Costco Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix 50 Quart


Who’s ready to do some springtime gardening? With most people stuck at home during the corona-virus (COVID-19), there is no better time to get outside & tidy up the front or backyard. Grab this 50 quart bag of Miracle Gro potting mix, a few plants & get your green thumb to work (scroll down for photos)! I’m a big fan of growing fruit or vegetables, while my wife is a big fan of the succulents. This 50 quart bag will be plenty to get several plants potted, so long as the pot isn’t too big. I planted a tomato tree, that was FREE from a neighbor. SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS……..We’ve got some succulents & a tomato tree. It’s Green Zebra tomato tree, so I am excited to see how well it grows & how good they’ll taste. I’ll be sure to keep this updated!

Miracle-Gro is specifically formulated with Miracle-Gro plant food & has moisture control properties. It contains the right mix for all types of container plants and includes sphagnum peat which is ideal for acid loving plants, such as blueberries and camellias. It is meant for indoor & outdoor gardening & is specifically designed to be used in pots. It’s only $8.99 which is almost half the price at any big box store (Lowe’s & Home Depot). A quick search & you’ll find a similar size bag goes for around $15.00, so pick it up today for under $10.

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read full privacy policy here. 


If you really want your plants, flowers, fruits & vegetables to grow, please check out these Miracle Grow products on Amazon. The ratings are unbelievably high & I can tell you first hand, the tomato feed really works……….

Price: $8.99, Item: 1372969

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29 thoughts on “Costco Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix 50 Quart

  1. I purchased two bags of the potting soil. It really stinks it has some kind of manure in it. The bags have not all the way composted manure. My flower garden smells like a horse poop pile

    1. Did it end up killing anything in the garden. There have been a lot of complaints with this product and also high praises. I’ve had no issues but I’m not denying the bad experience many have had. Let me know how the garden ends up

  2. Love the stuff. But I do mix it with a little perlite, my native soil (sand) and put in kitchen scraps to boot. Every pot grows 3 crops per year and I rotate the used soil in several different new pots. Just harvested a ton of onions , garlic and am planting corn, zukes, watermelon and pumpkin. Beans coming soon as well. Compost seasoning always has a smell. If it don’t, it’s not good. I have also used composted horse manure which I have plenty of.

    Typically go thru 20+ bags a year. Though because I have over 150 pots, I’ll cut back since I won’t need as much for new pots.

    1. That’s great to know Steve! There have been several bad reviews about this product due to being soggy & a bad smell. Sounds like adding Perlite to the soil gives it that much needed air and to lighten it up. I’m glad you’ve had a great experience with it & maybe that will help other readers. 20 bags is a lot! That’s good to know how much you use it. Hopefully you grab it when it goes on sale to save some $$. Thanks for chiming in & keep that green thumb going!

      1. The fresher it is, and Costco sells tons, the compost will be wetter and still composting. Which is why sometimes when you buy it the bags are slightly wet, because they are trying to breath and further the composting process. If you take one of those smelly bags home and let it sit for a month or two, then you’ll have what many other stores sell, without the volume. BTW, once I get to the correct mix, then I start adding the Whitney Planting Soil. The Perlite helps me know where in the mix the soil I’m rotating in the various pots is and what I needs to do to retain moisture, more than preventing over watering. living in the High Desert. When BOTH go on sale I load up. The Black and Yellow storage containers are great for growing plants, Veggies and herbs. They are on sale now for a buck off and lasting over 4 years now if used carefully.

        1. Wow Steve! Thanks so much for the valuable information. Sounds like with a little bit of work you can get this potting mix to work great for you. You’re right about the Black & Yellow Storage containers. They had a HUGE stack yesterday at Costco. That’s a great idea to use them for growing plants! Thanks again for chiming in. I think it’s going to help a lot of readers!

  3. I bought same bags has a strange smell too. I have transferred all my seedlings yesterday. Worried of the stong smell and mostly my plants. I will have to return the bags.This will be my second time doing this. A couple years ago i bought and same issue. I wanted to try this year so i dont have to go to a different store to get soil.

    1. Ya. Sounds like all the other comments. I emailed Miracle Grow & asked them about the issues brought up in this post. I even pointed them to the post to see for themselves. Unfortunately they never got back to me. I’ll have to try emailing them again & see if they would like to respond. Either way, it still seems to be a popular item because I see people buying it EVERY time I go to the store

  4. When I opened the bag of this soil I noticed a very strong strange smell. I planted 5 plants from seed in it. I had issues with all of their growth. I looked up this forum and found others were also having issues. When the plants were dry I gently shook and worked all of this Miracle Grow soil away from the roots and I gently rinsed them and repotted them in some Mothers Earth brand soil. This would typically be quite stressful on plants but by the next day they were already all responding favorably.
    One thing that I noticed on the bag of this Miracle Grow soil is that it says that it is made by using recycled wood products. Is it possible that some of this soil has treated wood in it? I would like to see a chemical analysis to see if there is anything toxic that could be harmful if someone was to consume something grown with it.

