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Garden Essentials 25L Potting Mix - $2 @ Bunnings

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Cheap potting mix at Bunnings. Let your inner gardener flourish.

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  • What do you do with old potting mix?
    Chuck it in garden waste?

    • +11

      Don't know. I have given up on gardening. For past few years, I have spent money to buy the seedlings, only to see them die a slow death due to assault by bugs, possums etc.

      YMMV

      • -7

        your on o b and u buy seedlings o.o……growingfrom seeds is the best way to saveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

      • +1

        Brush turkeys digging up my garden have made me stop planting anything small.

        • Are you in the North Shore?

        • @ihbh: Townsville?

        • +2

          Just stretch some mesh over the soil using short wooden stakes, then they'll leave it be. Once the plants are large, they can fend for themselves. Also, they like juicy stuff and when building a mound, they scratch up the leaves and twigs for material to build with. Cover what they eat, and use them to clean up the areas you don't like attending to.

    • -1

      Your can do that

      Or you can put it on your garden

    • -1

      add it to the compose heap.

      • +3

        Hello Mozart

        • +1

          Who needs Mozart when you have autocorrelation?

        • +5

          @EarlyBird:

          He composed, but now he decomposed.

        • @c0balt:
          Isn't that what many people do when they play his music?

        • @EarlyBird: I never did get used to autocorrelation!

    • This is just going to end up as landfill…

  • +2

    Thanks, Homie.

  • Great value, hoping stock is available at my local bunnings

  • What are these normally worth?

    • +2

      If whatever you planted grows, they are worth the money. Otherwise, they are worthless.

      • I believe Tee251 was asking what the normal price is? Or is $2 the normal price?

      • +21

        These bagged cheap mixes are often mostly wood chip and some black grit with a small amount of fertiliser added. The effect is they will give plants a boost initially until the fertilisers spent, then once the wood chip breaks down so the 'soil' in the pot will reduce and will need topping up from time to time. The reality is these mixes are only really about companies selling a product that "looks" fit for purpose. You won't grow much in them long term versus quality soil.

        • +5

          Very few if any premium mixes have soil added to them they are made of decomposed wood chip, food scraps, bark,manure,coarse river sand etc. Some depending on what is required will have perlite, vermiculite,zeolite or other such materials added.Whilst some premium brands add ferteliser it will only last 3-4mths so just add your own.The one thing that all mixes lack is trace elements and minerals….In short pretty well all mixes are compost in the early stages of turning into soil just as soil forms in nature.

        • -1

          @coin saver:The local landscapers charge around 80 dollars a ton by the trailer load, would net 100-200 bags.

          Even at $2 these are 2-3 times the price.

        • @resisting the urge: are they 5 litre bags?!

        • And this has what relevance to my comment? But just for curiosity i just searched prices in Sydney and you are talking $80-$120 plus per meter not tonne (do not compare garden soil with potting mix they are different)there are 40 25ltr bags to a meter. There is about 3cubic meters to a tonne.

        • @coin saver](/comment/5735437/redir): You're right.

          Sorry coin saver and Micko179, my math was not well contributed.

          Value wise though, rotting wood pulp vs topsoil mixes sold by the metre can't be compared value wise, I'm not sure potting mix has much use other than temporary sustenance of seedlings, killing plants you pot with it, or making areas of soil inhospitable to plant growth over the medium to long term.

          Never seen potting mix sold by the metre. But 40 bags equivalent for $80 vs $80 of usable soil, Bunnings is only the same price per metre. Not sure I'd want to goto Bunnings to collect 40 bags, but if only in need of a small amount of bulk to mix good things into, this deal isn't bad ;-)

        • @resisting the urge: Potting mix should never have more than 25-30% soil.Some plants should never have any soil at all.(some plants i grow do not even have any compost in there mix)I can not remember the last time that i used soil in a potting mix and do not think that i ever will again.

        • @coin saver: Indeed, but then again, it all depends what's in the soil ;-)

    • +1

      Think they are normally $2.45

    • It's normally sold for $2.45 so it's not much of a special. The store I work at (Belconnen ACT) is completely sold out though.

  • If you add compost the mix becomes premium. I have only just discovered how fast seaweed breaks down and am now producing compost within 2 months compared to 4 with vegetables based.

    • +2

      If you add compost the mix becomes premium

      The Ozbargain way is to take a dump in it and mix it up.

      Premium and organic potting mix for $2.

