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BuildASoil  |  SKU: LOSOLY3

BuildASoil Potting Soil Recipe 3.0

Rated 4.9 out of 5
Based on 676 ratings
$55.00

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Quality First

BuildASoil is committed to sourcing the highest quality ingredients you can trust. over 10,000 Five Star Reviews and over a decade in business

Delivery and Shipping

Shipping Policy

Shipping is expensive, and it gets more expensive almost every year. We are not going to pretend otherwise. What we can tell you is that we work hard to find the most reliable and affordable way to get your order to you, and we pass along free shipping wherever it makes sense.

Free shipping on any order with two or more items. The one exception is bulk items, meaning the large or heavy products that have to move by freight or oversized parcel. If your cart qualifies, free shipping is applied automatically at checkout.

Why two items and not a dollar amount?

Most stores set free shipping at a dollar threshold. That works when you sell light things like clothing. We don't. We ship soil, amendments, and heavy real goods that are expensive and awkward to move, so a dollar minimum doesn't reflect what shipping actually costs us.

We are a small business with no outside financial backing, and we are not Amazon. We manufacture, pack, and ship everything in house so we can control quality, which means real people picking, boxing, taping, and labeling every order, and that means real jobs. When we ship a single item for free, the only way to cover it is to raise prices across the board, and we would rather not do that. Asking for two or more items on free orders lets us keep prices lower for everyone and keep shipping sustainable. We hate high shipping costs as much as you do, and this is the fairest way we have found to keep them down.

Delivery estimates

Every product page shows an estimated delivery window based on current fulfillment and carrier schedules, so you know what to expect before you buy.

Shipping Options
BuildASoil Shipping Free
Transit: up to 10 business days Handling: standard

Free on eligible orders with two or more items. We select the carrier and method.

Standard Shipping Paid
Transit: 3 to 7 business days Handling: standard

Standard ground service.

Standard Shipping: Rushed Out the Door Paid, slightly more
Transit: 3 to 7 business days Handling: same day, not guaranteed

Same standard transit, but we push it out the door the same day when we can.

Get It Fast Higher
Transit: 2 to 3 business days Handling: same day, not guaranteed

Prioritized fulfillment with faster transit.

Overnight It Highest
Transit: 1 business day Handling: ships ASAP

The fastest option we offer.

Pickup at Factory Store Free
Ready: within 24 hours Location: Montrose, CO

Bring your order confirmation and a valid ID.

FedEx Freight (Economy) Quoted
Transit: 2 to 9 business days

For large or heavy orders.

FedEx Freight (Priority) Quoted
Transit: 2 to 7 business days

For large or heavy orders, faster transit.

Carriers

We ship with FedEx, UPS, and USPS, and we pick the carrier that gets your order to you reliably at the best cost. We cannot guarantee a specific carrier unless you arrange it with us ahead of time.

PO Boxes

Orders to PO Boxes often cost more and usually do not qualify for free shipping. Use a physical address to avoid delays and added fees.

Outside the Continental US

We ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands. Free shipping generally does not apply to large or bulky items going to these destinations, though Hawaii and Alaska have more flexibility depending on carrier policy. Rates are quoted at checkout or on request.

Canada

We ship select items to Canada. Canadian customers need to choose "UPS Standard Shipping to Canada" at checkout so your order clears customs cleanly and you avoid surprise brokerage fees. Orders placed with other methods can be delayed or rejected at the border.

Vendor-Fulfilled Items

Some products ship directly from our vendor partners and show their own estimated ship dates on the product page. Questions about these go to support@buildasoil.com.

Freight Shipments

Freight orders arrive on pallets by box truck or semi. We assume you need liftgate service unless you tell us otherwise.

Inspect every freight shipment before you sign. Count the packages and check for damage. Signing the delivery receipt confirms the order arrived complete and undamaged, so note any problem on the receipt before you sign it.

Full Truckloads

Full truckload (FTL) orders are custom quoted after checkout based on your location, order volume, and how the truck will be unloaded.

  • Let us know if you have a dock, forklift, or other unloading equipment.
  • Tell us if you need liftgate or manual unload service.
  • Email support@buildasoil.com ahead of time for an FTL quote.
Order Tracking

We email tracking as soon as your order ships. If it does not arrive, check buildasoil.aftership.com with your order details, or email support@buildasoil.com.

