Frozen Pro-mix?

kajlo34 · March 5, 2012

Long story short, the Rona lady sold me two of the 3.8 cu.ft bags (bales?) of Pro-Mix BX for $10 each :) They're normally $28 each, so I couldn't turn it down. The one downside (and reason for the price drop) is that they were open-bagged (just one side on one bag, and a smallish hole on the other; no missing soil even) and scanned as "discontinued". Because they were stored in the "closed for the season" greenhousy section, they were completely frozen. Some sections of the exposed areas actually had visible ice, and the weight proved this. Getting them into my car by myself was a definite chore...

Anyways, I know that soil in gardens *obviously* freezes naturally every year and is perfectly fine to use in the spring, but I'm more worried about nutrient loss from runoff during the thaw than the actual freezing process (I'm not sure how wet the open bags got before freezing). Therefore, my question is: Could there be any significant nutrient loss within the mix? If I use it for growing seedlings, would they need some extra fertilizer at some point?

If the consensus is that it will be unaffected and pretty much exactly like brand-new unopened/unfrozen Pro-Mix, I may have to go back and convince her to sell me the other two bags for my new raised beds ;)

March 5, 2012	#1
kajlo34 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 4	Frozen Pro-mix? Long story short, the Rona lady sold me two of the 3.8 cu.ft bags (bales?) of Pro-Mix BX for $10 each :) They're normally $28 each, so I couldn't turn it down. The one downside (and reason for the price drop) is that they were open-bagged (just one side on one bag, and a smallish hole on the other; no missing soil even) and scanned as "discontinued". Because they were stored in the "closed for the season" greenhousy section, they were completely frozen. Some sections of the exposed areas actually had visible ice, and the weight proved this. Getting them into my car by myself was a definite chore... Anyways, I know that soil in gardens obviously freezes naturally every year and is perfectly fine to use in the spring, but I'm more worried about nutrient loss from runoff during the thaw than the actual freezing process (I'm not sure how wet the open bags got before freezing). Therefore, my question is: Could there be any significant nutrient loss within the mix? If I use it for growing seedlings, would they need some extra fertilizer at some point? If the consensus is that it will be unaffected and pretty much exactly like brand-new unopened/unfrozen Pro-Mix, I may have to go back and convince her to sell me the other two bags for my new raised beds ;)