# Mirical Grow substitute



## Fish bone (Sep 7, 2014)

I'm having trouble finding Mirical Grow organic potting soil for a dirted tank.
Would another brand of organic potting soil be ok, or I there something magical about MG?
Thanks


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

There is nothing magical about miracle grow, other than it is a lot of work to mineralize and make ready for your tank. Any top soil that has a lot of soil in it and not so much manure, synthetic fertilizers, or other too much organic material should be fine. I used a red bag of Earth Gro top soil for mine and it has worked well without needed as much mineralization as MG. Hope that helps!


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## Fish bone (Sep 7, 2014)

Thanks.
I have a pile of top soil in the yard I may try in a 10 gal test tank with Florite as a cap.


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

If it has been sitting for half a year or so getting rained on and such it should be already mineralized.


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## MattArmstrong (Aug 17, 2014)

Fish bone said:


> I'm having trouble finding Mirical Grow organic potting soil for a dirted tank.
> Would another brand of organic potting soil be ok, or I there something magical about MG?
> Thanks


There is no magic. Diana Walstad used her own garden soil for years before trying Miracle Grow. She tried Miracle Grow, it worked, she wrote about it, and it went viral. It is a fairly uniform and widely available product, which is an attractive thing when trying to recommend an approach that works for most people. Diana Walstad also liked the relatively "cool" (low) values in its fertilizer analysis: 0.10 - 0.05 - 0.05. I have had trouble finding other pre-mixed organic mixes with values that low. I also think it doesn't matter *that* much, especially if you do the "mineralize your soil" thing.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Not only is Miracle Grow Organic Choice not magic, it actually has predictable problems when used without preparation. Read the sticky in this forum, "Suitable soils for the Walstad method" for more information.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Michael said:


> Not only is Miracle Grow Organic Choice not magic, it actually has predictable problems when used without preparation. Read the sticky in this forum, "Suitable soils for the Walstad method" for more information.


I agree. I've seen countless issues where miracle grow soil either became anaerobic and killed plants, or released a lot of ammonia and killed or damaged them that way. It is not the best soil type to use. The "cooler" soils are better as you say Matt.


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

I used EarthGro top soil in the red bag I got at lowes or homedepot, think it is sold at walmart too but my walmart didn't have it. It seemed hot initially, but once rinsed well a few times and let air out it was fine, mostly humus. I think it had urea in it or it had absorbed some ammonia from the manure it was stored with, I am not sure, but it didn't have to be mineralized near as much as MG and a 1/4 inch layer in a 30g only gave off 1ppm ammonia that quickly dropped. I put some in my 10g unmineralized and ammonia only ever got to .5ppm.


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## arul (Mar 11, 2014)

For my first tank, I used Garden Pro topsoil from Lowe's. For my second tank, I used Scotts Premium topsoil from Home Depot. 

While both are good, I would prefer Scotts to Garden Pro because Scotts has fewer number of sticks and twigs than Garden Pro.


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