Three Bags of Sand – I purchased 3x50 litre bags of this potting mix. What a ripoff this potting mix has about the same effect as repotting my plants with Perth sand. Giving this product 1 star is far higher than it should be rated Show details
Worst of weeds in their potting mix – Potting mix has oxalis bulbs or seeds. This a mongrel weed to eliminate from your pots and garden. Composting system is inadequate, I will no longer be using this product brand or recommending it on my Instagram account. Show details
Fungus gnats n potting mix – Bought a 50lt bag to repot my indoor plants beginning of spring. All repotted plants were taken needed with fungus gnats. My house was full of the horrible little bugs. I soaked all pot plants with econeem oil solution twice & sprayed plants; added gnat buster mix to pots & also added the little mini insect indoor pot traps. Four months later second installation of mini pot traps & still battling to get rid of them. NOT HAPPY. Show details
Reviews with attachments
Osmocote's "no-soil" potting mix – This potting mix is just mulch - no soil at all. The plants I planted in it are failing to thrive, yellowing & frail, & drying out rapidly in the summer heat. It's supposed to be 'premium' but is exactly the same consistency as the cheaper Bunnings Premium Potting mix, which is also just mulch. The osmocote is $3/25L a bag more expensive for absolutely no advantage. Wasting my time, my money & my effort. Show details
Bag of fungus gnats! – Purchased a new bag of Scott’s Osmocote Premium Potting Mix to repot house plants. Shortly after repotting, all the repotted plants had fungus gnats which previously they did not have. Also tiny mushrooms sprouted in potting mix of the repotted plants. I only used the purchased potting mix and did not add anything to it. A few plants that were not repotted now have fungus gnats too! What a mess, don’t buy this product. Show details
Don't buy, it's nothing but wood chips – This is the absolute worst potting mix I have ever encountered. There is literally no soil in this mix. There is nothing but large bits of wood chips which dry out so fast you need to water plants twice a day. We bought 40 x 50L bags for two new large concrete pots. They are massive pots and this was a big expense. Overnight some sort of fungus… Read more
and/or mould has circled our basil plant, which looks like somebody spewed on the garden bed. We also found some glass in this mix, which needless to say is darn right dangerous. If I could give this product a zero rating I would. I will never buy this brand again. Additionally, the private overseas company who makes or imports this product (lovethegarden dot com ) have disabled their social media accounts so you can't contact them directly for complaints or feedback.
These grubs are eating the roots of my seedlings and killing them – The bag has a lot of grubs in it that look like lawn grubs. I have taken photos of the bag and the grubs
Recent reviews
A bag of Wood chips – Very dissatisfied and disappointed when I opened up the bag earlier to find barely any soil however lots of wood chips! How on earth can this be a premium potting mix! Given the price I will never use this inferior product again. Show details
Bag of bark – More like Premium bark mix. Hardly any soil. Nothing premium about that, but the nonsense price you pay. I shouldn't have to buy seed and cutting mix to get normal potting soil.
Plastic and rubbish mix – Found a lot of rubbish in the most recent bags, pieces of plastic and a huge rusty nail. Not sure where this mix is coming from, but it should not contain rubbish
Disappointed in what used to to be a great product – Have been buying this product for years but this year when I purchased 3 bags to plant up new roses could not believe it when I opened the bags. Full of bark, wood and rubbish very little soil. Don’t know what has happened to this great product. Had to dump the lot and used as mulch in the garden. Have now purchased a different product which is really good. Such a shame, price gone up for a bad product. Show details
Fungus – Have been using Osmocote Premium potting mix for years and have never had a problem. But, I have 3 pots on my front patio that take almost 3 x 50 litre bag to fill each one. I replaced the soil just before Christmas (2023) and the plants struggled from the start. I was watering one day and found a lot of fungus growing which overtook the entire… Read more
pot. 6 months later, the fungus is still growing. I’ve just emptied one pot into the garbage bin and there was fungus growing in the bottom of the pot and the top soil? was like cement to a depth of around 30cms. At $16 a bag I don’t think I will be using this potting mix to refill these pots. First photo was taken on the 5/1/24 so it only took about three weeks to start growing
No problems for me , Plants love it – I really have not had any problems with this ( am I one of the fortunate ones ? ) I put it into pots and also to prepare the ground for a new plant . I add a small amount of chicken manure to the mix and water with sea-sol . never had a problem and the plants have grown beautifully. I had five bags and all were a good smelling moist mix with no… Read more
rocks or big pieces of bark . The only downside has been the price is a bit high. Product purchased at bunnings in Perth
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Terrible potting mix – This potting mix is the worst I have ever purchased. Nothing but sand. When it dries it hardens. Will never ever buy this again. They need to remove the word premium from the bag because it's far from that. Show details
