Good soil brands?

IMO if you aren't organically feeding through your soil and supplying all the nutes your media consistency is more important than the what. Some growers grow in straight inorganics like perlite. Some media will hold onto salts more readily and require periodic flushing, but as long as you have good drainage you'd be surprised what you can grow in.

If it is peat based then the grow method you would follow would be hydroponic or soiless. Can,t say how well it would hold the ph without huge fluctuations. I am using straight promix, from a grow shop, not home depot. That is soiless and is buffered and holds the ability to maintain the ph you set it at throughout a normal grow. You need to maintain the ec level properly and the ph just like with hydroponics, but you can manually water/feed every 4 days instead of constant water and feed. I wouldnt recommend using potting soil as your medium. Cheers