Balanced mix that provides good drainage
Ideal for indoor/outdoor plants, hanging baskets and window boxes.
AS 3743 Regular Potting Mix (Black Tick)
Organic-based potting mix suitable for a wide variety of indoor and outdoor plants. This potting mix has been certified by Australian Standards as a Regular Potting Mix which is suitable for general purpose potting.
Is this any good? And what makes a good potting mix? Can this be layered on top of existing plants either in pots or ground as fertiliser?
A horticulturalist running a workshop told us to look for the red 5 Ticks StandardsMark. This one has the black mark; see bottom right hand corner. They said that the products with the red mark were superior. For example, the Osmocote one that bio has linked to below and this one from ALDI's special buys coming up on the 20th.
Yes, black ticks means that you need to add fertiliser because most likely the soil has none
This does, plus wetting agent
Not necessarily a bad thing without fertilizer added to the mix.
The quality of their premium one leaves a lot to be desired, so their standard one isn't likely to be an improvement - I had pieces of rubbish, and 7cm long chunks of wood. 🙄
ah d'oh. I had just bought two bags of the bottom barrel stuff that's usually this price. Not that it was important for my usage as some top-up.
Still 5.99 at my Mill Park Bunnings
I used to buy these cheap mixes but not anymore. These are mostly wood chips and other rubbish mixed with a bit of compost to make it look black.
Garden maintenance people seem to recommend the Osmocote one (https://www.bunnings.com.au/scotts-osmocote-50l-premium-pott…) which is more expensive but it shouldn't matter for a few bags. If you need more just order it loose from a landscape company.
Thanks, was about to take 6 bags but reading your comment, probably I was just buying dirt!
You are welcome. The general consensus is that you should look for the red tick (https://www.richgro.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/QA-log…) on the package. The 30l packs ALDI sells are also marked with a red tick. This Hortico has a black tick which is inferior.
PS: I see what you did there.
Can highly recommend the Osmocote 25L/50L Premium Mix - started a herb and veggie garden recently and had some outstanding growth compared to my FIL’s plants, plus there is very little debris in the soil (bar a few small pebbles ~1cm diameter)
Aldi premium one seems to be good too. I used osmocote for our our grafted lemon and oranges and it looks and feel damm good compared to cheap one I had used for veggie patch.
As mentioned by others in the previous deal (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/365496), shortly after planting with this mix a truckload of fungus gnats emerged.
Would recommend spending a little more depending on the application.
Premium potting mix only, any standard one contains so much random bits of crap and not soil. The worse I ever bought was from Woolies!
Same, I bought lots of the cheap stuff from Woolworths (green gardener potting mix 25L) at 2 for $6 and it had lots of wood chips in it. Worst of all, the mix had white fungus growing from it and I had to deal with fungus gnats for several months.
Even "Premium" might not matter these days. I've bought Osmocote Cacti/Succulent mix over the years, and it has just gone to crap. Lots of woody barky rubbish bits, and much less "grit" that won't compact quickly unlike the bark.
Has some token additives but it's a big premium price for something that otherwise seems pretty similar to what standard putting potting mix used to look like (where "standard potting mix" now is even crapper too).
Yeah… this one is crap. It's mostly saw dust and some soil… the dirt cheap ones are better than these…
As an experienced gardener, this is the advice I always give to cheapskates: Skimp on everything except the soil. Buy cheap seeds, cheap pots, but not cheap soil.
What would you recommend?
I usually use this one: https://www.bunnings.com.au/scotts-osmocote-25l-premium-pott…
There's a lot of other good brands too. If you want to get one of these Hortico just to try out, feel free to do so, but you must be ready to brace potential pests or plants not being that healthy.
So, this deal is no good, Mr Tim Apple?
You can go ahead if you want to take the risks. If there are pests in the soil you may need to spend more later on on pesticide.
I can confirm this… Bought cheap soil once. Had fungus gnats. Now every plant I own is a constant battle to keep them at bay. Not every plant is resilient enough to drying out to kill them that way and Neem oil only does so much. Once day I'll manage to kill them in all plants at the same time and be rid of them…
@EBC: Neem oil works well. Dilute them and apply them continuously every few days without fail for 3-4 weeks and they’ll be gone.
FYI though even expensive soil can get fungus gnats if you overwater or just unlucky.
@TimApple: Thanks for this advice. I’m currently battling with fungal deseases in my plants ( soil bulk buy from local landscaper). So you suggest to apply neem oil in foliage?
@Young gardener: It depends on which fungal disease you have. Neem oil works for most. Dilute 10ml if it in a 9L watering jug, then apply it in the foliage and soil thoroughly every couple days.
Don't overwater! Overwatering could lead to a lot of other problems. Applying it twice a week is enough, or perhaps 3 times if the weather is too hot. Keep applying it even if you don't see the pests anymore for at least 3 weeks.