      Could probably make heaps and sell on Gumtree.

      • +1

        You would only be creating a fly farm

        • Catch flies
          Sell flies or eat flies
          Profit

        • @spaceflight: Don't forget the hors d'oeuvres and deserts that add the cream on the top:

          Slugs
          Cockroaches
          Centipedes
          Ants
          Rats

    • +1

      What is your process for adding seawood to your garden? Do you rinse with fresh water to remove the salt?

    • -2

      Pul-ease. Plenty of plants will cark if you put compost in potting mix, even well aged compost.

      This $2 potting mix is basically rubbish. You could mix it with premium potting mix (~20 junk/80 premium) if you have a large pot and don't want to open your wallet but if you value your plants stick to RATED potting mix and good brands.

      • +2

        And plenty wont. Vegetables for instance go feral on sand compost mix. Don't listen to the $$ consumer Gardner's who plant tomatoes and spend $$$$. Tomatoes are a weed and grow anywhere. Yet products suggest they are enfeebled Bubba's. Use this pitting mix with compost/fertiliser and you have a medium. Simple.

        • Good to see you've qualified your comment. Blind Freddie might have taken it as gospel and lost his fav pot plant. Funny you should mention tomatoes. We spread our old compost heap around the yard last year and have had tomatoes popping up everywhere - and giving more/better fruit than our seedlings did in prepared beds. Happy days.

        • Very true. I use this all the time for my soil mix for my fig trees and its great. Use it with perlite and compost for a well drained soil mix

      • You go buy the 'premium' stuff so they don't run out of the 'cheap' stuff!!

    • Hey Herodotus,
      Are you saying you make compost with seaweed instead of vegetables?
      I want to get into making my own compost pit, do I need a big container or a shallow ditch.
      I have a ditch filled with water and leaves that I want to do something about.
      Cheers

  • +2

    Nothing will flourish in this

    • +2

      What genus is that?

    • +7

      Any deals on 'Nothing'?

      • +1

        Have a look at the recent eBay and Amazon "deals". ;)

    • +2

      Please enlighten us further with your horticultural knowledge I’m left hanging for more after such an educated comment

      • I've used it in the past for plants I give away, basically it's nothing more than something for the roots to sit in temporarily. It's rubbish. It has no nutrients and, possibly worse, it doesn't retain moisture like a good potting mix should.

      • +1

        I'm not familiar with this specific product. However, in general, if the wood chips not broken down, they actually have negative nutrient value.

        This is because the bacteria and fungi that break them down actually leech the nitrogen from the soil that the plant could have absorbed.

        Also, if the wood chips are too big, the soil is too rough, and not good for seedling roots. Certain varieties of gum trees also have chemicals in them that inhibit non-gum plant growth.

        Whirlpool or other Australian gardening forums have much more info on this.

      • This youtube video will give you an insight to the quality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awsKsttO7yQ

        He rants on a bit but the gist of it is it has a bunch of random non-organic material in it like plastic and paint chips.

    • Right! Nothing except PLANTS!!!

  • Will this help small orange tree to flourish?
    My orange tree is still 1 meter high after 1 year of planting.

    • +1

      Citrus are gross feeders and need to be regularly fertilised, especially during the growing season.

      You can buy special fertiliser for them.

    • -3

      Don’t plant oranges in a pot. They need to be in the ground. They will dry out and you get no fruit.

      • Sure?

        I saw potted trees FULL of fruit, yesterday at the nurseries. 4-5’ tall, 30 pieces of fruit on each. Lemons, limes, oranges.

        • Moocher is correct. I had an orange in a pot and didn’t get any fruit because the roots were crowded and too dry. It is now in the ground and has plenty of fruit. My local nursery said that you can grow citrus in large pots other than oranges and grapefruit. Otherwise get dwarf variety.

        • @Beast: can or can't?

        • +1

          @spillmill:
          Can. You can grow other citrus in pots other than oranges and grapefruit.
          Ok to grow lemons mandarins etc but need to increase the pot size as it grows eventually into a wine barrel size. They do better in the ground though.

        • Correct! He is a fool

      • +1

        There are dwarf varieties of citrus that you can grow in a pot, but you would need quite a big pot when it's mature and feed and water it well.

      • +2

        You'd better tell that to EVERY one of my citrus in pots that I get an abundance of fruit from!!!

    • +1

      How big is the meter? :-) (metre). Citrus are normally slow growers early. As long as it's putting on new growth (new shoots and leaves) it's probably okay. Remove all flowers to promote leaf and branch development. Soil is important. Too acidic and the plant with struggle. Use a wide pot with premium potting mix and SLOW release citrus fertiliser if in a pot.

    • +3

      One of the biggest mistakes is to buy a citrus plant that has fruit on it “Oh look! It’s got fruit already!”
      This fruit is because the plant has been stressed, usually by lack of water, but could also be root bind. In the latter case the containers they were grown in were too small by the time they were potted on. When planted in the ground the oats are so tangled they start strangling each other.
      If your tree hasn’t grown since planting it is probably root bind. I’d suggest digging it out, then keeping the roots moist, free up the root mass (a little root pruning might be necessary), then replant ensuring roots are pointing outwards. You may have to prune the top back to compensate for any loss of root mass. Fertilise regularly and remove any fruit buds for the first year or 2 to direct the plants energy into new growth.

  • +1

    Is this still pricey for a product that's effectively 75% woodchip content?

  • +1

    I'm pretty sure you are better off with terrible quality soil than using this.

    • +1

      You shouldn't use soil in a pot.

      • I think he was being facetious.

  • +1

    Honest question: would it be cheaper/easier to just buy fill from somewhere and get them to deliver it, rather than lugging 50 bags or this home from Bunnings? Don't really care if it's good for plants. Just need cheap dirt to raise the level in the yard.

    • +4

      yes

    • +1

      definitely

    • +1

      Don't buy this, in 12 months it'll break down 30-50% because it's mostly rotting wood…

      Buy topsoil by the m3, it'll work out close to the same if not cheaper, but soil won't break down.

      Lol when we needed soil when I was little dad gave the local dam digger a couple cartons of beer for dirt rofl.

    • Potting mix contains a high proportion of organics which will break down and reduce relatively quickly and probably unevenly.

    • Bags are only for convenience & small jobs. Always better to get it delivered by the cubic metre & still cheaper. One of the reasons to choose bags on a big job is if you cant fit a wheelbarrow on the side of your house to get to the back, or the elderly.

  • +3

    Let your inner gardener flourish.

    Flowerish.
    Fixed it for you.
    You can shout me a beer the next time we catch up.

    • +1

      Should change your name to WordNerd

      • except flowerish isn't even a word, can I be the new crowned WordNerd?

  • If you buy this it will be ok for a short period however isn't suitable for anything to live in for a long period. Mix this with some regular topsoil and as the level drops over time add soil and dig it in.

  • +3

    Dirt cheap!

    • I wood buy it if I could, alas I don't have any mulch.

  • We use this mixed up with "premium succulent mix". And we have a few extra bags of the spare too to help level out the rest of the backyard. Sounds like that plan doesn't quite work with this stuff.

  • Great value for money. Used the same brand last year ($2.50) for the lawn as well. It was good.

  • How do you smoke this pot?

  • +3

    This product shouldn't be allowed to be called potting mix - unless they are referring to filling up holes in the road - in that case it may do a better job than council did at the end of my road.

  • Not available at Bunnings Harrisdale, staff who checked said wasn't even showing up on the system.

    • +1

      WA has Richgro 25L for $2

  • +1

    All you clever OZB gardeners, what is a good cheap soil replacement? For just general grass and growing other plants etc? I feel like I need to dig up my backyard and get rid of or mix down the horrific clay soil in my yard.

    • +2

      " horrific clay soil "

      A.K.A "really fertile" if you add gypsum. It's doesn't add any nutrients, but allows the release of what is already there. You need about 1-Kg per square meter tho, and it helps to dig it in. Once the soils is a bit open, adding a top-dressing of compost should encourage worms to keep it open and aerated.

      https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/gypsum.pdf

      You may be better looking into raised beds, placing sheets of newspaper down then filling the constructs with bought in soil and compost.

      • Thanks for the post. I have done your last suggestion. But I'd like to grow some big trees and redo the grass again.

  • Despite the Bunnings app saying it was in stock at my local buntings even after I arrived. They had none!

  • This does not live up to the Australian Stands (black ticks) according to the Bunning's website. Cheap potting mix is a false economy, except as maybe a mulch.

  • +1

    If it is as full of organic matter as everyone is suggesting, this “stuff” would probably be good for Perth, where the “soil” is crappy hydrophilic polished sand.

    • just like my garden

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