Unfortunately you need bacterial action to break down material into usable nutrients. Better to just buy soil this time around and start composting for next time.
I have seen, over and over, folks doing things that might be considered “odd” when growing for the first time. This is because they haven’t immersed themselves in the process and don’t understand it yet. You REALLY need to get a grow or two under your belt before branching out (pun intended haha).
Tag me as well
@Contented
The home compost can be for a future grow to save you money down the road.
If you want to grow organically and also want to hit the easy button
With just these 2 soil components (kind soil and one of the organic potting soils) and containers with saucers for indoor grow plus seeds all you need to do from here on out is provide them with the proper temperatures, Humidity lighting and water.
All the other bull shit you’ll see here about testing Ph and PPM and mixing and adding nutrients and so on all go away as the soils above will provide the plants with everything they need. You just need to make sure their environment is within the guidelines -temps, humidity and lighting) and you need to water them (making sure the water Ph is within the range of 6.2-7.2 per the Kind Soil web site/instructions and don’t use chemical GH ph up/down use simple natural citric acid to lower PH etc) and after that they grow you watch and learn no other BS to deal with unless you have some type of bugs or infection from fungus but those things can happen no matter how one grows.
So…
I’m going to stop here but I hope this helps give you a better understanding as using an organic soil that will feed the plants during the entire grow where you just add good water is by far the least complicated with a higher success rate. The cost of the Kind soil will be offset by not having to buy all those nutrients and also having to figure out how much of what goes in and at what times during the grow and if you overfeed or mix wrong having to deal with fixing things…
Based on the above you will need 1Lb of flower buds (16 ounces) every 2 months that will take about 16 Autoflower plants minimum every 2 months to keep you supplied. This will change as your gardening skills improve as you will get more yield from them with techniques such as topping and training them. You may want to start out with more as sometimes not all survive the entire cycle and this way you’ll have extra to get you through the following grow cycle.
16 plants to get 16 ounces??? We have been growing autos for my sister who has MS. We get 4 to 6 ounces per plant every 8 weeks. The cost for a grow with 16 plants will be huge! Equipment and electricity costs bankrupt most grows before they get any decent product. Growing outside helps but add a whole new set of expenses. Find someone who can supply you with medical grade product while you hone your growing skills . There is an abundance of help here to get you started. If you are planning to make your own RSO, BE CAREFUL! The stuff is very flammable to make.
Sounds like you have a great handle on growing Autos. Can you share with @Contented any tips to help her with better yields starting out. If she is able to get 4 ounces per plant that would reduce the grow to 4-6 plants as opposed to more needed just staring out learning.
I ran some simple numbers for @Contented that is by no means definitive but is a general guideline comparing buying flowers versus investing in your own grow and it’s associated costs.
Anyone please feel free to reply with any corrections or additions. I used 20 plants as a baseline. If yielding more per plant than the savings increases per month and your lighting needs will be reduced as well…
Just trying to put possible costs in perspective
Kind soil $260 for 60Lbs (includes shipping) =$4.40 per pound.
Autoflower needs 3 pounds or $4.40x3=$13.20
Potting soil Whitney Farms 1.5 CuFt $12.00 … about 12 gallons…so $1.00 per gallon and will need about 2 gallons to finish filling 3 gallon pot =$2.00
Total cost of soil for your start to finish for water only soil per 3 gallon pot =$15.20 per pot.
After this grow has completed don’t throw away the old soil but you can bring it back up to its former abilities adding nutrients and letting it compost for 30 days and then it’s ready to use again. This is where the costs really start coming down as you just keep recycling the old soil.
3 gallon fabric pots anywhere from $2 to $10 each and are reusable several times…depends on initial quality of the pots.
Saucers for the pots $4-$5 each.
Seeds are about $7-10 each
Total range using costs above would be from $28-$40 x 20 plants or x whatever number you decide is best.
Middle number at $34 x 20 =$680 total or $340 per month.
Now add in lighting for the indoor grow assuming you are needing to grow 20 plants per cycle you will probably need an (I’m not sure so please don’t quote me) 5 foot x 10 foot area to be able to fit them as they grow. The lights to cover this area will be around $1500 or so for high quality LED lighting!
Taken out over a 12 month period is $130 per month for lighting fixtures.
Once this cost is spread out you won’t need to keep buying bulbs and they will generally last 5 years or more before needing to spend for upkeep or new fixtures. The available power in the house to handle the power needed for the lights of around 10-12 amps…
I’m looking at this long term to help you understand the total costs…
Additional costs could be a tent if you can’t set up a room.
Exhaust fans for tent
Simple air circulation fans needed in room or in tent (must have)
Dehumidifier and or humidifier ?
Heater and or air conditioner ?
$12 Ph meter to check your water source to make sure it’s within the proper range)
Citric acid at Walmart 5oz $4 last long long time. This is for lowering your waters Ph if say it comes out at Ph 7.8 from faucet.
If you had to buy all the flowers from either a dispensary or privately and it was say ridiculously low priced and good quality Organics for $100 per ounce x 16 ounces would cost $1600 every 2 months or $800 per month. My guess is to buy the flower that is organic and good quality will actually be closer to $1200 per month.
So as you can see based on the grow it yourself using quality soils, seeds and lighting versus buying the flowers it is much cheaper to grow your own and you have control over the quality and content of what’s put in it.
Grow your own monthly estimate $470 (many variables I can’t include this is just the basics)
After the first year that $130 monthly for the lights goes away as they have been depreciated so to speak.
Buy the flowers already grown from $800 - $1200 per month.
Year 1 …monthly saving growing your own $330-$730 (monthly)
Year 2 …$460-$860 savings monthly
