Ecothrive Living Soil 40 Litres - Coco-Based Organic Living Soil
Best for: organic growers who want a genuinely water-only soil packed with real biology, not just a bag of fertiliser.
Our thoughts
Ecothrive spent a couple of years reworking this one, and it shows. It's coco-based rather than peat, so it never goes hydrophobic on you, and it's genuinely loaded with real organic inputs (mealworm frass, alfalfa meal, seaweed meal, biochar) rather than just a couple of headline ingredients on the bag. Use a big enough pot and you can run it as true water-only. Go smaller and you'll need to top-dress, but that's true of any living soil.
Ecothrive Living Soil is a coco-coir based organic potting mix built to act as a self-sustaining ecosystem rather than a passive growing medium. It's made with organic vermicompost, mealworm frass, alfalfa and seaweed meal, micronised rock phosphate and volcanic rock dust, gypsum, biochar, and humic and fulvic acids to support nutrient uptake and microbial activity. Because it's coco-based rather than peat-based, it retains moisture evenly and doesn't compact or go hydrophobic the way some peat mixes do.
Every batch is lab-tested for mineral balance and organic matter consistency. It's designed for fast-growing, heavy-fruiting or flowering annuals, and works for both indoor and outdoor growing, from vegetables and herbs to ornamentals.
How it compares
Living Soil sits alongside the handful of established "just add water" organic soils on the market.
- Like Biobizz All-Mix, it's designed to need little or no separate liquid feeding for most of the grow, but it's coco-based rather than peat-based.
- It replaces Ecothrive's own earlier Eco-Life Supercharged Soil, which the brand discontinued in January 2025, with a formula that adds biochar and a wider range of organic inputs.
- Compared to a standard soil mix run alongside bottled nutrients like Canna Terra Professional Plus, Living Soil removes most of the feeding schedule from the equation.
You're paying more upfront for a soil that's genuinely doing the work a liquid feeding programme would otherwise handle.
Usage guidance
Pot size matters more with living soil than with most growing media, so it's worth planning ahead.
Sizing your pots
Ecothrive recommend 180 to 250 litres of soil per 1.2m x 1.2m grow area. As a guide: 4 plants in 45 to 60 litre pots, 2 plants in 90 to 120 litre pots, or 9 smaller plants in 20 to 25 litre pots all land in that range.
Smaller pots
You can grow to full maturity in pots as small as 25 litres, but expect to top-dress more often and pay closer attention to moisture to keep the living ecosystem active.
Watering
Keep moisture levels even. Letting the soil dry out or become waterlogged disrupts the microbial activity that makes living soil work. A soil moisture meter helps dial this in.
Top-dressing
Use Ecothrive Soil Food Grow and Bloom at 1 to 2g per litre of soil during the relevant growth stage for extra nutrition on longer or heavier-feeding crops.
Reusing the soil
Blend spent soil with Soil Food Re-Gen at 2 to 4g per litre to recondition it for another crop.
Technical specifications
- Bag size: 40 litres (1,000 litre bulk bag also available)
- Base material: Coco coir, no added peat
- Key organic inputs: Vermicompost, mealworm frass, alfalfa meal, seaweed meal, biochar
- Mineral inputs: Micronised rock phosphate, volcanic rock dust, gypsum
- Additional components: Humic and fulvic acids, chelated trace elements
- Recommended soil volume: 180 to 250 litres per 1.2m x 1.2m area
- Minimum recommended pot size: 25 litres
- Reusable: Yes, with Ecothrive Soil Food Re-Gen
Who this is for
- Organic growers who want a genuine living soil ecosystem, not just a fertilised bag of dirt
- Beginners who want to minimise liquid feeding without sacrificing yield
- Growers producing edibles or flowers where flavour and quality matter
- Anyone running larger pots or raised beds who can commit to the recommended soil volumes
Best suited to pots of 25 litres or more; smaller containers work but need more regular attention.
Our take
This is Ecothrive's current flagship soil, and the ingredient list backs up the "living ecosystem" claim rather than just a marketing line. It costs more than a basic soil mix, but it's replacing a chunk of your nutrient budget in the process.
Does exactly what it should, day in, day out, provided you give it a big enough pot to work with.
