My MIL and I bought three 55qt bags of Miracle Gro garden soil from our local BJs for use in our raised beds and every single bag had large amounts of shredded plastic throughout the soil. Some of the scrap looked like black shopping bags, some looked like wires, but the most egregious was this scrap I pulled with the words “Mountain Berry Blast” on it: a Powerade label.
I plan on calling the company and complaining about the amount of trash in their product. We took a video of us opening a fresh bag of the soil and discovering all the plastic in case they doubt that the product came that way.
I’m curious how many other people have experienced this with Miracle Gro soil products.
by OmusCinder
38 Comments
Sadly I think this is pretty common. I have had more bad experiences with the big brand bagged soil than good ones.
That’s why making your own compost is so great! Not a fan of the sifting though every year, but it is worth it!
Yeah that’s why miracle grow is for houseplants only and never for anything you actually like.
My favorite feature of inflation is where they start mixing paste into the milk to keep prices the same
I’m apprehensive to use It to fill low spots In my lawn, It’s trash (literally).
That looks like the plastic off a blue PowerAde Mountain Berry blast
So I work at a quarry and our crushed rock tends to have trash in it every once in a while. It’s always from operators/ plant guys throwing their trash on the ground thinking it’ll just disappear once it runs through the plant. It drives me crazy. I would say this is from the same lazy attitude from wherever that soil is screened and bagged at
I use multiple bags every year and have never had an issue. Maybe it’s a regional thing?
Sounds about Miracle Grow.
I won’t use that stuff. When I bought it before, there was far too much debris in it. I returned the bags I had to the store where I got them. I like the potting mix, but the garden soil is garbage.
This is an unfortunate problem with these bagged products across many brands. Most are regionally made from various waste streams so quality control is a literal mixed bag. I’ve had this sort of foreign contaminate issue with every major brand and off brand I’ve tried. Seed starting mixes are generally better controlled, potting mixes are a little worse, and then your “garden soil” products are the worst because they are going for volume at low price. I’ve even had this problem with non bagged products where I get an entire truck load delivered, but at least in that case I can take the garbage and take it back to the place and say ‘hey what the heck did you give me’ where thats tough to do with bagged products.
Very frustrating- that’s I stopped buying miracle grow years ago because of the trash in it .
Lucky you found only plastic. One time I dumped a bag in my soil that was had a shit ton of glass in it.
LUCKY I always get rubber sticks
Don’t buy that garbage. Miracle grow is trash, always has been. Only thing it’s good for is a lawn, never grow food with that shit. Go to your local nursery and buy your soil in bulk if possible.
Miracle grow and anything Monsanto produces is trash.
Its a miracle anything grows
Well, that’s because it’s trash.
It’s not just that brand – I spent all day yesterday in the garden and I had 5 bags of soil – all 5 bags had “trash” like that in them. Small pieces of plastic bags, just like that.
Yeah I’m still trying to get through 3 big bags of miracle gro that I bought 2 years ago (I have a small garden) and I always find little bits of plastic, glass, rocks and garden bits like those twisty green things
Not happy..
I got plastic and glass shards in mine!
Miracle Gro: it’s a miracle if anything grows.
I was annoyed at how many Aquafina wrappers were in mine… makes me never want to buy Aquafina again.
I can’t recommend enough not buying bagged dirt specifically.
Head for tractor supply pickup as many of their red buckets as ya can.
Head for a garden center, one who mixes their own stuff is a plus.
Tell them you’d like to get buckets filled. Your good now
I take my truck to a center get a yard of seriously good enriched stuff for $38. For reference that’s about 14-15 of those MG bags and it’s guaranteed to be better.
Edit: this same trick works for salt in the winter. $12 a 50 pound bag or $6 for a 5 gallon bucket (approx 60-80 pounds)
It’s a *miracle* you can *grow* anything in it
I’m still waiting for Miracle grow to get back to me about the 11# of metal I found in 17 bags of their garden soil. That was 2020.
I had a new cutting garden bed and wanted to top it off cheaply so I bought the bags. Haven’t bought any of their products since.
Our city collects our yard waste (fallen trees, tree trimmings, grass clippings, sticks, leaves, etc), and take it to an open compost yard where us locals can then go take whatever compost we want. They’re pretty strict about how they’ll collect these things too, but this kind of thing always gets into the mix.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they’re selling some of it for purposes like bagged garden soil or mulch. The general impression is that they collect and create more compost than the locals can use.
Let’s be real. It’s just inevitable that someone will pick up plastic in their lawn clippings or raked leaves, and put it in a yard bag for the city to collect. Nobody’s going to sort through every bag of clippings to pick this stuff out. I’d wager there’s probably more plastic in those that you don’t even recognize because plastic shopping bags will pretty well entirely melt and break down in the composting process.
I’ve found trash in it, and I stopped buying it when I realized how many fungus gnats I’d have from it, but never other brands. Unfortunately even one of the local bulk places I’ve gotten compost from has chunks of plastic trash. 🙁
https://preview.redd.it/8ixyxgjxqyug1.jpeg?width=407&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=584fd2a672b5d106554249d1b2d81993e03d94db
I find all kinds of crap in miracle grow. Shredded plastic of course. But also weeds, chunks of metal, fungi…
Even buying a few yards of high end $$ compost will be full of trash. Its sadly pervasive in the environment. I weep as I pull it out as I find it.
Just go to your local nursery. Usually you buy a decent amount for cheap.
Miracle grow sucks
I don’t usually buy Miracle Gro soils, but the raised bed mix was on sale with Lowe’s spring sale, so I bought six bags to top off my raised beds. I was surprised by how little plastic I found in it, considering how many people complain about it. It is incredibly barky, though.
Unfortunately, I’ve had plastic bits and other detritus in pretty much every brand I’ve ever tried with few exceptions. I think we are at a point with plastic that it’s near impossible to guarantee it won’t be in bagged soil or compost. I find plastic in my homemade compost, despite being very careful with what I put in there. Trash still manages to make it’s way in.
It’s a miracle if anything grows in it.
Out of 20 bags of “premium” miracle grow organic raised bed and garden soil I bought at home Depot a few years ago I found a third of a 5 gallon pail of garbage. Broken glass, chunks if bricks, pieces of plastic bags, silver foil/mylar and some nails. After it rains in that garden I still find new stuff. Terrible! On the other hand this year I went to through 5 bags of sunshine brand potting soil so far and haven’t found anything worse than a few small twigs. Even the nearly free compost the city offers is cleaner than that miracle grow garbage.
Don’t support them. I remember there is a guy that bought a shit load of dirt to prove how much plastic is in them.
Scummy practices
Dr earth or foxfarm people, quit buying that crap!