Best Soil and Nutrients

[Kevin Pickford]

Y

Yeah man defol is such a funny topic some are hardcore for it and some are way against it....I say whatever makes ya happy!!

You way right about that brethren. I didn't say always either.. I'm no fool!

 

[Digital Chronic]

View attachment 3889170 View attachment 3889170
I used miracle
Grow my last grow and i still yielded a qp. But it destroyed the quality...

So that crisping of your leaves were light burn right? I had some of that too, but I didnt remove those leaves because they didnt have the spots on them I was talking about. I also forgot to water them like twice and they started showing signs of nutrient deficiency after I watered them again (the plant was like falling and got back out after the water came). And Jesus I wish my plants got that big! How long did it take for the main stem to get that thick? All my stems look scrawny as fuck compared to that. I also want to point out I'm not using a grow tent. It's literally in my sliding door closet with a fan blowing on my plants and both doors cracked open to keep the air flowing if that effects anything.

 

[Digital Chronic]

Ok, so your goal of a qp is reasonable.
You are right when you say the low watt cfl screwed you, it did nothing but life support and prepare your plant for a sub optimal (retarded is the correct term, but dont get pc on me lol)
So assuming you start the plants under the 400 mh, (the hps wont hurt ya, but may not help as much) and assuming you plant into at least 3 gallon containers, that drain freely (drill a shitload o holes) with quality dirt (fox farms, roots orgainics, any quality mix) spend the cash on dirt its really one of the cheapest componants. No sence breaking the bank of nutrients if the dirt is crap. Then for nutrients i really like the general organics GO box. Its a good price and everything in it is good. Its very well suited to carry you threw several small grows for under 40 shipped. Other options are the roots organics boxes, but it gets confusing since they have 3 differant boxes and ive found each box lacks a nutrient or 2 from the other boxes i really want, forcing me to buy the other boxes. Granted im picky, each box on its own is good im sure. If you go the chemical nutrient rout make sure to use 1/2 or less the dose the package claims. There are several quality chemical nutrients, and IMO the more expensive ones are pure hype and preform about identically to the cheap general hydroponics 3 part coolaid (grow, micro, bloom)

I dont like to remove fan leaves, some do. I think of them as nutrient storage depots, get the light to the buds via training and proper lighting IMO.

Any questions just ask.

Lo l dont worry about the PC part, I actually got banned from GrassCity for posting some anti-PC posts in their politics section and their staff is just flaming leftists (they would not stop with that Trump = Hitler crap and how if you're not pro globalism you're a racist). But I did purchase some 3 gallon flower pots with a big hole drilled on the bottom, is that good enough for drainage? And what do you suppose I put below them to stop the soil from falling out and getting my carpet wet? I was thinking of putting those wired crates underneath it with like a screen and a tinfoil pan underneath each crate but I dont know where I'd get these or what exactly you'd call them to look for on Google.

 

[Jgray766]

So that crisping of your leaves were light burn right? I had some of that too, but I didnt remove those leaves because they didnt have the spots on them I was talking about. I also forgot to water them like twice and they started showing signs of nutrient deficiency after I watered them again (the plant was like falling and got back out after the water came). And Jesus I wish my plants got that big! How long did it take for the main stem to get that thick? All my stems look scrawny as fuck compared to that. I also want to point out I'm not using a grow tent. It's literally in my sliding door closet with a fan blowing on my plants and both doors cracked open to keep the air flowing if that effects anything.

The leaves started having issues Bc the miracle grow was that kind that has the extended release nutes, so each time I watered, it released too many nutes resulting in extreme nute burn. Those leaves were like that since the first week of flower. Here is my ak 47 I grew without MG...I used a cheap top soil with her and used maxi Bloom and koolbloom liquid and dry. I got a little over a qp dry on her too. I let them veg under cfls or mh depending on what's in the tent. I veg until I see hairs. Sometimes I let go for 7 or 8 weeks. Never fail to get a qp. 400 hps flower for 8 weeks or longer. U can do the same in your space just make sure to have air flowing (I don't have exhaust in my tent just a blow fan...) and no light leaks and about 6 feet head space u should be fine...oh and when I first start the seedling I keep her about 3 inches from the 6500 k cfls and it keeps her short and thick. Once I get about 5 nodes I move to the tent....always gets me thick juicy ladies

 

[Jgray766]

Lo l dont worry about the PC part, I actually got banned from GrassCity for posting some anti-PC posts in their politics section and their staff is just flaming leftists (they would not stop with that Trump = Hitler crap and how if you're not pro globalism you're a racist). But I did purchase some 3 gallon flower pots with a big hole drilled on the bottom, is that good enough for drainage? And what do you suppose I put below them to stop the soil from falling out and getting my carpet wet? I was thinking of putting those wired crates underneath it with like a screen and a tinfoil pan underneath each crate but I dont know where I'd get these or what exactly you'd call them to look for on Google.

i use a dish drainer and put my pot on top of that to give airflow to the bottom...those work well

 

[Digital Chronic]

i use a dish drainer and put my pot on top of that to give airflow to the bottom...those work well

Ok dish drainers were what I was thinking of for the wired crate. But what should I put in between the pot and the drainer so only water and little to no soil falls through? These holes are like 3 inches in diameter.

 

[MichiganMedGrower]

FFOF is great until you get a bad bag of it and it will make you pull your hair out. The bags that were fine worked wonderfully though. As a small grower I can't afford "time" to get to week 3-4 and the soil is badly mixed. I may switch to happy frog or go soilless with my natural nute lineup, I just don't know yet.

That's not a problem if you mix up and break up the clumps and test the ph and ppm's before use with some runoff. I just use a party cup I use for seedlings. I wait a few days for the oyster shell to activate for the ph to rise. It's low in the bag.

Good tip for dolomite buffered soil as well. Got it from the pro mix website.

I also mix in 20-25% perlite. But no plants go in untested soil.

Happy frog is worse draining. Less stable and cheaper mix with more sticks and stuff. You can feed earlier in it though. I tried half and half, alone and switched back to ocean forest.

 

[Kevin Pickford]

The leaves started having issues Bc the miracle grow was that kind that has the extended release nutes, so each time I watered, it released too many nutes resulting in extreme nute burn. Those leaves were like that since the first week of flower. Here is my ak 47 I grew without MG...View attachment 3889301I used a cheap top soil with her and used maxi Bloom and koolbloom liquid and dry. I got a little over a qp dry on her too. I let them veg under cfls or mh depending on what's in the tent. I veg until I see hairs. Sometimes I let go for 7 or 8 weeks. Never fail to get a qp. 400 hps flower for 8 weeks or longer. U can do the same in your space just make sure to have air flowing (I don't have exhaust in my tent just a blow fan...) and no light leaks and about 6 feet head space u should be fine...oh and when I first start the seedling I keep her about 3 inches from the 6500 k cfls and it keeps her short and thick. Once I get about 5 nodes I move to the tent....always gets me thick juicy ladies

Mucho Props!

 

[Kevin Pickford]

That's not a problem if you mix up and break up the clumps and test the ph and ppm's before use with some runoff. I just use a party cup I use for seedlings. I wait a few days for the oyster shell to activate for the ph to rise. It's low in the bag.

Good tip for dolomite buffered soil as well. Got it from the pro mix website.

I also mix in 20-25% perlite. But no plants go in untested soil.

Happy frog is worse draining. Less stable and cheaper mix with more sticks and stuff. You can feed earlier in it though. I tried half and half, alone and switched back to ocean forest.

Ocean Forrest!

 

[growingforfun]

Ok dish drainers were what I was thinking of for the wired crate. But what should I put in between the pot and the drainer so only water and little to no soil falls through? These holes are like 3 inches in diameter.

Id just buy new containers. Its sucks when you buy something for a task to find out its no good, ive got a lot of experience in that ! Just return them if possible ajd goto walmart or someplace and buy 5 gallon buckets if you can handle a plant that big and a 3 gallon trashcan if your trying to keep it under 4-5 ft off the ground canopy. Use a 1/4 drill bit and go nuts. Im talking 100's of holes. Every hole you can make. Then do the same 1-2 inches up the side only less, every 1/2 inch or so. The trashcans cost less than 3 bucks each, the buckets around the same. I like white buckets myself , stay away from clear.

Under plants you put... PLANT TRAYS! these can be found for around 25 cents to a buck. The flimsy plastic ones are "ok" but brake if you step on them or set a plant down on it too hard/off center. The thicker green plastic ones are nice. Im sure amazon has them if you cant find locally this time of year. You can even use a 5 gallon bucket inside a 5 gallon bucket as a water catch, then turn it into whats now called a S.I.P. when i last used to post here commonly i called it "half hydro" and advocated it a lot.

 

[ChaosHunter]

That's not a problem if you mix up and break up the clumps and test the ph and ppm's before use with some runoff. I just use a party cup I use for seedlings. I wait a few days for the oyster shell to activate for the ph to rise. It's low in the bag.

Good tip for dolomite buffered soil as well. Got it from the pro mix website.

I also mix in 20-25% perlite. But no plants go in untested soil.

Happy frog is worse draining. Less stable and cheaper mix with more sticks and stuff. You can feed earlier in it though. I tried half and half, alone and switched back to ocean forest.

I always toss some extra pearlite and took the big bag I have and mixed it up good. It always seem to be the bigger bags I have problems with. The small ones are fine. Soil is PH at 7.0, runoff is 6.5ish. I do like it and it works well with my nutes. I have a couple of hydro stores near by and there always trying to get me into Pro mix or Royal gold basement mix. They carry every boutique soil and medium I can try.

