Has anyone used Garden Pro potting soil? I have been using it this summer since it was the only brand I could find easily that does not have fertilizer in it. I'm kind of wondering now if it is any good. My plants seem to be doing OK from what I can tell. This is my first year, so I am no expert. I looked around for some of the brands mentioned here with no luck. All the stores, even the big nursery's just have Scotts, MG, and other brands that have fertilizer added. This Garden Pro stuff seems to have many of the ingredients I see mentioned here a lot. I am just curious to see if anyone has an opinion on this stuff.

http://www.coastalsupplyinc.com/gpsoils.htm

Hi 71 GTO,
I have not seen that here.
But buy what you feel is best and be happy !

What i have experienced below if your curious.
Whats worked for me growing my plants ?

Just about any bagged potting mix i could buy with and without fertilizer to me at the time did not matter as i fertilize anyways with miracle grow mixed in water on top of any thing in that bag stuff.

I know it may seem unconventional to some but thats how i did it and have shown pictures of my plants here.

Past winter when i root pruned a bunch they went into my own mix to save a little expense and from here on in i make my own and the ones in it i see no difference than any of the bag stuff i used in past weather its UPM, Scotts premium, Miracle Grow, Jungle Growth, etc etc.

I have Sultane and Rouge de Bordeaux in a heavier mix i made up than the previous one when they were in smaller pots and shown pictures of them .

Not bragging and i by far no fig expert.
They basically grow by themsleves with a little care its not me.  

You can get premier pro mix at co op growers on rt 206 in tabernacle as well as other premium potting mixes and nursery supplies. They have the best prices I can find for it, about $30. Probably a 30-40 min drive for you.  http://coopgrowers.com/

I'm with Martin use what works best that is availlable to you.
And IMO that soil looks good as long as it doesn't have too much compost.
What are you using for fertilizer?

Thanks guys, I'll check out that coop place 40 min isnt to bad. Jim how do I know if it has to much compost? I used osmocote and maybe watered it with some MG usually weak MG on older trees. The first year new trees I only used diluted MG a few times. I also Added lime some of them

The compst has a tendency to break down and if there is too much the soil will get mushy and not drain well.
If you slide one of the plants out of its pot and it looks like muck there is too much compost.
Fertilizer sounds good I have had very good success over the years with slow release fert.

Thanks, I havnt seen anything like that when I up potted.

I agree with Martin and others. Doesn't seem to matter which brand you use, especially if you amend a heavier soil with Perlite and or vermiculite. Pootting soil with fertilizer like MG is ok too. I would prefer not to use it for cuttings though. If you must, cut it by at least 50% perlite, but be sure it too does not contain fertilizer as I read somewhere on this forum that certain brands do.  

Thanks guys i guess it can't hurt to experiment and try other brands if I can find good ones, but it's good to know this one is ok too and it's priced right!

I used the GardenPro, as it too was the only one I could find without fertilizer built in.  I would say I used 50% GardenPro, 25% vermiculite or perlite depending upon what I had on hand, 25% spag. moss.  Topped the pots off with pine bark mulch.  Fertilizer was osmocote, and I did treat a few plants with epsom salt water for what I thought was a magnesium deficiency (misted the leaves, and their color perked right up & has stayed that way ever since).  I have a few that are in MG soil with the same perlite/vermiculite/sp moss ratio, and they appear to be growing at the same rate.  I found the GardenPro at Meijer and WalMart in my area.

Thanks Sara, with the Spag moss you just mix it right in or do you need to sort of shred it a bit? Also I have noticed some leaves on my trees having lighter colored leaves I wasn't sure if it was because they are young trees. I know one that was growing well, but had lighter leaves I watered with diluted MG and I think tonight i noticed some of the leaves darkening up. Maybe I need to look into this a little more?

As a note many of my figs when they were young (i grow in containers )displayed light green leaves.
 As they grow the sets start to turn darker along with fertilizing as well.

There are exceptions in my yard for quick example Zidi, Noir de Caromb etc, that are nice and green from the start i have experienced but even those have turned a shade darker green as they greew and kept that shade.

Never had a plant that i know of that displayed any nutrient deficiency except maybe water.

Inground i do not experience as i have none inground - yet.

I have only had an inground experience with this. I let grass and weeds creep up to my two new trees. They turned bright line green. I ripped out the grass and weeds fertilized with MG and the color came back and the trees took off.

That's good to know about the pots though maybe I will go around and water with diluted MG for all the trees just to help maybe and lime to. It shouldn't be to late to add lime?

71GTO....I find the spag moss in large bags, everything is compact, but you just have to work it a little to get it to crumble.  And I then just work it in to my mixture.  I came across a package of spag moss in a "live green sheet", and it said you can trim it to fit your container and water it.  When it turns brown it is dead, and you should then replace it. That is NOT the package I buy.  BTW...I don't use spag peat moss, that gets too boggy with moisture.

Cool, If I stick with the garden pro I think I will try that out.