If they Hyponex has worked for you in the past, why change? You have been able to use the product in a successful way for you and your plants. Don't let some bad reviews (I wonder how many very satisfied customers are out there who don't comment or post) change your habits unless you detect a problem in your own garden. "Thick goopy mess" sounds like the medium was too wet. Also, it should be a soilless potting mix. Soil compacts in pots.

I use MiracleGro Organic Choice Potting Mix.

What is the diameter of the pots? 1/8" doesn't sound like a large hole to me, I prefer 1/2" - 3/4".

This post was edited by diane_nj on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 14:20

I have used many kinds of potting soil from the cheapest to the most expensive. For the most part they all worked just fine. I used Hyponex for years because it was available cheaply at my local hardware store nd never had any problems with it. I switched over to Stay Green from Lowes because I could get it in bigger bags cheaper. Now I'm using Miracle Grow because it's even a bigger bag for cheaper at Costco. I buy what's economical and available because I use such huge quantities of the stuff.

Diane & seil, thanks for your responses. The Hyponex I used definitely didn't look soil-less to me, but it didn't seem to get compacted in the pot. Water drained well. I'll have to see if shipments of other potting soils come in this week. If not, I'll have to stick to what's available.

Diane, the diameter of the container I bought is 17" at the top & 10" at the base, and about 16" high. So if 8 little holes aren't sufficient, is it safe to drill a plastic pot?

I would check the pot materials to make sure it isn't too brittle, but in general, it should be OK to drill larger holes in the pot.

I drill extra drainage holes in all my pots. If you're worried about cracking the pot put an "X" of masking tape both on the inside and outside of the pot where you want to drill and that should help prevent cracking. I even drill ceramic pots this way and have never had one crack.

Brilliant, seil. I'll try the masking tape. Thanks.

I've grown roses in containers for many yrs. When we lived in the mobile home park about 15yrs ago, ALL of my roses were grown in pots. I knew at some point we would be moving to a real house and didn't want to have to dig them up (or leave them). Little did I know it would be nearly 11yrs before we'd get out of there. We moved over 600 roses in pots! It was crazy!

I've worked in the Lawn & Garden Dept at one of the largest Ace Hardware stores in Northern CA for almost 24yrs. We used to carry Hyponex products but over the yrs we've gotten all sorts of other brands, including Miracle-Gro. I only use our own brand of Ace Potting Soil. Every Ace gets their soil products from different suppliers by region, so not all will be exactly the same. Ours come from a place called Redi-Gro in Sacramento. Their potting soil is composted organic "forest products" with peat moss and a little bit of perlite, and maybe some lime or something like that. It works really well for me.

I never use Miracle-Gro soils because I don't like using fertilizer when I first plant the roses. Also, DO NOT use any of the soils that contain water-holding agents. Miracle-Gro Moisture Control is one we carry that I would never use! It sounds good having the time-release water-holding granules mixed in there, but after a time, they settle to the bottom of the pots and hold a lot of water in the bottom, and tend to rot. That may be what others were referring to in the Hyponex soils. They might've added the water-holding granules to some of their soils. If you've never seen the stuff, it's really weird. The granules are tiny little white specks. When you put them in a cup of water, they absorb the water and can grow to hundreds of times their size. One of the guys at work placed a teaspoon in a 16oz plastic drinking cup and kept adding water. The granules grew to these transparent gelatinous chunks well over 1/4" a piece and were practically spilling out the top of the cup. If he'd have put them in a bigger cup, and added more water, they would've kept growing. You figure they probably put several teaspoons of this stuff in a big bag of soil and that can become a big blob of goo.

I buy separate water crystals, and add them to all my pots. Without them, I had to water the front window boxes almost every day. That didn't happen. With them, the window boxes can go a week without watering.

Beth, I've never noticed white specks in the Hyponex. I wonder if there are different formulas for the west coast vs the east coast.

Actually the water-holding granules swell and disappear into the soil when mixed in. You won't even see them once they're in there. The soil will be moist-er than regular potting soil. I don't know that Hyponex has them in their soil, but if someone is reviewing the soil and saying it's a "thick goopy mess" it just made me think maybe they have a soil version like MIracle-Gro's Moisture Control one that does have it. I'm sure some people will find using those crystals work for them, as mad_gallica mentions. I personally don't like using that kind of soil mix. Simple potting soil with a little perlite for drainage works best for my potted roses. I might also mention I used to add an organic compost to my soil mixes; there again a blend made for our regional Ace Hardwares; and I found after a time, it also settled to the bottom of the pots and got all rotten (wet and smelly) when I'd get around to pulling them out to plant in the ground. Some of those roses were in the big plastic pots for 6-8yrs. Now I only add organic compost to the surface of roses in the ground to break up my hard clay soil. But potted ones... not any more!