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New Magnolia Bulk Soil
 It is important for us going ahead to try continue to fine tune our business to challenge industry standards when we think things could be done better. One of the standards in the nursery business that has always bothered me is the use of plastic bagged soil. Most consumers are not aware of the cost of the plastic bag that holds your soil, but when you calculate materials and man power to bag into the process, you end up paying as much as 40% of the retail cost for that plastic bag that you throw right into the garbage when you are done. In the 25 years I've been a nursery professional soil the cost of soil has doubled, and much like the sizes of cereal boxes at the grocery store, the packaging is shrinking so you're getting less product than ever. The good news is that we think we have a solution for these issues- as of this week we will now be selling our own selection of Magnolia soils. How will we sell it? We have no aspirations of turning into a bulk soil lot with Bobcats zipping around and semi trucks being loaded for delivery. We will be selling our soil by nursery standard 5 and 15 gallon cans. Most bagged soils these days come in a 1.5 cubic foot bag which is the same cubic feet as a 15 gallon nursery can and 5 gallon cans are basically 1/3rd of a bag of soil. To get the best value, we ask the customers to bring their own containers, for the biggest cost for us will be the containers if we ever have to get to the point of buying new ones in.
The Magnolia Potting Soil we now provide is the type of soil you might spend $15 on if it were in a bag. Here is the breakdown:
40% dark fir bark fines
20% organic compost
10% peat moss
10% coconut coir
10% sand
10% pumice
Plus an organic fertilizer from Hendrikus organics that provides micronutrients and a full spectrum of mycorrhiza bacteria.
We came up with this formulation by basically hybridizing a few of the potting soils we like and adding the mycorrhiza package which we have found to be beneficial to root development and plant vigor as well drought tolerance for plants. Magnolia Potting soil is nice and spongy- easy to work with, and it holds water quite well. For starts, this is our prototype potting soil that we can fine tune going forward.
We will also be offering a seasonal soil as well. For the fall, we were interested in a rich soil to used as a mulch in the fall, to add to your top soil to create better success during the next growing season. The perfect time to use this product is right before our first rain into the early wet season. Our hope is that Our Magnolia Fall Boost can be diluted into the soil and provide a richer soil going forward. Here is its breakdown:
30% dark fir bark fines
25% Nitrified sawdust
30% organic compost
10% organic poultry manure
5% organic worm castings
Once again we will value customer feedback on fine tuning this product going forward. Through October we be offering a free gallon of your choice of our soils with purchase.
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Magnolia Soils
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With pot per gallon (price for 15 gallons of soil)
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Without pot (price for 15 gallons of soil)
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Magnolia Potting
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$.75 ($11.25)
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$.55 ($8.25)
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Magnolia fall boost
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$.70 ($10.50)
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$.40 ($6.00)
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