    1. Thanks for letting me know Parker. There seems to be a lot of complaints about this product that are the same. I emailed Miracle Grow & let them know about some of the issues. I referred them to all the comments on this post. Hopefully they’ll get back to me & I’ll report back what they say. This seems to be 2 seasons in a row with the same complaints. Glad you were able to transfer the plants & let them thrive. I’ll respond back to this post in a day or 2 when they get back……

  5. Hi, can someone post a picture of what the soil looks like? I just purchased 6 bags and the first one I opened seems to be all coco coir or peat moss, it’s light brown, super soft & fluffy but doesn’t seem it has any “soil” in it. It has me scratching my head.

    1. I’ll try to grab a bag soon & let you know. I know people had issues with last years mix. Not sure if they changed it up. I did not have any issues, but I’m just 1 person. I’ll try and get back to you

      1. I recently picked up two bags at Costco. I opened on and the material inside was extremely dry, like dust. When I added water to it in a pot is just floated on the water. Usually there is some body to to mixtures but not this one. Seriously, like dust. The good news is that I called Miracle Gro from the number on the bag and explained my situation. The gentleman I spoke with took my information and said that they would sent a check to reimburse me. 2 bags at $8.99 each.

        1. That was nice of Miracle Grow. Mine was a little dry too, but I worked in the water with my hands when planting. I didn’t have much issue which seems to be contrary to a few reviews here. Anyways, glad they reimbursed you. Did you end up using it?

  6. I also experienced similar issues as to what others have described. The bottom of many of my plant containers were retaining more moisture than they should have and didn’t seem to grow as well as I’d like. I thought maybe it was something I did wrong and need to add more pearlite to the soil to help with drainage since the soil seemed very compact.

    1. Good to know. They just put out the potting mix for this year & I wonder if it’s the same stuff. That was a common complaint for last years Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix so I’d be curious to see if it’s the same this year. Thanks for the comment

  7. September here in Wisconsin. I’ve had tomatoes and morning glories in several large planters all summer in this potting soil. This is the FIRT year I’ve been disappointed with Miracle Gro from Costco, which I’ve used for many years. Something was wrong with this formulation, even the morning glories are stunted and hardly flowering at all. That’s like killing quack grass, just unheard of. I picked up bags for a friend who grows lissianthus (sp). They all died except the ones she transplanted in time to save. Very disappointing year on the patio.

  8. I bought the Miracle Gro Organic Choice Moisture Control Potting Soil in the 50 quart size at Costco because it contained yucca and coir and was said to prevent over or under watering. I was using other potting soil as well, and potted many plants. The texture is easy to distinguish, and recently I noticed that various plants ( from basil to Angel’s Trumpets) which have normally been vigorous growers, were struggling in their one and two gallon pots with this soil. Although the surface felt dry, using the water meter showed 2/3 of the lower portions of the pot we’re totally wet after 5 days of no water. It appears my basil’s were rotting, even mint, and the very hearty Angel’s Trumpets starts drooping and leaves going limp. I have just started taking the plants I can potentially salvage out and removing as much as I can of of the Miracle Gro soil, replacing the wet heavy soil with my normally used, lighter potting soil. I hope I can save some of the plants. The price was awesome, the soil was not.

    1. Sorry to hear about your experience with the Miracle Grow Potting Soil. Thanks for the comment. It seems to be a common theme among the complaints. I have had a fairly good experience with the potting soil, specifically with my tomato plants. They require a lot of water, so maybe that is why they are thriving. I also drill 2-4 1/2″ holes in the bottom of my pots with weed barrier in the bottom because I like a well drained pot. That may help with the water retention in my case. Maybe Costco will carry a different type next season if there are too many complaints about this type of Miracle Grow. Glad you figured out what the issue was and happy planting!

  9. This is the first year i’ve had problems with the potting soil. I have had so many plants die the water is not draining out the of soil well. I’m an avid Gardner and usually have great looking plants but this year not so good. I will no longer use this soil if costco continues to carry the organic.

    1. I’ve had great success with it. I’m currently growing some tomato plants that are doing fantastic. I usually mix it with worm castings & the tomatoes do very well. I’ll post some photos of my vegetable & fruit trees when I get a chance

  10. Hi, I also used this soil, but soo many gants r formed from the soil, they r veg bothering us, suggest any repellent which nt harmful my plants

    1. Hi Manu. Sorry for the issues with the gnats. Here is a recommendation directly from the suppliers……..To get rid of existing gnats they recommend drying out the soil and watering less often, to give the soil a chance to dry more, as well as removing any standing water that remains an hour after watering. The company also suggests placing 1/2 inch of sand on top of the soil of all houseplants and leaving it there until the gnats are gone, which the company says could take several weeks. I hope that works. Please let me know how it goes. Thanks

    1. Sorry for the issues with the gnats. Here is a recommendation directly from the suppliers……..To get rid of existing gnats they recommend drying out the soil and watering less often, to give the soil a chance to dry more, as well as removing any standing water that remains an hour after watering. The company also suggests placing 1/2 inch of sand on top of the soil of all houseplants and leaving it there until the gnats are gone, which the company says could take several weeks. I hope that works. Please let me know how it goes. Thanks

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