Scotts is just as bad. Anything that supports the petrochemical fertilizer industry is doing the world net harm, including much of what that these companies market such as chemical wonder solutions/concoctions to people to solve all their problems while bypassing normal ways of taking care of your soil like nature has been designed for. These companies are like the aggressive pharmaceutical companies of today that market you medicine to fix your ailments while not giving a care in the world about how or why these ailments actually game to be. It's all about band aid fixes, securing their market long term, and getting the user addicted while not fixing the root cause of a problem. For example, instead of just keeping your lawn (and I'm not a fan of extensive lawns, they kill of ecological activity and waste water but) healthy by encouraging positive biological activity in it by adding compost, by aerating, and mowing high to choke out weeds, or by adding compost tea to inoculate with beneficial organisms, etc to increase its intrinsic health), they market chemicals like fungicides, weed killers, and herbicides as a quick-fix solution that pollutes our soil and water and doesn't solve the root problem (unhealthy soil/soil ecology - think of this as the equivalent to your immune system). They want this - and people convince themselves they want this - because it's a quick bandaid fix requiring little effort (yet exponential relative cost). The person likes it because they would rather pay money than fix the root cause and the company likes it because rather than fixing the root cause, it keeps the customer coming back for more. The side effect is polluted water ways and soil. Carcinogens and untested chemicals in our environment can also be a side effect. There's a reason they put yellow flags up when people spread pesticides on lawns. It's toxic. There is so much glyphosphate (Roundup) in our environment (mostly from agrobiz, granted, yet think about how many gallons of the stuff get bought by individuals every day) that it is literally raining down on us with the rain in some places, and leaching into water ways to disturb the chemical balance that we and the ecosystems of these places rely on to live. The companies that support this stuff don't care, and they just tell you that it's fine, but when there are such high concentrations of anything, "toxic" or not, it is bad. Not to mention The irreparable damage these companies do by mining peat moss, one of the slowest growing things on earth, out to put in your soil that you buy at Home Depot. Yes, they'll tell you it's sustainable, because it's their business, and "sustainable" is thrown around by all these guys to mean basically anything they want aside from what it actually means. Meanwhile we have plentiful abundances of food waste that could be turned into soil amendments to take the place of peat moss. Peatlands are one of the most threatened and valuable assets that our planet has to offer. They are unique places harboring particular rare ecosystems and flora/fauna. Don't forget the millions of gallons of fossil fuels they use to power their gigantic industrial peat miners. This stuff is getting shipped from far away all over the world. Meanwhile we have food waste in every local community around the world that would bypass what is literally the devastation of our planet. These companies like Scott's and Miracle Gro are literally destroying the place we live in. And the worst part is that there are easier ways to solve the problems that they market towards - easier ways that are much better for the end result in all ways, which are healthy plants and healthy soil at a fraction of the cost which will produce what the end user is looking for - success and long term solutions.

Your mileage may vary, but I plant all of my rose wraps (Burrito Method) in it. Those planted in the coir product this year worked well. Those planted in the "organic" blend containing "landfill material", did NOT. But, again, I have extreme evaporation here. There is no summer rain. There is almost constant wind of low humidity. There is extreme UV, to the point where roses and hibiscus sinensis REQUIRE some protection from the direct, all day sun or the foliage burns. If you don't have those kinds of extremes, and if you receive rains so your pots don't dry out in a day, you may not need, nor even benefit from it. Too much fertilizer? I don't think so. I think the issue is the amount of moisture it retains and the humidity and moisture of your conditions/location.

That is a bummer. Heard it often here this year. I wish they would mark those bags better! It says on the garden soil bags that it isn't for use in containers but it is small print easily overlooked and many have fallen into the same trap you have - discovering its problems only AFTER they planted. I assume you know that there is much better (and cheaper) stuff than MG that's available for your WS containers? Dave

If that's the case if you want to put some high quality stuff in in the first place. Biochar, mushroom compost or horse manure compost are some of the things I add for new soil mix, aside from making my own leaves compost and worm casting. I would avoid MiracleGro unless you like fungus gnats taking over your garden. And avoid the Home Depot inhouse brand "Vigoro", it is junk, I wasted a lot money on that stuff when I started. It now take up space in the lowest depth of my raised beds. Even though I didn't intend to till, I ended up having to because there are trees growing around and their roots invade the beds and stealing the nutrients, so you may want to keep that in mind.