A note from BuildASoil

Over the last 13+ years, we've grown into a much better company — and a lot of that growth came directly from our critical reviews. Every 1, 2, or 3-star review on this page taught us something. New formulations, better packaging, improved shipping, clearer instructions, stronger customer support — almost all of it traces back to a customer who took the time to tell us what wasn't working.

If you haven't tried BuildASoil in a while — or you tried us early on and it didn't go great — we'd genuinely love another shot. We get better every year, and we have the receipts to prove it. See what's new at buildasoil.com →

Showing 126150 of 453 critical reviews

Mike K.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedNov 1, 2023
hardly any nutrients in this soil. I had to feed brand new clones with external nutrients right away to mitigate any further deficiency. It says this soil is strong enough for flower but that is not true. it's way too weak its not strong enough for brand new clones. waste of money.
on BuildASoil Light Recipe Soil
Noah D.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedOct 31, 2023
I love the 60. But the 20 you have to use it quick and open the bag as little as possible or it will turn to concrete and be almost unusable. Im out here chiseling pieces off on the block. The 60 is way more expensive but definitely worth it. The 20 I wouldn't buy again.
on BuildASoil Quillaja Saponaria Extract Powder 20
Reply from BuildASoil
Dang Bricks!! Sorry About that. New lower pricing on the 60 and the New Q20 is less likely to brick up!!! We are currently receiving and then bagging the new material. Tip: That Q20 will completely break down if you toss a chunk into water and wait awhile. Thanks and really hope you enjoy the new version direct from Chile.
Ryan J.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedOct 21, 2023
I have used the Q60 and love it, though it is quite expensive now. So when this came out I bought one, came as a nice powder like the Q60, so I purchased 2 more. The next two came as a solid rock in the bag. I have to constantly squeeze the bag to break the solid powder into smaller pieces to make it usable. Also gets quite sticky in the bag. I am still using it because I bought 3 bags, and I dont want my money to goto waste. Will not be buying this again.
on BuildASoil Quillaja Saponaria Extract Powder 20
Reply from BuildASoil
UPDATE!!! Newer batches are less hygroscopic and the new price is much better!!! (The New 60 is best price ever) We recently wend direct to Chile and are currently bagging the new material I think you'll be really impressed. Reach out to customer service and I'll be happy to offer a discount to help offset this trouble. Tip: If you leave a chunk of the Q20 in water for awhile it will completely breakdown into the water.
Espy
★★☆☆☆VerifiedOct 21, 2023
When it worked for the first few months it worked. Within the next month became hard as a rock and ate the bag and dripped all over my floor. 1 year later I still have stains on my floor. Contacted customer service and best they could offer was the same 10% coupon you can find online. Would not recommend Q20.
on BuildASoil Quillaja Saponaria Extract Powder 20
Kasey M.
★★★☆☆VerifiedOct 15, 2023
Got it to prevent pm then noticed I had thrips after first spray. So sprayed twice after that but not back to back and waited and still see thrips. It's hard to get every leave so I can't say that it's not working and I haven't done a lot of research on how to use this either besides mixing 3oz to a gallon in my pump sprayer and trying to shoot every leaf from the top and underneath, while in the dark.... While the plants are trellised . Wish there was like a smoke bomb that could kill pests and be ok for early flowering plants.
on The Amazing Doctor Zymes Eliminator Insecticide And Fungicide
TG
★★☆☆☆VerifiedOct 11, 2023
With this 'Industrial Cement Sprayer' by Chapin I thought I would finally get a quality sprayer. Well, I Loved it while it lasted. Used it in my small potted garden mainly for foliage spraying/IPM. Treated it well and it did what it was supposed to do... untill it didn't. It is now just over 2 years old and started hissing and leaking on a hole on the main tank. Not much else one can do but remember the good old times when not everything would just outlast the initial warranty period! Now just another piece of junk!
on Chapin 6-4627 Seal And Gaskit Kit
Reply from BuildASoil
Even the Chapin can corrode from moisture and organic matter inside. Where is the whole? I'd like to see if we can help with Chapin on our end and possibly get this replaced or repaired. Can you email Support@BuildASoil.com so we can continue this conversation and get you dialed in? Thanks!
Green F.
★★★☆☆Oct 11, 2023
I ended up thinking 'more is better' and added about 3 inches to the top of my pot, this was added In the first week of flower too. The problem with that was when I watered only the top half of the pot was now getting wet and after 1 week of this (especially during the fast growth during stretch), all my plants began having issues with the lower half of the pot not getting water down there. So just be sure the day you first water in this product that you water heavy, to be sure the whole pot is saturated and avoid deficiencies like I had. For an organic soil smaller pot situation like mine, this isn't really an ideal product. I feel if your indoors in pots of soil, you should be using 7 gallon pots, or if your using 5s you should flip right after final transplant.
on BuildAFlower Top Dress Kit
Keigan O.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedSep 27, 2023
It’s a waist of money, cannabis has to be over dried for it to work. Pretty much the cannabis has to be ruined for it to work. Even cannabis that been slow dried in an all dark room below 60degrees for a month still isn’t dry enough to work for the trim bag. I left a message regarding the trim bag and never received a call back. I called the day I received it. I’ve tried using the trim bag several times and it hardly works. This is the worst Investment ever, it’s pointless to get and is a complete waist of money. I love all of build a soil products. But this product should be taken off the market completely.
