Kellogg's soil

[spike]

I haven't used this much before as I think it's limited to only some states. I know someone who does and their plants grow fine in it, but I've also heard that Kellogg's puts biosolids (sewage) into the soil. I have seen mixed opinions. Particularly wondering about the cactus mix and the amend, which are the ones I'll use the most. OMRI lists both. Did they stop putting sewage into the soil? I bought some amend and it kind of smelled but I put it in the ground anyways. What are your experiences? Also some good recommendations for alternatives?

https://www.omri.org/mfg/kgp/certificate/3472

Edited March 15, 2022 by spike

[mnorell]

You say you have "heard" that they put sewage into this product (Kellogg's Organic Gromulch 2-in-1 Planting Mix & Mulch Organic Plus), but the ingredients Kellogg's lists on their website are as follows: "Recycled forest products, aged arbor fines, composted dairy manure, composted poultry manure, dehydrated poultry manure, feather meal"  and yet if they were to omit any included human sewage from this listing I think they would be committing a gross violation of law. 

I personally use Kellogg's organic cactus/palm mix at our house in Rancho Mirage (greater Palm Springs), which I amend with additional pumice and coco-mulch, et al. I think it is an excellent medium and far, far better in my own opinion than the Miracle-Gro cactus mix sold in California (which I consider completely unacceptable for the stated purpose).

[Silas_Sancona]

Used their cactus mix once or twice in the past.. resulting losses using it spurred me to start mixing my own soil, which hasn't failed me yet.. Except when i used wayy too much fine sand, and not enough Turface / or Pumice for a few things..

Best " Bagged " soil mix to use as a base mix, Jungle Gro  .. Still a shame it isn't produced any more..  Would never use it for cacti / succulent stuff though. Too much organics.

[mnorell]

I just did some quick research on this topic and apparently if the product is approved by OMRI for organic agriculture, it cannot contain any sewage sludge/biosolids. This is a USDA regulation related to organic agriculture. Apparently Kellogg has or does still sell at least one product that contains sewage sludge, the most discussed being Nitrohumus, although I'm not finding it listed online so they may have halted production, renamed it, or shifted away from consumer to industrial use only. Other articles have stated that Kellogg has used sludge in their "Amend" product, but that product is OMRI certified and the product's current composition-statement explicitly assigns the sources of its manures/composts to things other than human waste. It's hard to say when things have been changed due to public outcry, negative press and/or exposure of damaging scientific data...but the fact is that the USDA forbids sewage sludge/biosolids in the organic food production cycle. So I think a decent guideline is to remember that "organic" on the bag only means non-synthetic sources; and to look up these products on the OMRI site and look at the data-sheet and the approval status before you buy.

[5am]

Seems like the place to document my results with Kellogg soil. Here's a before & after of S. minor after 1 year 8 months in Kellogg raised bed and potting mix.

Aug 27, 2022 - 3 gal straight from the nursery and planted into a very large pot.

April 30, 2024 - Newest leaf is 50" wide and 26" tall.

[PalmatierMeg]

For the past couple years I've used Kellogg green striped bagged garden soil from HD for my potted palms and aroids. I like that it is coarse and loose and doesn't turn to black muck a la Miracle Gro soils (all of them) that monopolize garden centers.

But - I don't use any garden soil solo anymore. I mix the Kellogg with reconstituted block coco coir and perlite: 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 to loosen it up even more. I've seen a marked improvement in plant health since I dumped the Miracle Gro garbage and added coco coir to my list. Still, it seems I find a garden soil I like then it disappears from stores only to be replaced by another MG product. There should be an anti-trust suit coming sometime.

[Silas_Sancona]

17 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

There should be an anti-trust suit coming sometime.

Amen to this

Not sure if you'd ever used it before it was yanked from the big box store shelves but the " Jungle Growth " soil was exceptional.. Chunky, but drained perfectly ..yet still retained moisture well. 

Would order by the pallet if still available.

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Amen to this

Not sure if you'd ever used it before it was yanked from the big box store shelves but the " Jungle Growth " soil was exceptional.. Chunky, but drained perfectly ..yet still retained moisture well. 

Would order by the pallet if still available.

I believe I used it a while back. It didn't last long at the BBs. There are numerous others, all gone now. At least in SWFL

[Merlyn]

I bought a bag of the Kellogg "Raised Garden and Potting Mix" a while back.  The mix in my bag was about 50/50 shredded small mulch bits and some sandy stuff.  As @PalmatierMeg mentioned, it seems fairly chunky and doesn't immediately turn to muck.  I also used it as about 1/3 of my potting mix.  The rest is currently Turface MVP (since bulk perlite is expensive again), some of my yard sandy soil, some small pine bark nuggets, and a bit of cypress mulch.  To be honest, the Kellogg $10 for 2cuft bags are functionally about the same as the Timberline brand "topsoil" bags at $2.50 for 1cuft.  The only issue with the Timberline stuff is that *usually* it is finely shredded small mulch and some sandy stuff.  But sometimes the bags are twice as heavy and filled with sludgy sandy muck.  So if I stop off to buy some potting mix I'll check the bags to make sure they are fairly lightweight before buying.  That way I'm sure that I'll get mostly lightweight contents that I can easily mix with perlite or Turface to get a good-draining mix.

[Silas_Sancona]

On 5/4/2024 at 2:49 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

I believe I used it a while back. It didn't last long at the BBs. There are numerous others, all gone now. At least in SWFL

Disappeared from the shelves here around the same time as well.. 

Their website is still up with a " Coming Soon " attached  but, ..like GroStones, i'd bet they went out of business and abandoned their website.

...A shame since it should've been  Miracle - garbage  that got the axe years ago.