Shipping Protection

This optional add-on at checkout covers your shipment against loss, theft, and damage, and we fast-track those claims for replacement or resolution. Even with protection, photos and documentation help us move carrier claims along faster.

Claims

Send all claims to support@buildasoil.com. We do not process claims by phone.

Include:

  • A description of the issue
  • Photos or video of the damage, or of missing or incorrect items
  • Images of the packaging and labels

Hold onto the packaging and any damaged items until the claim is resolved, since carriers may require an inspection.

Claim deadlines

  • Damage or missing items: within 60 days of delivery
  • Incorrect products: within 60 days of shipment
  • Lost or misdelivered packages: within 60 days of shipment
Once Your Order Leaves Our Facility

We help with every carrier claim we can. But once an order is in the carrier's hands, we cannot control delays, damage, or misdelivery, and the carrier makes the final call on claims.

Description
  • Made with the water-only grower in mind. No bottled liquid nutrients. Give it enough pot and the soil carries the plant.
  • Composted 10–30 days and twice-mixed before it's bagged.
  • Reusable. Reamend between runs and it gets better every cycle.
Independent lab test

Every batch is lab tested and the results are public

Lab
Logan Labs
Tested
Every batch
Result
Within target range
Published
In full

Organic inputs fluctuate. No two batches of a real living soil are ever identical, and any company claiming otherwise is not being straight with you. What does not move is the target range we build to, and every batch lands inside it. We send each one to an independent lab and publish the full result, so you never have to take our word for it.

See every 3.0 batch result →
Independent head-to-head test

26 bagged soils went to the lab. 3.0 came first.

SoiLab, the lab-backed channel run by MySoil, put 26 bagged soils through the same analysis in their Know Before You Grow series. Viewers picked the soils. Nobody sponsored it. They scored each one on smell, look and feel, nutrients and pH, and whether it would actually grow.

  1. 1 BuildASoil 3.0 9.0
  2. 2 Fox Farm Ocean Forest 8.6
  3. 3 Roots Organic Lush 8.4
  4. 22 more, all the way down to 4.5

We did not pay for this and we did not know the result until they published it. That is the only kind of test worth pointing at.

See all 26 results → Watch them test 3.0 →

Not sure how much you need?

Tell the calculator about your pots or beds and it does the rest, including finding you the cheapest way to buy it.

  • Containers and raised beds
  • Accounts for settling and headspace
  • Compares bags, pallets and totes
Open the soil calculator

17 ingredients. No filler, no mystery.

Every one of them is in here for a reason, and there is nothing in the bag doing nothing.

  • The biology. Compost, worm castings and charged biochar. The compost and castings bring the life, and the biochar gives it somewhere to live.
  • The structure. Canadian sphagnum peat moss, pumice and rice hulls. Holds water without going to mud, and keeps air around the roots. We use pumice instead of perlite on purpose. Perlite crushes to dust and floats to the surface, so a soil built on it has a shelf life. Pumice holds its shape run after run, which is what lets this soil last forever.
  • The minerals. Chunky basalt, fine basalt, calcium silicate and BIG 6 trace minerals. Two grinds of basalt because one releases now and one releases for years.
  • The food. Fish bone meal, kelp meal, rice bran, mustard seed meal and our Gnarly Barley organic pre-sprouted seed flour blend, which is organic barley, organic lentil and organic corn. This is what carries a plant through a full run.
  • The balance. Oyster shell flour and gypsum. Calcium in two forms, so the whole thing stays in the range we build to.
The 17 ingredients in BuildASoil Recipe 3.0

Full ingredient list

Compost, Worm Castings, Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, Pumice, Rice Hulls, Chunky Basalt, Fine Basalt, BIG 6 Trace Minerals, Fish Bone Meal, Rice Bran, Kelp Meal, Mustard Seed Meal, Gnarly Barley Organic Pre-Sprouted Seed Flour Blend (organic barley, organic lentil, organic corn), Gypsum, Oyster Shell Flour, Calcium Silicate, Biochar (charged).

Volume
1 cubic foot
Dry net weight
28 lb
Fills
One 7 gal pot
Feeding
No bottles

Your soil is alive. We don't sterilize our compost or potting soils. The life in the bag is the entire point.

