Best Potting Soil

[growinforthefuture]

BOG as in bushy old grower? he was the man.
anyhow i recommend Lowes signature series professional stuff that comes in the purple bag. it is an enhanced mix, and really help maximize size esp. when vegging. i used to use a very poor soil with no fert. rating (x-x-x). results included overfertilization to compensate and slow growth. its nice not have to feed small sensitive plants for the first few weeks IMO. with this new soil i don't fertilize until the plants already look robust and healthy then i hit em with a a complete fert. with micro-nutrients. i don't have any bags here but if you have Lowers Hardware get the signature series stuff in the purple bag. i mix with coconut husk and lava rocks too btw, since this soil is irich and that way root growth is enhanced and so is airflow to these roots. anyways get a nice soil i think it is worth the extra few $. btw the bag is like ^$6.59 as opposd to like 4 for the cheap stuff.

growinforthefuture Reviewed by growinforthefuture on 04-18-2007. Best Potting Soil I am going to transfer my plants to 6" pots and was wondering what the best type of Potting Soil I should use. Rating: 5

[growinforthefuture]

didn't BOG disappear before OG disappeared like he passed away or got busted? just wondering....

[RonnieRay]

I know some will disagree but honestly man ANY fairly high end store bought indoor mix will work good as long as it drains good. Add some extra perlite to improve drainage and get better air to the roots. Like maybe 20-30 pct. Sometimes when your beginning, its better to not try and create your own special mix. Too much can go wrong like too much peat lowering the PH or too much organic fert / N burning the plants, etc. Use a copmplete feed after a couple weeks. Start with 1/2 dose.

[Earthy Dank]

I use Foxfarm Ocean-Forest soil and it is great. It has earth castings and bat guano among many other additives.

[stinkyattic]

I know some will disagree but honestly man ANY fairly high end store bought indoor mix will work good as long as it drains good. Add some extra perlite to improve drainage and get better air to the roots. ....

Too much can go wrong like too much peat lowering the PH .

lol I won't argue!

#1 important thing is pH... no fucking PEAT unless it's promix; they deal with that at the factory.

#2 is drainage... lots of drainage... because even if you use a pre-ferted soil, which yeah you are very likely tohave to flush sooner rather than later, you can actually flush it without too much hassle if it drains well.

[psykoactive420]

Stinky: I am using Fox Farm Ocean Forest brand, 3 bags and mixed in 1 cup of guano 0-7-0, with about 30% perlite added.

I plan on using just straight water to feed through veg and flower stage, maybe some earth juice... (dont know yet)

What do you think of this game plan? What suggestions would you have to the above recipe?

Soil Ph, how does 1 check that?


Thanks!

[stinkyattic]

That plan SUCKS!!!! lol I'm messin with ya.... foxfarms soil is good stuff.

Seriously though there's some major problems with the plan:

-the guano will burn seedlings
-you HAVE to feed your plants; cannabis is a pretty heavy feeder and just the soil nutes won't come CLOSE to sufficing... like, where is your nitrogen going to come from? If you said you were mixing in blood meal for your N source you would be getting closer... then you still need Potassium and micronutes. Liquid ferts are a growers friend... get familiar with them.

As for soil pH, get yourself some liquid pH indicator.
Measure the pH of your tap water.
Flush your soil.
Measure the pH of the water that comes out.
For example, if your tap water is 7 and your runoff is 6.5, your soil pH is less than 6.5... get it? There's a sticky about how to do this I think.

[Ghettopops]

Hey Stinky,

I replanted and 1 plant I used Potting Soil from same bag as before, the other plant I used Organic(same brand as original) Organic is 4-6-4. I have been watering these from the getgo with Schultz Plant Food Plus droplets in the water.

[stinkyattic]

I know what you're talking about- it has micronutrients in it, that's good; however you are very quickly going to come to a point where you just suck it up and go find a cannabis-specific fertilizer!!!

[Ghettopops]

Am I severly inhibiting these atm by not using canni specific soil? I assume when I switch to gallon buckets I will have to use it but hows abouts nows