wHow much soil you need often dictates what is used...especially in a non-commercial/personal grow.What can be easily sourced locally also dictates what is used for many folks. If you aren't going too big...I always feel that folks should truly step back and remember what it is they are growing. I might toss a bunch of random manures/etc in with some tomatoes and see where those go. With cannabis i think it worthy to not cut corners...but that's just me. Again...once you drop that manure in there you are on the ride fully and are completely at the mercy of what it will do to your plant.
What are your goals with these grows? Just see what happens? A year of personal stash? Cash cropping? Again...where you wanna go dictates what you prolly should do, IMO.
I've always had decent results with Foxfarm Ocean forest. Mix in 1/3 to 1/2 perlite if you will be in a non-guerilla grow situation and can water a bit more frequently. I've also mixed OF with coco and perlite and that works fairly well too. What I would avoid is any soil that will "feed for 3..or 6...or 9 months"/etc. Some of the box store baggged soils are also crap. Very heavy stuff...often with urea or some other cheap fert mixed in. For me...all of that just means a failed grow after an expense of about 1/2 of what you would have spent on something that has a bit more quality within that could possibly give you good results. Nothing is perfect...but some stuff is deadly to weed.
Are you growing indoor or outdoor?What are the best soil recipes to growing big bushy plants? Is cow manure or horse manure good to mix in with the soil?
Any other fertilizer mixes one might recommend?