Rock hard – We are at Bunnings almost every weekend and purchase so much of this potting mix. The amount of bark has increased significantly, however what has prompted me to write a review was the almost 20 cm long ROCK, weighing 3kgs that was in the top of the bag. What are we paying for? It certainly isn’t potting mix! Show details
Disgusting smell – Purchased a 25L bag of Osmocote premium potting mix a couple of days ago to pot up some indoor plants well the smell is absolutely rank had to put the pots outside as the stench in the house was unbearable. They still stink outside, l don't know if l should buy another brand of mix and repot them or not. I know l won't be happy if they die in this mix and l won't be buying Osmocote again after this. Show details
A con, nothing but bark – I bought several bag from Bunnings. It’s just mulch. No soil in it at all. I assume something when wrong in the manufacture. It’s useless as potting mix. And too heavy to return to Bunnings. Be assure I’ll never buy anything from Osomocote again. Show details
Hi Suzanne, We are sad to hear that you did not have a… Read more (+2 replies)
Oh dear… – I keep miniature African violets, not the bigger ones, so naturally my pots are smaller, too. This potting mix compacts down and dries out very quickly, too. I don’t mind the drying out, but I’m not a fan of the compacting at all. I’m going to try mixing the potting mix with a little perlite to open it up and aerate it. Disappointed I have to do… Read more
this, as no so-call premium Osmocote potting mix is cheap and this one is no exception. The nutrient levels seem fine, BUT this will probably change once I add perlite to correct the compacting issues,
Not your greatest hit, Scott’s. Very disappointed.
I wish we had more choice of African violet potting mixes in Australia. There are so few on the market the corporations can fob us off with any old rubbish, sadly.
Wood chips! – Seriously? Scotts Osmocote Premium Potting Mix? If this is premium, I'd hate to see the budget edition. Wood chips, stained a nice brown colour. $14 at Bunnings. Not cheap. Even dearer when my seedling just shriveled up and died in it. Wont touch another Scotts product ever again, feel so ripped off and treated with contempt. Show details
Osmocote premium potting mix – Have bought this product previously with no issues. Purchased 5 bags from Bunnings Mackay Nov 2023. Never been more disappointed in a product in my life. Actually looks like mulch . .no soil....but plenty of woodchips. Can't imagine anything growing in it. Will not be purchasing your potting mix again. Ridiculous!! Show details
MORE LIKE TANBARK – I bought a 50 litre bag of Scotts Osmocote Premium Potting Mix a month ago, at Bunnings, to pot up summer annuals and repot several potted palnts. I should have realised, when I moved the bag, that it was as stiff as a board. However, having used this "premium" mix before, I didn't think much of it. Two weeks after potting I had to replace the… Read more
potted seedlings, the geraniums are sick, the repotted plant died, and I'm nursing a wilting fuchsia in a hanging basket - the potting mix is rock hard and I had trouble poking a steel chopstick into the "soil" to try to aerate them - It's complete rubbish! I complained about it the next time I went to Bunnings and was told that there had been a lot of complaints about the product - the staff member also recommended another brand which was soft and pliable.
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Very smelly and mouldy – I started to pot a few seedling pots a few days ago and was wondering why my Osmocote premium potting mix smelt so bad. Well finally went out to repot some more vegetable seedlings and tore the bag open wider for easier access. I can not believe the mould in the bag on the mix, it is disgusting. Last year I had an issue where a 50 litre bag only… Read more
filled a 45 litre pot 3/4 of the way. I almost didn't buy Osmocate potting mix again, but thought I would give it another go as it used to be a good potting mix. After seeing this mouldy bag I won't be buying it again or recommending it at that. No wonder the bag smelt like it had been made using sewerage or toxic waste. Total waste of money and unusable.
Find out how Scotts Osmocote Premium Potting Mix compares to other Garden Maintenance Products
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Good quality potting mix – I bought a couple of bags of Osmocotes potting mix. I've been repotting my pot plants with it. I'm very happy with it. It's a dense water holding mix that the plants will do well in. It's good value for money at under $10 a 25L bag. I'll be purchasing it again.
Absolute RRubbish – I bought osmocote tomato vegetable and herb for a tomato plant I used 3/4 of a bag into a 40 ml pot the mix had mushrooms thick twigs and lumps of something solid?. I was disgusted with it so I went to another store Disco’s in my Eliza, I bought a bag of there veg compost I will no longer buy any garden products from Bunnings. Show details
Total disappointment – I just purchased 50L of Rose, Gardenia & Azalea Premium Potting Mix which is supposed to have an Acidic PH of 4.8-5.8 which would have been perfect for my Blueberry Bushes. Unfortunately a soil test of the potting mix returned a PH reading of 8.5-9.0 and now I have to add sulphur and wait for some 6-8 weeks to find out if the PH is at the correct level for my blueberries.
