I am a semi successful newbie. I made a lot of mistakes during last years grow and want to start thinking about spring. First…What is a good seedling soil? Last year I just got some cheap stuff. I plan to place the sprouted seeding in a peat plug first. last years roots were constricted by the nylon netting and I plan to remove that. What should I plant the peat into?
I have AK47 autos and super skunk autos. I plan to grow outside in movable pots. I can purchase Fox Farms Ocean Forest near me so I plan on using that for the grow. I have the fox farm trio and good PH meter all from last year.
What else do I need?
Bluto.
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@Bluto i have read that Fox Farm Happy Frog is best to start in. I started in Fox Farm Ocean Forest and it worked fine, though there was a tiny bit of nute burn from soil at early growth. Most growers will say that ocean forest is a hotter soil. My next grow i am thinking of using both individually or mixed
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Try rapid rooters, they work well for me. I had alot of problems with the peat plugs. I soak them in bottled spring water and 1/8tbs of great white.
I make seedling mix with 40% peatmoss 40% vermiculight 10% wormcastings 10% rinsed pumice stone. I sprinkle greatwhite in when i mix it all up.
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Here are the grow bags to use. Easy to move etc. Prevent over watering… You will want 5 gallon bags for growing autos outdoors. I would also recommend you sprout right in there forever home. Every time you transplant you introduce a recovery period into the grow and with only 4 short weeks before they flower you don’t want to slow them down at all, if possible.
@Bluto Glad to hear you will be growing again this spring. I have grown both AK47A and BBA love both.
I use FFHF and prefer it to the OF.
Hope this helps!
1-2-3-5-7-10 gallon soft pots
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013JM3JSA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?tag=greenrel-20
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Agree with @bob31 good choices on grow bags. Spend the extra 1$ or 2$ and get ones with handles makes life so mich easier. And no matter how u choose to do it, starting them in there forever home is the way to go. My first auto run i didnt do that, ot went ok, i was happy with it. But the next run i planted directly in there homes and at 15 days these are noticeably bigger. I’ve always grown photo plants, so im just learning autos too… Follow along maybe ill make the mistakes for u…lol. Your on the right track now i believe and you have some good people watching in.
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Fox Farm has a seed starting soil called Light Warrior. It is made to start a plant out. I use my own hot mix made from part Ocean Forest and a bunch of other things and I use the peat pellets as my starter until the plant is big enough to take the supersoil. I let it grow the peat to the soil. Haven’t lost a plant yet.
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I use peat pellets, and place them in the little 3" disposable starter pots packed in with an organic coco coir seed starting mix from Burpee. Yes, tear away all the netting before placing the soaked pellet in the start pot mix. After the first couple weeks, I just tear away the disposable starter pot and place the seedling in its final home, so the roots can immediately start to dig deep.
I’m planting 3 photos I intend to veg for awhile in 6 gallon buckets, along with 3 autos in 3 gallon buckets. That’s a lot of soil, so I’m using a mixture of the expensive FF Ocean Forest along with a mixture of some cheaper filler. I haven’t actually made my mix yet, but the plan is to use 3 about equal parts of:
- FF Ocean Forest
- 50:50 black dirt topsoil and perlite
- 50:50 generic potting soil and pure coco coir
The Ocean Forest gives a high quality foundation, while the other mixes fill out the nutes with plenty of aeration for good root growth. I’ve noticed a significant difference in how big my plants get since I started mixing in coco. Also, when you use a lot of coco and perlite, it allows the water to drain faster, so you can add nutes more often (I feed twice a week).
Since I’ll have more water runoff and be watering more often, I have a wetvac to suck up all the runoff so it doesn’t sit and attract bugs. You do have to water and feed it more, the first time I did a heavy coco coir mix, my buds ended up tiny, because I didn’t feed it nearly enough. It takes a little getting used to over pure soil.
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Thanks to all of you who posted. I think I will start to investigated cocoa and a seed starter then to FFOF with perlite… One more question that I have been thinking about is. Can I use the FFOF right out of the bag or should I let it sit. Or water and check PH or something else before I use it? And how fine of a perlite should I use?
