As I have said in the past, I just got into this last year (3 types of pepper plants) and this year I've stepped it up considerably with 32 different types. I feel that my current formula of miracle grow soil and the miracle grow "liqui feed". I see everyone with these elaborate soil setups and I'm thinking I should do the same.. Right?? Thanks ahead of time..
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soil I think my soil/fert sucks
- Thread starter Pepper Boys
- Start date
Just do whatever works for you. The examples from people here are just what worked well in their experience. Just because someone does it one way, doesn't mean that's the only way.
If what you're doing is giving you the results you're after, then stick with that. If you get bored you can try some of the suggestions here and see how it goes for you. It's all part of the fun.
If what you're doing is giving you the results you're after, then stick with that. If you get bored you can try some of the suggestions here and see how it goes for you. It's all part of the fun.
Hey pepper boys not many here use MG in any form. I don't know where your live in Charleston but we have Hymans Nursery on Folly road and Possums Nursery in Mt. Pleasant that will have everything you want. I grow in a sphagnum pat moss based mix and have better results than MG. You have to start small and build more pepper plants as you get the process down. I live east of the cooper and don't mind helping a local grower get started with advice. Pics would help if you want help.
Wow, a local. Awesome! Yeah I'd be willing to try anything new/different. I just got the MG because it was easy. It would be cool to talk more about this since you live right around the corner. I live on James Island.
MG will work don't get me wrong, wife still uses the stuff for her herb garden and house plants. I used it with my peppers for years before I started reading this site and bought my first bag of Pro-mix BX. Read as many threads about container soil and try some different stuff and find what works for your situation. You will get hot peppers using MG.
I use MG moisture control in some but it is the ONLY MG i have used that seems to be decent soil. I also add a lot of extra stuff to it though. I recently found a peat based soil that is made here in ohio. Don't know if its any better or not, I guess time will tell.
As the above posts said, what works for someone else may suck for you and something that works for you may suck for someone else. If you find something that works for YOU, I say use it. As you grow more and more, experiement and see what you like. I have tried 5 different soils this year including a ProMix variety. My MG moisture control really seems to control the moisture content well. On the other hand, my Promix really seemed to want to hold water. If you ask others experience, they will tell you the Promix is great at controlling moisture. I guess its all in how you use/apply it and perhaps growing conditions and climate.
As the above posts said, what works for someone else may suck for you and something that works for you may suck for someone else. If you find something that works for YOU, I say use it. As you grow more and more, experiement and see what you like. I have tried 5 different soils this year including a ProMix variety. My MG moisture control really seems to control the moisture content well. On the other hand, my Promix really seemed to want to hold water. If you ask others experience, they will tell you the Promix is great at controlling moisture. I guess its all in how you use/apply it and perhaps growing conditions and climate.
Howdy,
I was told by many to stay away from MG products however here in the middle of nowhere iowa they have a monopoly and almost everywhere you try to shop only carrys MG, however at Lowes you can get a Moisture Max Potting mix made by Sta-Green THIS and although this being my first yr i am seeing good results from this mix and is about half the price of the the MG moisture control. Good luck with your season.
I was told by many to stay away from MG products however here in the middle of nowhere iowa they have a monopoly and almost everywhere you try to shop only carrys MG, however at Lowes you can get a Moisture Max Potting mix made by Sta-Green THIS and although this being my first yr i am seeing good results from this mix and is about half the price of the the MG moisture control. Good luck with your season.
Don't get me wrong - my plants are doing fine I guess. I just wanted to see if there was something I could do that would be better. My real troubles only come from the germination process.. I was only able to germinate about 35% of the seeds that I planted... Which sucks.
I bought a bag of regular MG soil for my pepper plants. Before this I was using Jungle-Growth soil which was really dense. Anyway I like it alot, my plants are growing like crazy and are so green and lush. Alot of people hate MG with a passion but I tried it and it works awesome. I like it is more than the soil that makes the difference because some people share these horror stories of using it but I have never had anything other than 100% germination rate in days not weeks. Here a few pictures of my plants.
With germinating heat helps alot. Try putting them in 85 F or higher temperatures. A sunny window works great! But I am living proof that MG soil works just fine dont believe the hype!
With germinating heat helps alot. Try putting them in 85 F or higher temperatures. A sunny window works great! But I am living proof that MG soil works just fine dont believe the hype!
Scott's is the same company that makes Miracle Grow, it's like a low end version of MG. I used Scott's Sta-Green once in the past, the green one, not the moisture max, and it was absolutely horrendous. The consistency was more like mulch than potting mix, I found all kinds of plastic and metal bits in it, and the drainage was non-existant. The buckets with Sta-Green weighed about 2-3x as much as the buckets with Miracle Grow or Pro-Mix after watering. They didn't get any water for a week in the middle of summer and the bottom of the pots were still pure sludge. A few plants died, some more got root rot, and the rest I had to take out and put them in something else to try to salvage them. I don't think MG is completely terrible, the consistency and drainage is pretty good, I don't like the time released fertilizers though, especially for younger plants. Pro-Mix is better imo, but you can get pretty decent results with MG. Glad you're getting good results with Sta-Green, but I will never touch that stuff again, not even if it's free!
i think you are mistaken but Sta-green is not made by scotts its a lowes brand made by United Industries Corporation a subsidiary of Spectrum Brands, Inc- the same company that manufactures Spectracide, Peters, Cutter, and other popular brands..INFO
'edited forgot link'
Apparently I am mistaken. But anyway, that stuff was horrible.
Well im not sure what stuff you used then but the Sta-Green moisture max that i got seems to be fairly decent and far from mulch could use a bit more PerliteAvon Barksdale said:
and the lil habby's seem to like it
However with all mass produced stuff its going to be hit and miss looks like i got a good bag. I did only get this cheap stuff to get me through the cup stage as for when they go to there final pots i will be using Fafard for half my pots and im also going to try a local nursery brand that they say is from Sun Gro for the other half and let them compete
I don't have much experience with growing peppers, just beginning my 3rd season, but I have read a lot on these boards and have tried a few different things. I've never used miracle grow so I can't comment on it. I have used one of the moisture control soils before and had a terrible time with it. The commonly accepted practice for growing peppers is to water them then let them wilt a little before you water them again. You do it this way because pepper plants don't like to have their feet wet, and doing it this way (water/wilt) will produce nice hot peppers. The problem with the moisture control stuff is that it keeps the roots moist for long periods of time. Then when it would dry out the stuff I had went has hard as a rock. Once it did this you had to REALLY soak it to get the soil back to a point where it would actually let the plant grow. The plain peat mixture soil is a great option because it doesn't go as hard as a rock and allows you to control the amount of nutes you give to the plant rather than having them added into the soil out of the bag.
But like the others have mentioned, this was just my experience and not the ONLY way to do it. So YMMV.
But like the others have mentioned, this was just my experience and not the ONLY way to do it. So YMMV.
I hate to resurrect a thread from last year but recently picked up two 64qt. bags of Sta Green Moisture Max potting soil at Lowes for like $2.47 a bag. Most likely a pricing error or something but I got two 64qt. bags for like 5-6 bucks.
SRBII, I was curious to know how you made out with your plants and the Moisture Max potting soil.
SRBII, I was curious to know how you made out with your plants and the Moisture Max potting soil.