I don't have the time and space to experiment, I want to measure twice and cut once

 

[Digital Chronic]

That's not a problem if you mix up and break up the clumps and test the ph and ppm's before use with some runoff. I just use a party cup I use for seedlings. I wait a few days for the oyster shell to activate for the ph to rise. It's low in the bag.

Good tip for dolomite buffered soil as well. Got it from the pro mix website.

I also mix in 20-25% perlite. But no plants go in untested soil.

Happy frog is worse draining. Less stable and cheaper mix with more sticks and stuff. You can feed earlier in it though. I tried half and half, alone and switched back to ocean forest.

When you say mix, you mean like I fill it up with 75% the one soil, 25% of the other and actually mix it the best I can to make it have equilibrium right? Not just layers of one with the other? Sorry if it sounds nubish but I used the same exact soil Jgray used on that plant with all the crisp leaves (hence why I think mine did that) and havent mixed soil before. These are the first plants of any kind I've tried to grow outside of like 5th grade when we grew flowers and I'm going to school for engineering not biology lol

 

[Jgray766]

Ok dish drainers were what I was thinking of for the wired crate. But what should I put in between the pot and the drainer so only water and little to no soil falls through? These holes are like 3 inches in diameter.

pretty basic....as far as soil coming out of the holes...I've never used big holes like that....but I've also never seen soil come out the bottom...

 

[ChaosHunter]

When you say mix, you mean like I fill it up with 75% the one soil, 25% of the other and actually mix it the best I can to make it have equilibrium right? Not just layers of one with the other? Sorry if it sounds nubish but I used the same exact soil Jgray used on that plant with all the crisp leaves (hence why I think mine did that) and havent mixed soil before. These are the first plants of any kind I've tried to grow outside of like 5th grade when we grew flowers and I'm going to school for engineering not biology lol

I dumped my whole bag of FFOF into a wheelbarrow and mixed it up adding pearlite.

 

[Digital Chronic]

Id just buy new containers. Its sucks when you buy something for a task to find out its no good, ive got a lot of experience in that ! Just return them if possible ajd goto walmart or someplace and buy 5 gallon buckets if you can handle a plant that big and a 3 gallon trashcan if your trying to keep it under 4-5 ft off the ground canopy. Use a 1/4 drill bit and go nuts. Im talking 100's of holes. Every hole you can make. Then do the same 1-2 inches up the side only less, every 1/2 inch or so. The trashcans cost less than 3 bucks each, the buckets around the same. I like white buckets myself , stay away from clear.

Under plants you put... PLANT TRAYS! these can be found for around 25 cents to a buck. The flimsy plastic ones are "ok" but brake if you step on them or set a plant down on it too hard/off center. The thicker green plastic ones are nice. Im sure amazon has them if you cant find locally this time of year. You can even use a 5 gallon bucket inside a 5 gallon bucket as a water catch, then turn it into whats now called a S.I.P. when i last used to post here commonly i called it "half hydro" and advocated it a lot.

Ok so do I need to pick up the bucket and drain this water periodically or will it be fine sitting in the trays/second layer buckets?

 

[ChaosHunter]

View attachment 3889315pretty basic....as far as soil coming out of the holes...I've never used big holes like that....but I've also never seen soil come out the bottom...

I use the same kind of pots but use the clear pot trays. I use a bucket heat vac to suck the runoff out of the tray.

 

[Jgray766]

When you say mix, you mean like I fill it up with 75% the one soil, 25% of the other and actually mix it the best I can to make it have equilibrium right? Not just layers of one with the other? Sorry if it sounds nubish but I used the same exact soil Jgray used on that plant with all the crisp leaves (hence why I think mine did that) and havent mixed soil before. These are the first plants of any kind I've tried to grow outside of like 5th grade when we grew flowers and I'm going to school for engineering not biology lol

Just get ur hands in there and mix it up....it's gonna be messy lol but worth it! I use FFOF, perlite, tops soil and dolomite lime and I just mix it all up and then I water just the mix to activate the stuff and then it's ready by the transplant time...

 

[Jgray766]

Mucho Props!

Thanks broski!

 

[Kevin Pickford]

Just get ur hands in there and mix it up....it's gonna be messy lol but worth it! I use FFOF, perlite, tops soil and dolomite lime and I just mix it all up and then I water just the mix to activate the stuff and then it's ready by the transplant time...

You stole my secret recipe! LOL j/k but Does work well.

 

[growingforfun]

Ok so do I need to pick up the bucket and drain this water periodically or will it be fine sitting in the trays/second layer buckets?

Youve gotta be on top of changing out the water until the roots get down into that water, i always water with a 5 gallon bucket as well so i have them laying about, you put the plant in another bucket to protect the hanging roots while dumping the water.

Ive had pattys of thick roots fill the entire area between buckets and when that happens they mostly drink the water with no need to ever dump it. Youll learn the flow pretty quick, the idea is for there to be air and water both, and no infections. You may add a dash of h2o2 to the bottom bucket to keep it clean.