on TrimBag
Ryan
★★★☆☆Sep 25, 2023
Beautiful hat. Wish I looked at the sizing before I ordered. Great for women , children or the guy from Beetlejuice with the little head.
on Loyal To The Soil - Snapback Hat
Reply from BuildASoil
Dang so sorry! I wear 9.5 in fitted and this fits me well. Do you think there was a mix-up in sizing? I've not had any other issues yet. Thanks!
Nate F.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedSep 21, 2023
I got the two gallon bag. It was super loosely packed and the bag was hardly full. Barely enough to do a super thin mulch layer in a 3x3 bed. First time being disappointed with a BAS product. Worth springing for the inoculated straw although those sometimes have other critters tagging along for the ride.
on Certified Organic Straw Mulch
Nick S.
★★★☆☆VerifiedSep 18, 2023
Good but had several large clumps of a mud-like substance mixed in.
on Small Black Lava Rock
Esmond
☆☆☆☆Sep 16, 2023
Driver couldn't find my address so I had to reorder items
on BubbleSnake Compost Tea Aerator by TeaLAB
Barry S.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedSep 14, 2023
Same thing as the growing organic shirt. Says it’s a 4xl but more like a 3xl but wash one time and now a 2xl.
on Rootwise - Biological Farmer 100% Organic Cotton T-Shirt
Barry S.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedSep 14, 2023
Ordered a 4xl. On the tag it says it’s a 4xl but had to stretch it to wear one time. After wash more like a 2xl. Expensive one time wear.
on Growing Organic - 100% Organic Cotton T-Shirt
Robert K.
★★☆☆☆VerifiedSep 9, 2023
I ordered 2 an xl and xxl because some sizes differ.. Even the xxl was too small to wear. Now i have 2 dhirts to give away
on Growing Organic - 100% Organic Cotton T-Shirt
samuel
★★★☆☆Aug 10, 2023
Seems to be A Lot less liquid soluble than previous orders. Used it a lot a really liked it but this seems unusual.
on BuildASoil BIG 6 Micronutrients + Humic Acid
Reply from BuildASoil
There is natural variability in the raw humic acid component from Faust but the micronutrients contained within are water soluble and it's totally okay to have some humic left in the bottom. We will check into some of the raw bags and follow up with Faust to confirm. It's totally possible your bag had more larger solids than usual being that it's natural and not perfectly uniform. We care and really do think you are still getting the benefit you are after. That being said, quality control is the top of the list and we will investigate. Hope you have a great run!! P.S. Some people use hot water to extract the BIG 6. I just toss it in my usual water, but figured I would suggest it.
Planty The Potted P.
★★★☆☆VerifiedAug 8, 2023
I guess I'm one of the unlucky few who got a bag of wet straw. The amount of material was fine, and if it had fruited it would have been excellent. However, even after several weeks in an environmentally controlled room there was only the faintest hint of white, and eventually slimy green. Whatever, life goes on, just w/o any mushrooms ;-P
on Blue Oyster Mushroom Straw Log (Living Mulch)
Roland A.
★★★☆☆VerifiedJul 21, 2023
The worm castings was pretty much all dried out but it does the job
on #1 BuildASoil Worm Castings
Robert S.
★★★☆☆VerifiedJul 17, 2023
I don't know the product well cuz I don't know what to look for in the plant as far as Horticultural aloe does for it I know it's healthy for the plant. But overall the product I rated it a three because I don't have experience with it is enough to rate it any higher
on BuildASoil Horticultural Aloe
Ara Y.
★★☆☆☆VerifiedJul 17, 2023
When I received this it was pretty dry, it just seemed like a bag of dirt and whatever worms I did find inside the bag where basically dead on arrival and the only thing that did survive in my bag was some soil mites and a Rollie pollie but even the Rollie pollie seemed a bit off lol. I see people say they get a bunch of worms with their order but I did not unfortunately. I used the whole bag top dressing some pots and found about 5 small/medium worms but like I said they were basically dead.
on Colorado Worm Company Premium Vermicompost Worm Castings
David Y.
★★★☆☆VerifiedJul 15, 2023
The Clover Cover Crop does prevent weeds from growing. It is a very nice, healthy, clover field : 100 feet by 50 feet. There are NO weeds! However, I had called and asked, what now? Previously, I was told to till my garden one last time really good. Plant the Clover. Now I have a wonderful “NO TILL” garden. Now what? If I want to plant my garden with something, how do I precede? I am not tilling any longer because it is a NO TILL garden. So do I mow down the clover with my lawn mower, then plant my garden? But the clover will take over my garden seeds. So do I keep pulling out the clover so my garden can grow? When I called you to ask, I told be you sell several books. That I need to purchase the books, read them, then figure it out on my own. Really?
on Clover Cover Crop Blend - 12 Seed BuildASoil Mix 60% Clover
Richard H.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedJul 12, 2023
Bad batch this time . Always has been on point . This time over moistureized , moldy . Looked nothing like in the past . Not even sure if I want this around my beautiful ladies .
on BuildAFlower Top Dress Kit
Wallace M.
★★★☆☆VerifiedJul 11, 2023
Plants experiencing calcium and K deficiency!
on BuildASoil Light Recipe Soil
phil r.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedJul 4, 2023
I have had to reach out to bas several times because they forget to ship my order. I ordered this on the 20th and received it on the 16th after contracting them.
on BuildASoil Home Brew 6 Pack
phil r.
☆☆☆☆VerifiedJul 4, 2023
Showed up with icepack melted and none of the rover beetles survived. I ended up going with another company for insects and was blown away by the quality of the new company I used. I will no longer be ordering insects from bas.
on Beneficial Insect Combo Packs (Medium)