This weekend I’m looking to start on my first grow. I’ve decided on a soil medium as that’s what I’m used too for every plant I’ve ever grown. I’m looking at doing Fox Farms Ocean Forest.
Someone interject here if what I’m about to do seems wrong or needs adjustments. I’m wanting the process as smooth and extremely straight forward as possible. I don’t “need” pounds of flower. The last two ounces or so I’ve purchased has lasted me about 1.5yrs using sparingly.
Plants: GDP Autos from ILGM
Pot: 5 gal fabric
Mature plant grow medium: FFOF
Seeding start: 1/4 FFOF, 1/4 coco, 1/4 worm castings, 1/4 perlite; in the two solo cup method (clear solo in red solo)
Water conditioner: pH down
What else should I grab while at the hydro store?
(Oh, I’m trying to stay as organic as possible). Later on if this goes well I’m wanting to do super soil methods.
I would suggest some sort of plant riser to keep these off of the ground so the roots will air prune and reduce the chance of mold growing. Good luck on your grow!!
I guess I forgot to list that. I’ll go back and edit.
(Edit: can I not edit a post after someone has commented?)
I’d only need to measure runoff if I plan on trying to dose and balance ferts and such wouldn’t I?
I’d really like to not have to do all that…
I don’t want to make this more complicated than it needs to be. So if I only end up with 5oz instead of 8-10 for doing so, I’m ok with that. I don’t require much.
Looks good man! Have you gotten any temp and humidity numbers yet so you can figure out how to manage without being in a closed system? I imagine being in a closet your about 3-5 degrees above house temps with the light on maybe more so i would be doing some test runs to get an idea about how to properly ventilate that area with the light cranked to max. I know a few here do closet grows and if i find them ill send them your way brother
I would suggest just the FFOf for the seedlings. Coco and soil are 2 different mediums. The worm castings will add extra nitrogen that’s already in the FFOF
Get some FF Happy Frog soil it is not as hot as Ocean Forrest. You can use just the FFHF alone or layer 2/3 FFOF on the bottom of your pot and FFHF on the top 1/3 of your pot. Use the FFHF in your solo cup also.
Complicating things and weight are not necessarily related. Also, valuable information like ph and ppm is clarifying. Not knowing these basics complicates growing. I currently grow in coco and use synthetic nutrients so hands on daily stuff is a routine I’m accustomed too. With that said, minimizing the need to ph and ppm runoff and feeding leans toward living soils with nutrients and microbes added directly to soil with top feeding when needed. I would have recommended Earth Dust two part nutrients but they are out of business. I’ve heard mention of Gaia Green as an alternative. Build A Soil also has dry nutrients.
I get it. But at the end of the day, it’s just a plant to me. Same as a tomato, peppers, any veggie.
Sure you can dial everything in precisely and pull the most perfect, pristine and bountiful harvest.
Or you can give them a good living environment, pay attention to the watering, lighting and maybe a little N, P or K here and there depending upon the stage of the plant and get a decent little harvest that you’re happy with.
I don’t need another complication and “work” object in my life, I have plenty of that already.
Besides, these plants have been growing for thousands of years without any human intervention.
It’s all about how involved you want to be and how much you want to test your abilities to produce the biggest and best flowers. But for me, at the end of the day, it’s just another house plant that’ll provide a few extra benefits.
I thought about that, but that’s an added expense. I see people growing in almost straight coco often. Although dosing with ferts. I already had to buy 2 large bags of the FFOF and I already have some compost and some coco around the house, so I figured I’d just thin down the percentage of the FFOF with those along with some perlite and expanded shale perhaps as well.
They may not do great, we’ll see. But I’ve never had a plant do poorly in early growing stages using what I’ve had laying around.
What I haven’t done though is grow anything in such a nutrient heavy soul before…
I know many people have made this whole cannabis growing hobby a science, but to me it’s just another plant I’m growing. I’m just looking to have some fun and get a few flowers in the end.
I would suggest a water only living soil. My goto was earth dust. Out of business now but others out there. I bought a lot before they closed. Easy peasy. Ammend…water…harvest.
I picked me up some supplies today and lifted my shelf up with some 2x3s I had laying around to slide some trays underneath.
I opted to go with 7 gal pots rather than 5 gal. And I don’t think I could’ve planned it any better if I had actually measured. It all fits perfect.
I grabbed two large bags of FFOF and a bottle of pH down as my ph sits around 7.5
Brings me to another question. I used to run planted aquariums (I’ve since broke them down). In the hobby we use a product called “Prime” to remove chlorine from the water utilizing complex hydrosulfite salts. Would it be beneficial here to condition my tap water? It states it does not affect pH and I’ve never noticed it had in the aquariums.
That’s what I aim to do after this by making my own super soil essentially. Unfortunately that takes a lot of previous planning, prep time, etc.
I’m building my compost reserves now and plan on adding worms to the mix.
I’ve started looking at “Back to Eden” gardening methods to implement in my garden and trying to shift these methods to an indoor potting method as much as possible.
I’ve done a similar concept called mineralized soil for planted aquaria years ago.
That is exactly how I approached my first couple of grows. I gardened for years. “How hard can growing a weed be”. I got through the first couple. The third strain was a little more demanding than the others.
I used synthetic nutrients at the time.
If you use good soil, basic quality dry nutrients that are added to the medium, some microbes to help manage root environment you can get by with a minimum of fuss. I would say you need to know at least a little about your water supply. PH PPM and chemicals.
Lots of approaches and methods.
Good luck
Yep, I am familiar with my water for sure. I used to do high intensity planted aquaria. I always had to perform water changes, dose fertilizers, manage water parameters, dose co2, etc. it eventually became a big chore and I finally said to heck with it all.
OK I mention it because some water has ppm / ph that is off the charts which puts you in a hole from the start. I have great well water containing Ca & Mg but its ph is 7.5 - 7.8. This is a point too high for soil and 2 points too high for hydro / coco which is what I use.
I would suggest just the FFOf for the seedlings. Coco and soil are 2 different mediums. The worm castings will add extra nitrogen that’s already in the FFOF 