Thanks.
I’ve had good success mixing 50/50 Happy Frog and ocean Forest. Great results. If you overwater though I notice fungus gnats. Currently I am using Coco Loco as my medium (1st ever grow w coco loco). I’m really digging it. A lot easier with my nerve damage to tend to… i only water or feed about once every 3 or 4 days. The Coco in it really wicks off water. I wanted to try the Coco Loco just for something different. But I will have a tough decision after this grow. I will have to decide if I will be returning to my 50/50 Happy Frog and ocean Forest mix after this, or stick with new Coco Loco. If I get the same yields as I do with the 50/50 ocean Forest Happy Frog I will prolly keep using Coco Loco just cuz you don’t have to water as much. Peace.
I should add that Coco Loco is not straight Coco. It is basically a Juiced up soil with some coco in it. My grow shop guys told me to water it with a pH just like soil 6.3 to 6.8. Good results so far.
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You can use it right out of the bag
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Perlite doesn’t need to be small. Ocean Forest can be used right out of the bag. I recommend that you mix in about 4 qts of Coco with the soil. It really helps you to avoid over-watering.
is there a soil you can use for the entire lifespan of a cannabis plant with out having to add Nutes or very minimal . Nutes are the only thing i don’t understand , i fee if i dabble in them i become. mad scientist trying every combination for the best results i want to keep things as simple and bare as possible with optimal results . i only grow for personal use
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@HaydenHop not that i am aware. FFOF lasts abiut 6 months, but most soils will need nutes added. The feed charts are really easy to follow
Got a couple questions of you could help me … @VelcroThumb right now i have used MG organic and i heard it’s not good for very long , i used a small/medium pot to start in as i didn’t know solo cups were better at first . my seedling has 3 sets of true leaves working on the 4th, when should i transplant to fox farm ? should i just re fill the current pot with it or move it to a new one entirely . i know one of the roots or some have reached the bottoms
@HaydenHop you want to transplant into larger pots (5 gal for photoperiod or 3 gal for autos) i think i tranplanted at about a month old. Transfer into new pot with whatever soil you like
Do you provide any nutrients during the first month? FF chart says yes. But I’ If so, How do measure for a small solo cup. If not then No need to flush after a month and basically starting with new soil. Right?
Measure your nutes a gal. At a time is the easiest way. And when they are small still in solo cups i use a big 10ml med syringe to water them. . i start feeding after they get the second set of real leaves. (Approx.2wks) i start very light about a 1/4 -half the recommended amount. Feed feed 1x at 1/4 strength, 1x at 1/2 strength and then start full strength, until preflower starts then i may even bump up 1/8-1/4 to feed the extra nute they can use during that flowering stretch. if see the start of nute burn then back off, and give a good healthy watering. After i flush soil i add great white and a tbl of molasses and water to help get the soil microbes back and something for them to eat.
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Thanks Famiyman420. I have been wondering about the sledgehammer flush recommended by FF. My question is, if I transplant into a lager pot with new soil why do you still need to flush. I hear bad things about sledgehammer. I am wondering if I should just buy some and do it?
A couple of things that I’ve picked up along the thread.
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Any of you guys using coco or light water, may have a little easier time if you give it a good solid rinse before putting it in pots. By nature they usually have a high salt content, and taking an extra step ahead of time can really make life a lot easier.
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When mixing nutes it perfectly fine to reduce strength when you’re starting to feed and nervous about burning. Also, if you have small plants and don’t want to mix a whole gallon, that’s fine too. If desired feed is 4ml per gallon and you only want to mix a quart of solution for a solo cup or two, then just reduce per ratio. Like 1ml per quart would be good.
As @OldSkunk said, you can mix some coco with soil to keep it from compacting as well.
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I dont know much about ff. Maybe some other guys and gals can chime in who know more about that stuff. I do know i have a buddy who used to bitch how much je had to flush using it.
Since im in ss i dont really “flush” i feed the microbes heavy so they help the plant use up all the butes left in soil then gave it a plain watering or two and thay was it.