Not all soils found at Lowe's or The Home Depot are bad, but the majority are. If you must buy from these stores look for all organic soil, which means that there are no added pesticides in the bag. If it doesn't say organic (RHP certified or OMRI) you can count on it containing some sort of pesticide or herbicide. Below I have some common companies that sell potting soil sorted into bad, ok, and good categories. When I place these brands in their categories I not only look at the safety of the product, but at the reputation of the company as well.
Some Bad Companies
Miracle-Gro- Though some of their products can be ok, Miracle-Gro is a corporation in support of GMOs. They are not worthy of our support, I urge you to stop buying from this corporate giant!
Wonder Soil- This stuff is just creepy! I personally wouldn't trust any soil product that is compressed.
Jungle Growth- Again not much info provided, but the way their packages are worded, I can fairly safely assume they have some pesticides as well as some chemical fertilizer mixed in there!
Scotts- In partnership with MiracleGro, together they make up the corporation Scotts MiracleGro corporation. They own Ortho, Tomcat, and Osmocote to just name a few.
Nature's Way- They unfortunately use pesticides, and some chemical fertilizers as well, in their product.
Great Gardens- Though a great idea to compost grass clippings and stuff from all over long island, they do add chemicals and pesticides into their plastic bags of dirt.
Proven Winners- They use chemical fertilizer in their potting soil products.
Garden Pro- Due to lack of information, to be on the safe side, I'd avoid this brand. They are owned by Harvest, Harvest also owns Nature's Pride.
Ok Companies
Vigoro- Though not a great company, they do have products with no pesticides or any other chemicals in it.
Sta-Green- The safety of this product is a little iffy, and I've heard that it's a little too good at retaining moisture.
Jiffy- Not personally a fan of this large company, but the safety of the products (as long as they say organic) look fine.
Good Companies
Ecoscraps- As far as I can tell, this compost company started by two young entrepreneurs seems safe. They have no added chemicals, and (so far) haven't been bought out by any corporation.
Fox Farm- A family owned business, they say their soils are organic without any added chemicals. Their brands include Happy Frog and Bush Doctor.
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