It used to be absolutely brilliant – Bought this rubbish several times and it was absolutely amazing. Now its pure junk. Do not buy, seedlings will germinate but thats it, grown plants will go yellow and die. Seriously scotts stuffed up the best mix you could buy. Show details
They sure did! It used to be the absolute best and i recommend it to everyone. Not anymore
Wasted my money …Beware NOT PREMIUM – I previously had brought Osmocote premium potting mix from Bunnings and recommended it to everyone but not anymore I was VERY DISAPPOINTED upon opening the bag you could see the difference …now its just like the cheaper brand ones I have brought in the past …Now the mixture is nothing like the previous ones, just full of rubbish…I thought I… Read more
would try it and I have used half the bag but I feel it would be a waste of time using anymore because every pot I have planted up has not showed hardly any growth after 3 weeks , compared to previous Osmocote premium potting mix you could see the growth very quickly…So disappointing…We are on the pension and I encouraged my husband to buy the large bag so we can grow some vegetables and flowers in pots even though it’s more expensive just under $15 ….but I may as well saved our money and brought the cheapest one as I cannot see any difference in either potting mix so perhaps if Osmocote wants future business they should change back to the previous formula , please people don’t waste your money on this supposedly premium potting mix check out the reviews first, I will definitely read reviews in future not happy Osmocote. …Tweed Heads NSW
Garbage – This brand used to be my "go to" but I won't be using any of it anymore. They've changed the ingredients and it's just pure garbage. It's just different grades of woodchips. It doesn't retain any moisture, it somehow dries out while simultaneously going mouldy!?? And becomes hydrophobic. I'm going to have to repot half my plants now!!! Show details
Absolute rubbish product stay clear of buying – This mix is around 85% wood chips, so much so that any seedlings that do start to grow cannot gain a foot hold to hold themselves upright. How do these products meet any kind of standards in Australia? There needs to be rules set in place for a minimum amount of actual soil in these mixes. Scotts, you should be ashamed of your company for… Read more
ripping off consumers. Just shameful the way they load these products up with trash wood that has no impact in growing plants at all.
Full of fungus gnats – I bought 10 bags of this product, thinking it would be a premium potting mix. It is full of cheap woodchips and doesn't hold water. My garden is now full of fungus gnats, huge ones, I have had to use fly spray. Don't buy this garbage! Show details
Full of pieces of rubbish – I can’t begin to say how disappointed I am with this garbage product. We recently invested in 10 bags (which took a LOT of saving) and ended up with bonus rubbish in every bag. Not only did we find pieces of glass, plastic and electrical wire in *every single bag* as it was emptied - but the entire composition seems to be nothing but mulched… Read more
green waste! It’s nothing but broken up bark and wood chips - with no sand/soil component to speak of! I can get wood chips for FREE - I was supposed to be paying for a PREMIUM potting mix! So utterly disappointed- all the bags have been opened and put into our raised garden bed - it’s not something I can ‘bring back into store for a refund’. I cannot express what anger and disappointment I feel after the purchase of this rubbish. A complete and utter waste of money.
We also purchased 8 bags of the vegetable mix. God knows what we’re going to find in that ‘premium’ product!
Disappointed with this inferior product – I’m another person who wishes they had read these reviews before they filled a new vegepod and lots of pots with this stuff. I purchased 20 bags so I’m very disappointed with the waste of money, time and effort dragging all these bags home. After 4 weeks the mix has compacted significantly so the pots are not filled adequately and I’ve had to add… Read more
compost and fertiliser as my veggies were looking quite sad. I’m now on the hunt for potting mix that really is ‘premium’ quality.
Poor inferior product - would not recommend – How can this product be labelled as 'premium'. I wish l had read the reviews first. The product is more like mulch. I purchased 3 bags / $30. I've used Aldi potting mixx and its far superior. I'm not sure why Bunnings stocks this mix. I wish Scotts would look at their mix and improve it. Quality is down. Price is up. Show details
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What are you adding to the premium potting mix? – I bought a Scotts Premium Potting Mix bag. I started planting when I noticed there are small pebble-like rough and porous structures in the soil? This does not look like little pebbles, it is not perlite either. I washed some to try to work out what they are, some actually float! The bag has enough of this material to make me think it is not a… Read more
small contamination, but rather part of the mixture. Please specify what these things are, I have stopped planting for fear it could be building material, something I do not expect to find in 'Naturally Powerful Organic Based Potting Mix'. I have added images. I await for your reply.
Little black flys – While soil is good quality and my indoor plant's grow well my house is now infested with these tiny little black flys Show details
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To make matters worse, there's now a fungus growing under one of my tomato plants and my parsley… Read more