful watering, the seeds were working their way further down into the soil and some were not sprouting because they ended up too deep. I didn't realize until I dug them up and found they were 1" down and rotted. 
 
As for the sprouted seedlings I have in miracle gro seed starter soil... I guess I will wait to up-pot with OF a bit longer. They are in 3oz size containers now, and have the 1st set of true leaves. I am afraid they will react badly the OF because they aren't used to it. I wonder how long I should wait?
 
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