@TimApple: @TimApple, Thanks for the detailed answer, just another question. Can I use the neem oil bought in supermarket for this purpose?
I want to buy Apple soil Mr Tim Cook
iSoil™
+ You will will need to pay an additional cost to buy iSoilCare in order to extend the warranty for two more years.
I mostly grow Apple trees.
As an experienced gardener, why the heck would you buy your soil?
For clients?
For filling raised garden beds?
I make my own for my raised and unraised garden beds.
I am reading a lot of negative comments about the Hortico all purpose potting mix, yet there are 45 positive votes for this deal. WTF, people!
The OzBargain spirit says "If it's cheap, it's good." Quality is irrelevant.
I wouldn't touch this one or any with the black tick. I only buy mix with the red tick now (known as premium potting mix). Last time I bought one of the Hortico black tick bags years ago it was full of rubbish and bits of everything and anything. How could your plants grow healthily in rubble or poor soil?
I find the Aldi mix fine to use. I have used the Osmocote Premium. However, it does have a foul smell if that is something that would bother you like it did with me. But as long as it has the red tick you really can't go wrong.
Thank you for your educational post.
I did some further research on the tick marks after reading your comments.
TL;DR:
Regular (black ticks) – Basic standard and does not contain fertilisers or wetting agents
Premium (red ticks) – High standard of potting mix which lasts longer and needs less fertiliser
I find the Aldi mix fine to use
I think these are special buy items. Do you remember if they were marked with a red tick?
Yes the Aldi Potting Mix is a special buy item. It is labelled with red tick (premium). It tends to come up every few months. I generally find rather than having to line up early on a Sat morning I can go later in the day or the following day to my local store and they have plenty of stock. I rarely shop at Aldi except for when I need garden gear or supplies!
It looks like not all brands label their potting mixes with a tick mark.
For example: https://www.bunnings.com.au/richgro-25l-all-purpose-potting-…
Judging by the price, it will most likely be a regular (low quality) mix.
ALDI Gardenline Premium is red tick (on the bottom left corner): https://www.aldi.com.au/fileadmin/fm-dam/Products/Special_Bu…
Crap quality potting mix with no life in it. I suggest you rather spend a few more dollars and get something decent.
This stuff is rubbish, better to grab a 1m3 delivery from a nursery like ANL for $50 + $35 delivery
The one from nursery can be variable also but vastly cheaper if you are after a big amount.
Thinking a little outside the square, I make my own potting mix using coconut coir fibre…
https://www.bunnings.com.au/brunnings-90l-mega-coir-garden-s…
…mixed with compost from my compost bin, or worm castings from my worm farms.
Can add a bit of low quality potting mix like this to bulk up. If you want to go fancy buy some vermiculite (volcanic stone chips) for aeration and minerals. Add some sand for drainage.
I appreciate not everyone has access to these things, but you can control your quality a little easier when making your own.
Also, I don't own a car and while I have transported 25kg sacks of potting mix on my bike it's easier to grab a cube of coconut fibre!
This, combined with good quality compose and blood and bone works wonders.
What ticks me off (black or red) about these mixes apart from the copious amount of woodchips which inevitably uses up any residual nitrogen as it breaks down, is the way they never print the PH value of the mix.
Some plants prefer the soil either on the acid or the alkaline side of neutral and we don't know what side of neutral 7.0 these are unless you buy and then test at home.
I use these but amend them with a bit of organic ferts, gypsym and if needed some long acting fert pellets. I also add a few worms from from my worm farm or just some garden soil to 'seed' it. Let it age for about a month and you are good to go!
There is absolutely no need to spend $8 on Osmocote premium potting mix unless you are a noob and don't have any patience.
I prefer to buy organic compost, mushroom compost , coconut husk, garden soil and mix myself.
Oh and some blood and bone
This isn't very good potting mix, a bit like sawdust. If you must use it, make sure you add some compost.
Was 3.75 at Balcatta WA Bunnings. The lady wasn't too pleased when I asked for the same price as their website.
OZBargain, please double-check that the deals published here are correct. This potting mix is not selling for $2.95 but $3.45. I have noticed the same mistakes in the Groceries section a few times lately, for example, regarding the Frantelle spring water 24x600ml; here it said half price $6.00 when actually it was $8.40. This has happened too often lately.
Yeah, mods are really falling down on the job not physically checking every post before allowing them to go live. #PoorEffort
It was $2.95 when it was posted. Bunnings upped the price.
The way to get that fixed is to report the deal and alert a moderator to the change. I'll leave it to you to do that, as exercise for the reader.
Whinging here in the comments won't do a thing.
Whinging here in the comments won't do a thing.
Spot on. It isn't the moderation team's responsibility to check every single deal, post or comment.
They will review and resolve issues when they are flagged by us (the community).
any expire date for this?
If I didn't know already I'd guess there was an Aldi gardening catalog coming ;)