Is 3.0 the right one for you?

3.0 is our most loaded mix. It's built to carry a plant all the way through flower with nothing but water. That richness is exactly why it isn't right for everything.

✓

Reach for 3.0 if…

You're taking a plant through full term and flowering. You want everything in the bag on day one. No bottles, no feed chart. You're transplanting in from a smaller pot. You've run Super Soil before and liked it.

×

Consider Light instead if…

You're starting seeds or rooting clones. You can plant them straight into 3.0 and they will be fine, they just grow a little slower at first because the soil is so rich. BuildASoil Light is designed for that stage. Houseplants and tropicals want Perma Soil.

Compare all of our soils →

How to run it

We built 3.0 with the water-only grower in mind, and we mean that literally: no bottled liquid nutrients, ever. What it does not mean is that soil volume is free. A big pot holds enough soil to carry a plant all the way through on its own. A small one will run out, and you will want to feed the surface. Here are the two ways people run it.

The simple way

Big pot, soil, water

Put 3.0 in a large enough container, plant into it, and water. That is genuinely it. The bigger the pot, the further the soil carries the plant on its own. Plenty of people grow beautiful plants this way and never top-dress a thing.

Best for: first-timers, bigger containers, keeping it simple.

The Classic setup

Soil, top-dress, mulch

Same soil, same water-only watering. You build a layered surface at planting and feed it again at the flip to flower, so the biology has food exactly where the feeder roots are. This is our system, and it is what we run in our own tents.

Best for: getting everything the soil is capable of, and no-till.

Setting it up, the Classic way

Amounts below are per plant in a 15 gallon pot, which is the size we recommend starting with. Something clicks at 15 gallons: the soil hits enough volume that the biology really takes over.

  1. 1
    Fill the pot with 3.0. Straight from the bag.
  2. 2
    Transplant your plant. Settle it in first, before any top-dress.
  3. 3
    Sprinkle 1/4 cup Craft Blend across the surface around the plant. Do not mix it in. Lay it on top.
  4. 4
    Add about 1 gallon of BuildAFlower compost on top of the Craft Blend.
  5. 5
    Cover with 1 to 2 inches of organic straw. This is the living mulch layer. It holds moisture, feeds the soil life, and protects the surface roots.
  6. 6
    Water it in. Settle everything and wake up the biology. Keep that top layer moist. Never let the top-dress or mulch dry out, because the biology needs moisture to work.
At the flip to flower

Same amounts again, 1/4 cup Craft Blend and about a gallon of BuildAFlower. Premix them, spread over the straw, wiggle it down through the mulch with your hands, and water in. This feeds the plant through the stretch.

Watering, the 5 to 10 percent rule

Water no more than 5 to 10 percent of your soil volume at a time. In a 15 gallon pot that is roughly 0.75 to 1.5 gallons. Evenly moist, not drenched, not bone dry.

Read the full Classic setup guide →

The top-dress lineup

You do not need any of this to grow a good plant in 3.0. This is what we run ourselves, and what most people add on their second order.

Craft Blend

The workhorse top-dress. Feeds the soil through the whole run.

From $31

BuildAFlower

Go on before and during early flower. Replaces bottled bloom products.

From $33

Certified Organic Straw Mulch

Protects the surface so the soil life stays where the roots are.

From $29

Mulch is not an accessory. A bare soil surface dries out and the biology in that top layer dies off, which is exactly the zone your top-dress is trying to feed. Cover it.

Questions

Do I need to add anything?
Not to get a good plant. 3.0 is fully amended and you never need bottled liquid nutrients. That said, we top-dress dry amendments through the run, Craft Blend and then BuildAFlower going into flower, and that is what gets the most out of the soil. Bigger pots need less of this than small ones.
Can I plant seedlings and clones straight into it?
Yes. They will be fine. Because 3.0 is so rich, they tend to grow a little slower for the first stretch while they settle in. If you want them moving fast right out of the gate, start them in BuildASoil Light, which was designed for exactly that, then transplant into 3.0.
How long does a bag last?
Indefinitely, if you reamend between runs. That's the whole idea.
Shipping, freight and pickup

Free BuildASoil Shipping on any 2+ eligible items. Pallets ship freight with liftgate. Local pickup at our Montrose factory store is ready within 24 hours.

