Soil mix and general questions

So I have only grown once before in regular potting soil and used regular liquid ferts and did NOT ph adjust any water (just used filtered water) and surprisingly got 3ozs off my blueberry, 2oz's off vanilla kush and 1.5 ounces off super lemon haze all from jiffy pot to 3gal to 5gal pot. Problem tho was my vanilla kush came out with an insane amount of seeds and my lemon haze turned hermie but not quite as many seeds but terrible taste and not strong. Blueberry thankfully smokes grrrrrreeaaatt and no seeds at all.

This grow I would really like to have no hermies or seeds! heh i'm hoping it wasn't the water but i did have a few instances where i stressed the plants a bit, specially the lemon haze when i repotted her, completely bent over 90 degrees. also i'm sure i did a few other noobish mistakes heh. My grow room is crappy and just uses cfl's 24h then i had a tent with carbon scrubber, 400w cooltube with fan for the flower room. I'll be using the same grow room this time except I bought a smaller tent for my flower room because i had to move locations and size was an issue.


So I want my soil mix to be easier on the roots but not too complicated. Do you think there would be a problem with using:

1/3 - potting mix (from home depot, rona, etc)
1/3 - perlite
1/3 - worm castings from hydroponics store


Right now I have 3 feminized seeds germing, a Great White Shark, Barney's LSD and Barney's Red Dragon. This is how optomistic i am lol. GHS's lemon haze hermied me before and barney's vanilla kush gave me tons of seeds but i have faith they'll come through for me this time!

I was going to put them into jiffy pots with just regular potting soil and just do the 3 part mix for the next/final 3 gal pot. That was my other question is it really important to go from jiffy pots to 1 gal pot then to 3 gal if 3 gal is going to be my final size, or can i just go from jiffy pots to 3 gal pots and still be ok? I know larger pots are better but I don't have the room for them in my new tent.

Sorry for so much info you know theres always a lot to explain when growing

While you're at the hydro shop see if you can find a bag of Fox Farms, it'll most likely be better than what you can find at Home Depot.

I've heard that small plants in big pots isn't really all that great. Supposedly the moisture settles in the bottom quickly and the roots of small plants have a hard time reaching that far that quickly.

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Originally Posted by Slevinkal

While you're at the hydro shop see if you can find a bag of Fox Farms, it'll most likely be better than what you can find at Home Depot.

I've heard that small plants in big pots isn't really all that great. Supposedly the moisture settles in the bottom quickly and the roots of small plants have a hard time reaching that far that quickly.

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unfortunately i've asked the guy at the shop before if he carries fox farm and he doesn't. Actually the only growing medium he carries is Coco and worm castings. I've tried coco once and had too many issues with drying and ph control. Soil seems easier heh.

I've heard the same thing about putting small plants in large pots. If its absolutely essential i can buy some 1 galon pots and go from jiffy to 1 gal to 3 gal. Just means more chance for stress and more dirt....

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Originally Posted by cypher420

I've heard the same thing about putting small plants in large pots. If its absolutely essential i can buy some 1 galon pots and go from jiffy to 1 gal to 3 gal. Just means more chance for stress and more dirt....

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I ended up going from peat pods to some chinchy ass-ed 8" then into a 10" 3-4 gallon pot. I dont break up the dirt around the roots when I repot, it might cause a few hotspots in the soil if you have two diff mixes, like I do now, but the plants dont stress the move. I thought I was a little rough on mine two days ago and they are doing way better now that before the repot.

BTW, from what I've read over the past few min its damn near impossible to get FF in canada, IDK why though. Someone said BioBizz is a good sub but I'd wait for someone to second that opinion.

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Originally Posted by wishpotwaslegal

THEY DONT SELL FOX FARM IN CANADA THEY WONT EVEN LET IT ACROSS THE BORDER! try sea soil i herd its amazing you will have to find it near you as they only sell it at certan hydro stores. its better then fox farm

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LOL it was on this site...

HERE is a link

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slevinkal

While you're at the hydro shop see if you can find a bag of Fox Farms, it'll most likely be better than what you can find at Home Depot.

I've heard that small plants in big pots isn't really all that great. Supposedly the moisture settles in the bottom quickly and the roots of small plants have a hard time reaching that far that quickly.

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I agree. I think the FF Ocean Forest is excellent. Its what I use and plants do excellent. :D Start with 16 oz cups and work your way up to bigger pots. :cool:

1/3 worm castings is a bit much. they tend to run a bit hot and could cause your soild to stay a little water-logged. 10-15 percent would probably be good.

bio bizz makes a great soil. the all mix has nutrients in it, and the light mix doesn't. just buy a quality potting soil and don't worry about mixing your own. sunshine #4 is good too.

you definitley should go to a 1 gallon then a 3. reason being is that you want the top and bottom of your plant to grow at close to the same rate. if you go straight from a jiffy cube/pot to a 3 gallon your roots will grow faster than the top of your plant and you will eventually become rootbound with a small upper half. a good rule of thumb is one gallon of pot space per foot of stem height.


-shake

Ahh thats good to know about the worm castings!! i'll keep that in mind. should i keep the perlite and soil the same ratio like 10% worm, 45%perlite and 45%soil? or more soil?

I'll go out and grab some 1 gal pots and do it that way.

I was thinking Miracle Grow Organic for the soil? Its hard to find the good stuff in my area :\

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Originally Posted by cypher420

I was thinking Miracle Grow Organic for the soil? Its hard to find the good stuff in my area :\

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That is exactly what I started with. I've re-pot twice, each time with a better soil and the plants appear to grow stronger faster each time.

I second the FF Ocean Forest, that is what I just re-potted to but it looks like Bio Bizz is your best bet at the moment.

:D

Did u find problems at all with the miracle grow? I've heard some had bad experiences with it.

So does everyone change the ph in their water when growing in soil or can u get by with filtered water?

water needs to be pH'd. unless you are talking about reverse osmosis or distilled, those other "filters" don't do crap.

i've used miracle grow just fine, but it's not optimal.


-shake

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Originally Posted by headshake

water needs to be pH'd. unless you are talking about reverse osmosis or distilled, those other "filters" don't do crap.

i've used miracle grow just fine, but it's not optimal.


-shake

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Umm it's just one of those brita filters you attach to a fossit. What idealy do I want the ph of the water to be at? I think our city water is around 7.5-8 or something. Kinda high I'm guessing?

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Originally Posted by cypher420

Umm it's just one of those brita filters you attach to a fossit. What idealy do I want the ph of the water to be at? I think our city water is around 7.5-8 or something. Kinda high I'm guessing?

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you want a pH between 6.3-6.8. 6.3 being ideal.

-shake

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Originally Posted by headshake

you want a pH between 6.3-6.8. 6.3 being ideal.

-shake

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at my local supermarket they sell bottled mineral water at a ph of 6.4 so would that be ideal?

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Originally Posted by superjay

at my local supermarket they sell bottled mineral water at a ph of 6.4 so would that be ideal?

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that would work, but be careful as to what minerals are in there. and when you feed your nutes are gonna drop your pH if you are using the mineral water then too.

-shake