The SCAM Bagged Soil Companies Don't Want You To Know 

Hah hah

lol 😂

😂😂😂😂

Miracle Gro Whistleblower found DED in his greenhouse! They say he was surrounded by sifted All purpose potting mix.

😂

There is next to 0 "soil" in bagged soil. ;) To be fair, ALL organic matter (including wood chunks) turn INTO soil when eaten and digested (and crapped out) by the soil microorganisms and bugs.

LOL, you paid for a bag of wood. Merry Christmas

I don’t mind the wood chunks as much but I’m seeing lots of large rocks in what I bought last year. Just used my last bag and full of rocks.

Wood is not that bad and you actually need to amend soil with wood chips sometimes, depending on the type of plant and how compact your soil is naturally.

You want those wood chunks in there. That is what amends your soil. It's the rocks that can take a hike.

Solid pun. A+

😂😂😂

He's not long for this earth 🪱

misonformed*

mintimidated*

Exactly. Mom grew every single thing with cow dung from grandpa’s farm and soil from the backyard. And everything was always amazing

We need to get back to composting. Big AG is depleting our soil😔 But yes, we are totally buying into something unnecessary

It's a cheap way to buy land.

😂 this whole thread is the best

Almost like you can find most of it in nature.

Making money off ignorance. Well that would be about half the economy there so don't get too carried away now. The sophistocation of buyers are always tested and ivariably taken advantage of, picked up a bag of grass seed at the local lovely natural place and it was literally 4X the price of the bulk product behind me down on the ground. Think this was a deliberate ploy? I'll go with I just don't know.

Ehh, I bet it's dumber than that... They probably only really make potting soil to start out, then they have to go through essentially the same process (sifting, amending, etc...) in order to produce the specialty blends - so that's how they price it. The price for the specialty blends is set at [potting mix] + [additional effort and materials].

They do the same thing with milk its all pastuerized and bottled in the same place just gets a different label at the end...its hilarious to see them right next to one another on the shelf as competing brands...the cheaper one is just as good as the other one.

@@zackkertzman7709 one of the things I've learned in life that price point is always set at how many buyers would be willing to pay for product at particular price and how it compare to competitors. Rebranding it like "special something for something" may give a product attention and cause people to buy something more expensive. Just yesterday I had in hands two moskitos repellents made by the same company. Exactly the same ingredients, same concentration, same cans. Different labels (one for 6m to 3yo kids, other for 3+ kids), different prices. Sometimes it gets even funnier. I am using with kids some syrup for hydrating throat (literally purified water, glicerol and flavors). There are two versions - one for younger children and other for older olders. The only difference is in concentration (and label ofc). And the one more diluted and confectioned in smaller bottle is also more expansive. Btw I would make this syrup myself for pennies, but wife goes like "blablabla" something about syrups should be bought at pharmacy I think. Probably even if I would buy ingredients at the same place (few times cheaper) it would not pass. Marketing power can be unbelievable.

@@zackkertzman7709 I'm not understanding what thescam is tho? Like for an orchid you need something with shredded types of wood that the regular pottingsoil doesn't have. That's why specialty bags happen. What am I missing here?

Espoma does that by selling small bags of berry tone only, when in reality the Holly tone is the same exact thing and comes in bigger bags

​@@SativaVerte Holly Tone is more acidic which is why it is recommended for evergreens. There are are some exceptions like blueberries and other plants.

@@sherriianiro747 I am looking at the guaranteed analysis labels for both Hollytone and Berrytone, and they are exactly the same label word for word and number for number. there is zero discernible difference between the two products.

@ nateauld 99.6% of the American people are fools. They will voted for Joe Biden again. Can you believe it ?

Buyer beware

It's probably imported from Ukraine on the cheap from Putin and his cronies then repackaged in the west. That wire could be part of a municipal library! Russia will never live down the shame! Just like Germany and Japan.

Tell the animals to stop eating plastic and wires then.. 😂 Btw that's why in some places they have magnets on cows to stop them blocking up.

@@TheWebstaff Really?... looked into it, it's called hardware disease for anybody wondering.

Wow, the last two big bags of soil I bought were a mess! They were filled with huge chunks of wood, roofing shingles, and even rocks mixed in. Not what I expected at all!

@@CMZneu🤯

Big Soil! Regulations is needed ASAP😂

Do you see what he charges for his products?😂😂

I don't even garden and this was in my recs. I have now been exposed to the truth. Stop big soil now.

Wait until you find out you don't need ANY soil at all! ;-)

BIG everything. Profit greed and corruption. Most bagged dirt with even "brand names" have high amounts of lead. Also states what is in the bag regarding concentrations of sludge. And this goes into the plants. Then into the body. Better brands like Coast of Maine and Happy Frog are more reliable as far as organic and clean are concerned. Use gloves and take precautions breathing in the dust, etc etc are usually stated. What is that telling people? Corporations have no interest in the well being of people. They have no idea what they are manufacturing because they have no clue where this dirt initially is coming from. Easy to make amendments from certain weeds and the green algae from rivers and streams that flow clean. Can grow much for amending the soil. Comfrey, horsetail, nettles the list is endless. Can make foliar sprays from certain weeds, plants, aromatic ones, fruit tree leaves, rose petals, anything. Can find recipes on youtube or just research. Need to add molasses and stirring these concoctions is necessary. Amending the soil is beneficial. Home gardens can be taken care of quite easily when people who live in the country forage for soil from the woods. Dead tree stumps give much only if these stumps are hollow with a build up of soil within. Too much deceipt in society regarding most anything. The power for change comes when the masses of people quit supporting shady and corrupt big businesses. Supporting small businesses in comparison works. So much for "name brands" like miracle gro in this video. Rubbish.

Thanks😊

Great tip!

Never thought of using a kitty sifter scoop but though the wire version for deep fryers foods might work if the sifter is too heavy

I saw a lady that used two wire trash cans. One inside the other, because hers had larger holes. Worked great

Brilliant!

Basically any company does it. If they can.

@@goku445big pharma being the worst of them all

Sociopaths all. Especially in mid-level management.

Thanks capitalism....

Sham-poo vs body wash is another one. There’s a lot of them. Unnecessary cleaning products, when dish soap, white vinegar and baking soda is all you’ll ever need!

You mean the GARDEN ANSWER site that strongly encourages its viewers to buy MANY unnecessary gardening materials.

All I got from this was buy a basic potting soil bag, sift it, use what's left in the sift for orchids, and for everything else use what was sifted. And I guess add some sand but I have no idea how much for cactus.

@@michellehawkins1027 A dixie cup amount of sand

@@michellehawkins1027if you start your own seed, you've learned all you needed to from this one video to cut your costs by 2/3. Seed mix is asinine in price.

Lol yeah not much information in this video. You still need to buy specifically potting mix​@michellehawkins1027

lol, truth!

I think you haven’t checked peat moss prices in the past 2 years. Or you happen to live somewhere where there is a great deal.

We used to have a wonderful nursery near us in Oregon - since we don't own a truck they were more than happy to bring us dumptruck loads of 50/50 soil and compost mix. It wasn't cheap, but it was probably a better deal than buying a lot of bagged soil since they measured it out by the generous tractor bucket load. It was also the most lovely dark, sifted soil - you could grow just about anything in it and the plants were so wonderfully productive. I haven't found anything even close to that since we moved out of state, and I miss them so badly!

@@plantlady1227 Where in Oregon? If it's anywhere close to Dallas, OR (30 min west of Salem) let me know. I also have no truck to get material. I'm trying to avoid high costs of any kind, but definitely don't have enough of my own compost/leaf mold.

We went to our local nursery and bought compost in 5 gallon buckets for $1 per 5 gallon bucket. They also sell soil for $1.50 a bucket. A bag cost $13. We have a local source for free goat manure. Free wood chips from chip drop.

@@itme7685 Mishawaka, Indiana Menards 2.2 cf brick $12.00

🤣🤣🤣

I agree. My mom lives in a small apartment and there's no room to spread things out to sift and mix, or even to lift the dirt to sift by herself. I always buy the smallest bag because she has no room to store the extra soil. She usually gives it away or toss it out onto neighbor's garden.

But, as you said, what they are buying is the convenience- they still get the joy from their hobby!

And, not to mention, bigger bags are heavy and awkward for some people.

I should ramp up my compost, shred some sticks from my yard, and mix in Perlite, and put it in small bags, maybe sell them for $3 each. My Michigan yard overflows with yard waste even though I don't fertilize or water my lawn. I make my own potting soil already, but have more dirt than I could ever use.

​@francesreis5086 Agreed we all don't have greenhouses or wire racks to fill a corner with things to make dirt, fertilizer is one thing that can be used often as needed

SAME! 😂

I’m in Florida so there’s quite a bit of sand and I recommend if you bring home a Dixie cup of sand that you bake it first. Sand fleas and fungus gnats can erupt overnight when they incubate in your perfect soil especially if it’s inside the house! Eeeeeeek!

@@karolawatchesyeah I was going to say, I wouldn't want to use sand I just took from the beach in my brand new potting soil lol

Me, too!

Me three.

the problem is just that he spread misinformation. The soil in those packets differs in ph-value, water-intake possibility (sorry english is just my second language), and so on. Many plants have special needs regarding the soil, and rely on those differences.

I don't believe the previous comment is correct. Just my opinion. But i've been gardening for over fifty years and never buy special dirt for special things. They grow they thrive their great. There are. Certain ones that you have to be careful with like he said because of being too wet.Or too dry but basically dirt is dirt. And everything that we have is from marketing and greed. We don't need any of it. If you know what i'm getting that. So if you're doing. It for convenience great, if not, take it to advice.It's good.

Thanks for allowing us to know this info! Good to know his materials are very worth it!!

I buy Top Pot in California. Completely non-organic and reusable.

Honestly the peet moss in very helpful here in the Great Basin, but that makes sense due to us being on the dried remnants of lake boniville. Tomatoes grow really well in the rich alkaline soil but trying to plant blueberries or potatoes is like watering plants with Drano

What is garden soil? Just mulch?

Do you have advice for someone starting out with a garden on where to look for resources like that? I'm about to build my raised beds and I'm dreading buying the soil as I know i'll need several bags of the stuff. At the least I know I wasn't going to go after raised mixes from the big box stores.

That comment put me back mentally to a time that I almost felt like gardening was like rocket science. Then I remembered even with nature God laid the foundation and we learn one step at a time.

​@Roseles89 Depending on the depth/size of your beds, you can fill the bottoms up with clean scrap wood (non- treated) branches, and clippings, then bulk "topsoil" then good compost/planting mix. If you have shallower beds less filler may be necessary. Making your own compost if you have the space is a great option to help supplement your growing medium.

Hummus?

How is it educating people when this guy is claiming all toothpaste is the same thing?? My Mother is a Dentist for 31 years and can't stopp laughing..some dude talking about soil blurts out completely false information.

The toothpaste comment definitely didn’t help his point!

Thank you for all the information.

I made a HUGE mistake and bought a bag of $Tree potting mix to transplant a couple of house plants. I didn't need a large bag and my thought was, they are just house plants, how bad can it be? It was literally clay soil. What a rip off! I really hope beginner gardeners don't buy that and expect to grow food in it!

The journey is eternal with knowledge 😅

That was a fun and informative video. They sell so much stuff in the nursery sections of big box stores so you can grow $5.00 worth of tomatoes and you'll see a cherry tomato growing in a crack in a parking lot with no care covered with blooms and fruit.

Thank you for this! I always have bought perlite and orchid bark to make my houseplant mix. I'm honing in my produce garden and I'll be spending much less money.

Congratulations on your new home!😊

Enjoy your home and garden

It a learning process but it's worth it. MI Gardner is a great resource I have been watching him for years.

I started 4 years ago, strawberries. I'm now planting lettuce,onions sweet potato, Blueberries and more. It's all in pots or raised beds. I love being out there watching and learning everyday. Plenty of birds for company. Peaceful is the best description! 🌻Oh yeah, last fall planted a pear tree🌳 it's beautiful 🌻

He needs to apologize for false information all toothpaste is NOT the same lmao , and why would he even go there! he has no clue what he's talking about.

It’s pissed me off before! It’s a bag of mulch basically! It’ll be soil in 2 years if I leave it in my compost. 🤪

Yep. I bought a huge bag of Hyponex potting soil, and it was nasty MOLDY mulch. I had to throw it away.

@@lonayork591 Don't throw it away! Compost it. It's halfway there already. If you have raised beds dig down a little and work it in. The wood holds water so the soil doesn't dry out so fast (look up hügelkultur) and it takes up space so you don't need as much bought soil.

Same here in Canada. Lesson learned: Give these wood chip selling companies, who pass off product as 'Soil', really 'good' advertising by word of mouth and social media.

In another comment I made, I wrote that there is an inaccuracy on the toothpaste comparison he made. Whitening toothpaste removes enamel to reveal the whiter enamel underneath. It is actively bad if you want to build enamel. I say this as someone who has cavities and sensitive teeth. Otherwise, he has it pretty much right: the 100 variations on toothpaste is insignificant. The main criteria is whether it has fluoride, and whether it is whitening or building enamel. If it says both (as some do), the whitening component takes precedent.

No it wasn’t it was valuable information. You are projecting your aggression and chaos.

@@gailbancer1571 7:14 the editing is chaotic/aggressive. It's also fairly dramatic. But the video itself is extremely educational, yes.

​@@gailbancer1571It was a compliment. Perhaps they weren't the one projecting.

@@titosrevenger right 👀 lol

He’s tired of the companies’ 💩 and it shows 😅

Same.

That's an incredible idea.

I made a sifting screen with caster wheels and a frame to roll it on. It sets upon a small wagon when I sift soil and woodchips. The coarse woodchips are used as mulch and the fine siftings are mixed with the top soil for potting and amending my raised beds.

​@@mudcatfrank7537Nice! I have a simple lean-to sifter that I throw shovels of dirt at. Whatever makes it through gets caught on a tarp. Whatever doesn't gets raked around the trees.

I've seen a video where she made basically the same sifter, but put a couple "feet" on it so it doesn't fall off her wheel barrow when she shakes it back and forth. That seemed to work pretty good too.

I built mine to fit on my wheel barrow.

I was told that I'm the biggest tool, so....take that! Anyway....

I do the same. Except my soil is more sandy. Getting richer every year

And since i have bears , i throw all veggie and food waste in a pile away from my home .But it's near my garden. The bears usually eat the food waste but leave the veggies alone. So i have compost.

Boxed pancake mix!

I buy it because I’m lazy. I will 100% admit that. I have 2 kids… I’ll meal prep them then eat chips because I have 0 effort left lol. These products are for me. Just need to find the cheapest one

@@trevnti I don't think anyone with 2 kids can call themselves lazy! I had 2 kids and even with being an at home Mom, I still bought conveniences. At different stages of our lives, we have different needs. I'm a senior and alone now and on a remote island, so my needs are more of being able to make it because I can't buy it. I also have that time to spare so it is fun to know I can make my own basics. My location (under 300 people) also means there are very few businesses that will ship at a reasonable price because sometimes the item shipping is half the price of the item/s, so not logical to order. Also takes nearly 2 weeks to get here (surface-postal mail shipping only). Your priority is to your family and yourself right now. Do whatever it takes to make life easier for yourself so you can save that energy for your kids. We do not think they notice, but mine are in their 40s now and still laugh about all the extra things I did with, and for, them.

Just subbed

@@christinebeames712 The Channel probably appreciates your subscription??LOL

I had more wood in my potting mix and I will not buy MGro anymore. Money spent for nothing 8:21

@@lindacampeau9870 MGro is the worst. Your better off buying brands you have never heard of.. Or if marijuana is legal where you are. Go to the grow stores there. They sell way better soils

I have been gardening for years and didn't know this. Thanks so much!!

Maybe you should start by knowing the diffence of soil vs dirt... I hope you gave him a soil mixture and not a dirt mixture... also f your elitetism.

@drinmer1 F your elitism? Maybe you should start by learing what a synonym is. Dirt can actually be used as a descriptive word aswell for example, "Your attitude is dirt" Go love yourself lmao

I agree. No matter what soil I have ever bought it has wood chips in it. Makes it hard to grow grass.

What does one do who doesn’t have 8 years to build dirt but has plants? Do we have crappy landscaping and no houseplants for 8 years until we can build black gold? 🙄

Yes. The base is the same. The difference in the additives, and the proportions.

Your friend must have a lot of hair!

😳

@senorjp21 - so does Laundry Detergent. It's all the same!

My dad worked in a plant that bagged flour back in the ‘40s. After the quota of flour was packaged, they switched to the bags labeled Wallpaper Paste. True story. He also worked in a deli where the mild, medium and sharp cheddars were all cut from the same big wheel…

I get it because it’s cheaper than the other bags. It says raised bed and container mix. I use it for beds and containers.

Can you share where to buy coconut coir reasonably priced? I tried to check online- and the prices are so steep 😢

@@dr.elenaolewsky4813 I bought it at a local larger nursery. It has lasted me years. It is more expensive than fir bark, but the reason I like it is because when I repot my orchids it looks like it has barely even broken down. So once I check the root system I just reuse the old chips and add a little more for the bigger pot. Unlike fir bark which I threw out more. I see a 10 lb block at my local Home Depot $20 w/free shipping to store, but when it's time for more I will check my local nursery first. 🙂 I also keep my orchids in unglazed terra Cotta pots...that has made a big difference. Not pretty, but plants are happy 😊

Would it not be cheaper to just use Bark Chips that are sold for landscaping?

I tried this but I used organic coconut husk from a coconut my aunt gave me. My orchid died 😢 I have no orchid experience so I stopped focusing on orchids and started focusing on easier flowers 😂 im much happier now lol

@@MsMoople Yes, but as I said to dr.elena above for the rot reasons I prefer coco chips. I'm not a commercial orchid growing company so I don't need to buy a lot.

Ask the farmer if they are treating their pasture. And yes that's true. It will be in the manure, hay, straw, etc. Your garden won't grow anything for many years. It's called Grazon.

You can "cure" the manure with grazing for a year and it will be good to use. Same with any livestock manure where the livestock are fed "cow hay" that's been treated: horses, goats, etc

There was an article in Mother Earth News about 10-12 years ago where an organic farmer consistently purchased manure from a local down the road. One year the 'local' bought his feed (either grass hay or alfalfa) from a different supplier that had been treated with a herbicide. Anyways when she did her spring planting, her crops came up and then died. She had a soil sample done where they found the herbicide. She lost her certified 'organic status' and could not get rid of the soil because it was deemed hazardous waste. There have been similar articles over the past few years confirming this as it has happened to numerous farmers where the manure has killed tons of crops

Manure is full of weed seeds and full of salts anyway. Stay clear.

Pastures and grass are treated with Grazon which kills weeds. The hay used in gardens will kill the plants.

If there is a good landscape supply near you, that sells bark and soil, you can order by the cubic yard...I saved a ton of money filling beds this way!