Read the full shipping policy →

Specifications
  • Length (in)
    21.5
  • Width (in)
    13
  • Height (in)
    5.5

Questions?

We are here to help and our entire staff knows how to grow. Just reach out via chat, email or even phone. We are passionate about growing and want you to succeed.

Payment & Security

Payment methods

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  • Mastercard
  • PayPal
  • Shop Pay
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Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.

Write a Review
average rating 4.9 out of 5
Based on 676 ratings
  • 5 Stars
    642 Reviews
  • 4 Stars
    23 Reviews
  • 3 Stars
    4 Reviews
  • 2 Stars
    1 Review
  • 1 Star
    6 Reviews
98% of reviewers would recommend this product to a friend
Initial Moisture Level
Rated 0 on a scale of minus 2 to 2, where minus 2 is Dry, 0 is Normal and 2 is Soaking Wet
Quality
Rated 4 out of 5
Results
Rated 4 out of 5
Customer photos and videos
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676 Reviews
Reviewed by Ashley H., from United States
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Growing Styles
  • Full Sun
  • Fabric Grow Pots
Grow Sizes
  • Small Greenhouse Grow
Experience With Organics
1-4 Years
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

Exceptional

My root bound skunk #6 plant was yellowing from nitrogen/potassium deficiency and in less than a week of being transplanted with the appropriate soil mix/planter, the life not only came back to my little guy, but it’s now reaching strongly for that photosynthesis. Living soil makes all the difference and build a soil is one of the best products out there for it! Thanks guys!!!!

Happy organic grows!

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Initial Moisture Level
Rated 0 on a scale of minus 2 to 2, where minus 2 is Dry, 0 is Normal and 2 is Soaking Wet
Quality
Rated 5 out of 5
Results
Rated 5 out of 5
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Reviewed by Thomas R., from United States
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Growing Styles
  • Indoors
  • Sub-Irrigated Planters
Grow Sizes
  • Home Grow Tent
Experience With Organics
10 Years Plus
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

Great Soil for your plants!

This is the second time I have purchased this soil and I have been very happy with it. Super convenient way to set yourself up for success!

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Initial Moisture Level
Rated 0 on a scale of minus 2 to 2, where minus 2 is Dry, 0 is Normal and 2 is Soaking Wet
Quality
Rated 5 out of 5
Results
Rated 5 out of 5
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Reviewed by Michael C., from United States
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Growing Styles
  • Indoors
  • Full Sun
  • No-Till
  • Recycled Soil
  • Fabric Grow Pots
Grow Sizes
  • Home Grow Tent
  • Home Grow Room
  • Small Greenhouse Grow
Experience With Organics
10 Years Plus
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

This soil with the works……

If you take this soil with a EarthBox, some Colorado Worm Castings, some Build-A-Flower, Craft Blend, Kashi Gold, and RootWise you will have something magical. It’s almost like Harry Potter came to your garden and swiped his wand over it. I’m telling you now I’m on my 4th run without dumping yet and man it seems to get better and better.

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Initial Moisture Level
Rated 0 on a scale of minus 2 to 2, where minus 2 is Dry, 0 is Normal and 2 is Soaking Wet
Quality
Rated 5 out of 5
Results
Rated 5 out of 5
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Reviewed by Michael D. S., from United States
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Growing Styles
  • Full Sun
Grow Sizes
  • Home Grow Tent
Experience With Organics
1-4 Years
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

Southern California Full Sun

Experience with several grow mediums including CA super soil mixes. This was an easy go to trusted source trying no till, starting small

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Initial Moisture Level
Rated 0 on a scale of minus 2 to 2, where minus 2 is Dry, 0 is Normal and 2 is Soaking Wet
Quality
Rated 5 out of 5
Results
Rated 5 out of 5
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Reviewed by Robert H., from United States
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Growing Styles
  • Indoors
Grow Sizes
  • Home Grow Room
Experience With Organics
0-1 Years
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

Great soil

I recommend this soil. So far it’s better than any I’ve tried

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Initial Moisture Level
Rated 0 on a scale of minus 2 to 2, where minus 2 is Dry, 0 is Normal and 2 is Soaking Wet
Quality
Rated 5 out of 5
Results
Rated 5 out of 5
Was this helpful?
Rated 4.9 out of 5
Based on 676 ratings
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