https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pt-2-cu-ft-Potting-Soil/55502997
This is sold at every Walmart, Menards, Lowes, (Home Depot?) in my area for 16$.
At the end of the year Walmart puts 5$ on them to get rid of them just like Katy found.
Dax
Pro Mix uses coconut coir for water retention and a wetting agent of some sort.
All the Walmart’s here say “out of stock”. I can’t even order it online. Same story with Lowe’s.
I like Alan’s suggestion of 1/3 to 1/3 to 1/3. What I’ve encountered is using compost I’ll have awakened to pots on the ground with my trees tossed out of the pots. I know it’s raccoons. So, I had to stop using organics.
Katy my local Wal-mart says out of stock but they have pallets of it. I don’t know what to say.
Amazon sells the stuff but it’s ridiculous to ship at 50$ for a 2 cu. ft. bail. That’s the cheapest I saw.
Dax
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Every Walmart or Lowe’s I go to I drive through the garden area looking…haven’t seen any yet around here… I can order from Greenhouse Megastore for $39 and pay $37+ shipping. Or I can order amazon prime for $79. 
. Or I can make my own. I have a list of the ingredients——it’s just going to be putting them together right for the right price. Getting that $5 deal was really good…I got theee bales and have a third of one left. I do like the consistency though and everything I’ve put in it grows like crazy.
Found this on a different ‘gardening’ forum. Guy appeared to be having pretty good results with it.
"If you’re going fresh from scratch use this recipe.
15% peat moss, pine bark, or coco coir
35% aeration (I prefer Perlite or rice hulls but course Sand, and pumice are other options
50% composted organic matter (this could be compost, composted cow or horse manure, worm castings, leaf mold). I prefer a combination of as many different kinds of compost I can but whatever is available to you and the best quality is what you should lean on.
Neem Seed Meal or Neem Cake 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crab shell meal or shrimp shell meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Fish Bone Meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Gypsum 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Langbeinite 1/4 cup per cubic foot
Kelp meal 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Alfalfa meal 1/4 cup per cubic foot
Oyster shell flour 1/4 cup per cubic foot"
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Once in awhile I like using shell meal or flour as it contains chitin, and attracts chitin eating bacteria who often will attack grubs and even insects for their chitin. A nice organic way to control grubs. Chitin is also used in the cell walls of fungi.
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If I could get Pro Mix for $5 a bale I would snap it up and amend it.
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I bought them out and would do it again!
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The general mix with peat, no coir, is about 9 bucks here. I myself would pass if it had coir, I’m not a fan. I’m not happy with growth in coir. It’s hard to tell when dry. It’s not working for me. I need the acidity of peat too to combat the basic tap water. If peat is ever removed from the market, I will just use pine bark instead of a mix of the two.
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Isn’t that interesting, each to his own because I love coir. I switched to using straight coir for seed starting and my issues of dry plugs, fungus gnats, and general seedling health completely disappeared.
We have incredibly alkaline tap water, but I must say that I never use it to water my plants. I use melted snow all winter and rain water all summer. So maybe that has helped my success with the coir.
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I thought seeds sprouted faster in coir, but failed to grow well for me. It was the very first sign it was not for me. And I only only use rainwater for seedlings, and all house plants. I need the tap water in the summer, not the other seasons as I water so much in the summer, I use all my rainwater up fairly quick. I have to always save some for my 11 blueberry plants too.
Yeah others like it too, it just wasn’t working for whatever reason? Maybe I let it get too
dry? I find peat for seed starting much more reliable. Easy to tell when to water etc. The hydrophobic properties are easily defeated with misting before watering, if needed, if it becomes too dry. These days I use Pro-mix with peat for seed starting, it has a wetting agent, and is sterile too. You have to find what works for you. My neighbor grows pot, he uses chocolate shells/hulls I think? Some product of chocolate? As the soil for his hydroponic setup. I saw it, very impressive!
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Straight 5-1-1 gets hydrophobic too easily for me - I mean, one hot sunny day, and I have to virtually use a pressure washer to remoisten it. However, using 1 part Promix to 2 parts bark works for me.
Slight PWT issue, but outdoor containers tend to dry fast in summer heat and sunshine. The wetting agent that comes with Promix is still effective as long as it’s at least that much of the mix. If I use a fabric pot its even better.
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I like the coir. It’s in the Promix that I use for my jujube seedlings. They use the water it holds and they get dry but if I have one that is not growing or not healthy the water doesn’t get used and the “soil” stays wet. It just works well for me especially for plants that don’t need to stay moist all the time. I’ve had trouble trying to start seeds in peat only and maybe that is lack of knowledge on my part of how to mange the hatched babies.
I think it was me, just something i was doing was not right.Seems like a fairly nice product, I may have to try again in the future.
Me too, but with coir. i still managed to get the seedlings in their homes and they did fine. This year my onions are giving me problems. I’m going to rethink how I do onions next year.
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Planting in soil mixes is a little like cooking, you use what works for your own personal habits and techniques. If it works, don’t mess with it, when it doesn’t work experimenting with new methods can be useful.
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The stuff is the bomb. I quit mixing my own.
Dax
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Sounds like the compost needed more time. The stuff I use is made from leaves and lawn scraps, so even if it was a bit fresh that wouldn’t happen.
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I bought bagged.
It had to have had manure in it.
A mis-read on my part.
Dax
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I’m still learning all this but just thought I’d mention that all coir is not plants ready…some of it needs to be rinsed after rehydrating. That might play havoc with seeds and seedlings.