Hey and thank you for giving me access to the forum.
I’ve heard about the importance of selecting a good grow medium but I’m not sure what to go for. Is organic and perlite the best option currently being used ?
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First Welcome to ILGM forum. Assuming you’re a beginner and have not grown cannabis before. Your choices are soil, Coco coir and Hydro. Unless you want invest some money and time into building a system let’s take Hydro off the table. That leaves soil and Coco. Soil is more forgiving of mistakes that many beginners make. Coco is basically the same as hydro in that it delivers nutrients and everything the plants need with each watering. I grow in soil but I’ve seen several beginners here start in coco and be successful. If you decide to go with soil you need to start with a cannabis friendly soil. Many people on forum use Foxfarms soils myself included. Coco coir has a faster learning curve. So it comes down to how much time you have to learn and how much effort you are willing to put in. There will be more experienced people to help you decide. I just happen to be the one to answer first.
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There’s so many different strains available. Do you have to consider this and look into the genetics of the seeds while making your choice of growing medium ?
Welcome to the forum @jimmymac
Great question and I don’t have an answer other than I have been growing in living soil from the start and now doing the no till soil grows and I have grown 10 different strains so far without a thought to which ones might work best it which medium but I have read a few articles about for example strains that were developed in a hydro environment and the thinking is (and I don’t know how much merit to place on this thinking) that they would do best again in a hydro set up but no definitive studies that I’ve come across.
My strain choices have been more about how they might help me medically and to have as many options to choose from with the different strains and what they bring to me for things such as pain relief or inflammation or helping me sleep.
Hope this helps
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@Skydiver thanks man I appreciate that
how important is it for the ph of the water to be consistent in soaking the seeds and general purpose watering during the growth phase ?
For soaking the seeds I’ve just used tap water as they are just being soaked…softening the shell. My tap is filtered to remove chlorine.
You can use just about any water for this step that’s potable…drinkable
I use a shot glass with ~ 20% of Hydrogen peroxide and 80% tap and set on my router for a little bit of heat. After ~ 24 hours I use a black bottomed take home container they give you from restaurants or from delivery etc and use paper towel and use water from shot glass to soak the paper towel while in the container and place the seed in and fold it over…don’t want to drown it but don’t want it to dry out either. I put a lid on it and set back on my router black side up to keep light from the roots once the seed cracks and root starts growing. Once tap root is 1” or so I’ll have my pot all ready with soil that’s seedling friendly…starter soil…and place germinated seed with root down into shallow hole ~ 1/2” deep and lightly cover with soil and lightly water it.
As far as PH and it’s importance in my opinion
if growing Hydro PH is very important
If growing in Coco pretty important
If growing in soil with chemical ferts pretty important
If growing in soil using natural fertilizer with a living soil somewhat important but not nearly as critical as the above ones…
Each medium has its own set of parameters and needs and nuances and as you read and learn and do things those things will become clearer.
In the beginning I used to use tap water and used to PH that water and water to run off and check PPM of the water before (feed) and after watering (runoff) and all that stuff but as I’ve learned I decided to adjust things to make it easier for me…your mileage may vary.
Now I use Reverse Osmosis (RO) water which isn’t necessary to Ph and has virtually no PPM …dissolved solids…like my tap had. I bought a RO unit it is small and hooks up to sink easily and make water and save in jugs.
If I was using tap I would probably lower the PH as it was close to 8.0 and my living soil with the buffers in the soil (dolomite lime and crushed oyster shells etc) and the critters in the soil (good bacteria and fungi etc) can only adjust water / feed input so much before issues can arise.
I only use natural fertilizer premixed in my soil and also will add to the top of the soil during the grow and brew compost teas to feed as well as some things I add to the water mix in and feed.
I don’t check the PH or PPM in (feed) or water to run off or check that PH or PPM (run off) I let the living soil critters along with the soil ingredients do the heavy lifting and self regulate all that stuff…
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Happy to help jimmy
May find some useful stuff looking over my first journal
And my current and ongoing journal…
Many may people here happy to help…just depends on what growing style you are going for as to what to look for…
The search feature up top is a great tool to use to look up things too
If your looking to go and grow organic here are topics I’ve created over the last 15 months or so…
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I use all fox farm products soil and nutrients just because I like the ease of it all. I do part organic grow and part organic nutrient grow. ! And that perlite is AWESOME! It’s huge and the roots love it!
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Worth every penny! I have to water the plants a little more often but I’m telling you it’s worth it.
