question for bobbong

[michaelpeg]

hey bob just wondering what your exact soil is for your indoor grows because i hate the soils i have used. Right now i have soil which has too much nitrogen and my plants look like they are drying themselves somehow and they smell like crap anyways this is my 3rd soil and im sick of searching and listening to lies from my hydroponics guy (he said the soil i am using now 'dutch treat' was the "GOOD STUFF" and i also dont want to hear what i want to look for in soil because alot of bags dont say exactly what is in there, i just want exactly what you have and i will add exactly what you add. The only plant i have gotten to reach the flower stage is a plant i have in seedling mix and i fertalize it at every feeding with foxfarm products and this plant has one leaf per branch and is less than a foot tall, maybe 24 leaves all together! I want desperately to see a plant that i can take clones from and is more than 10 inches tall.
thanks in advance

michaelpeg Reviewed by michaelpeg on 03-04-2008. question for bobbong hey bob just wondering what your exact soil is for your indoor grows because i hate the soils i have used. Right now i have soil which has too much nitrogen and my plants look like they are drying themselves somehow and they smell like crap anyways this is my 3rd soil and im sick of searching and listening to lies from my hydroponics guy (he said the soil i am using now 'dutch treat' was the "GOOD STUFF" and i also dont want to hear what i want to look for in soil because alot of bags dont say Rating: 5

[michaelpeg]

hey bob is it "TOP SECRET" or what lol

[stinkyattic]

Well I'll step in here and give you a couple suggestions.
Happy Frog soil is a good product and one of the few soils sold at grow shops that you can actually do seedlings in- it is MUCH lower in added nutrients than other high-end media.
Canna makes an extraordinary product line that includes a soil that I have not personally used, but have heard excellent reviews on, and I am a big fan of their fertilizers.

Then, if you are not feeling so spendy, you can go the cheap route and use something from the farmers' supply.
Bagged composted humus and bagged perlite, mixed 3:1 or 2:1 composterlite, is good but depending on the actual compost might be too 'hot' for young plants.
ProMix BX is a standard commercial potting soil and the trick to using it successfully is never plant your plants in a pot too big for them, and re-pot up to the next size once every 6 weeks. If you look at my donkey dick log, that's actually what I am doing with them.

If you are feeling cheap and there is no grow shop or farmers supply, even the big box stores sometimes have Miracle Gro organic choice. You have to add extra perlite to that, too, to make it more user-friendly but it works fine for plants more than 3 weeks old.

Enjoy!

[michaelpeg]

actually i am feeling very spendy just not enough to order foxfarm online and PAY BIG for shipping as i am in canada and this isnt available here. and as for the promix bx, it is basically a soiless medium, am i right? if so then what would you add to it to make it cannabis friendly and not just have a sprout sitting there the same height for months to come? tell me exactly what you would do and i mean EXACTLY i want a sure fire plan because my plants are pathetic thanks. and i do have a grow shop but the guy lies constantly and says stuff that doesnt even make sense just to make himself feel and look smart. he recommended my current soil -dutch treat- which overdosed my plants with nitrogen to the point of them drying themselves somehow. and didnt want to leave you out and ask bob only but i just asked him because he is canadian and i wasnt sure if you would know about canadian soils so sorry

[stinkyattic]

Okey dokey.
REally, read this thread:
http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/...or-2008-a.html
I just found the same problem, that it is difficult to source quality soils at a reasonable price in the dead of a New England winter! So this is my first ProMix grow.

You don't have to add a thing to it, but you have to make certain that you don't leave a plant in the same sized pot for more than a month to avoid the pH problems that ProMix users sometimes bump into.

It's soilless, so you run your pH just slightly lower than for soil- 6.4 is about right.

NEVER overwater the stuff; that shortens its lifespan in the pot. You can flush it if you have to, but you really need to let it dry out a bit between waterings to get the benefit of its texture.

As you might see in my log, I found that the lowest set of leaves DID turn yellow and drop; how much of that was light and how much was pH I'm not sure; growth was good in general and I made sure that I was following good watering and feeding routines.

The sprout will be fine with no added nutrients until about 3 weeks (differs based on how much light you have), and then you just give it regular grow fertilizer like any other medium. The Advanced Nutrients line was designed to be used specifically with ProMix, as that is a popular choice for large-scale commercial growers.

[michaelpeg]

hey stinky i guess i didnt really didnt consider how important pot size is.. i started my plants in 6 inch pots (i believe that the size) and maybe i should have stuck with my little jiffy pots, oh yeah another thing what is your take on letting your roots grow through the jiffy pot as compared to just ripping the pot open and transplanting that way or do you dislike jiffy pots and for what reason and i am currently reading your log, just makes me sick to my stomach to see what my plants COULD look like but good job anyways i LOVE outdoor grow logs

[stinkyattic]

I have mixed feelings about jiffy pots. They are convenient and earth-friendly, but can inhibit root growth if you don't keep the whole pot just slightly moist a lot of the time- when they are dry, they are VERY hard and tough!
That being said, did you see in one of the pics in my log there's a CASE- yes, 2,500 of them? haha!

I prefer plastic 3" pots for the first transplant (nursery 6-pax to 3" pots) of plants I plan to keep around, but when I start stuff for the outdoor garden, jiffy pots are GREAT. I have all my tomatoes and peppers and shit in them!

I don't think you should peel them off, but I DO think that you should let them degrade a little or shred them up just a bit before planting in the next size pot.

My transplants are:
Seedlings in nursery 6-pax to 3" plastic square deep.
Young veg in 3" plastic to 6" plastic, again the square deep ones.
MAturing veg in 6" plastic to 10" square 3 gallon to flower keep as mothers, or put outdoors.

Clones are taken while the plants are still in the 6" pots.

[michaelpeg]

your transplant info is perfect just what i was looking for just want to know how long you keep them in each pot do you take them out of the nursery right when they sprout?

[michaelpeg]

oh yeah any idea why bobbong didnt give his 2 cents? did i bother him too much with all my other questions

[AR15]

oh yeah any idea why bobbong didnt give his 2 cents? did i bother him too much with all my other questions

Well, it's only been about one full day (a little over). He might not have been on since you posted this, and if he has been, he might not have checked this part of the forums.

Another much likely situation is that he does not have the free time at the moment to actually respond. Be patient :thumbsup: He'll get to you when he does. :jointsmile: