Crap Miracle Grow Organic Soil-NEED TRANSPLANT HELP

thrawn

thrawn

Well-Known Member
I transplanted my two week old hindu kush seedlings into some Miracle Grow Organic Soil, because it was the only shit i could find at walmart that wasnt full of ferts. Basically the stuff is absolute garbage, it has sticks in it, nothing to help it drain, and when its wet it clumps into huge balls.

I need to get my boys out of this shit, I can see it leading to all types of fungal growth in the future. I mean, no air gets to these roots, it stays saturated for so long. The plants are exactly 14 days old, about two inches high, and now producing there thir set of true leaves.

I am going out to the hydro store to buy some foxfarm mix and I need the best way to transplant the rootballs. Any ideas guys?

Theo
 
crippledguy

crippledguy

Well-Known Member
wad up theo. great chose with the fox farm. pick up the potting soil if you can. its more effective for the youngans. than when you transplant them later use the ocean forest. but for transplanting i usually just wait for the soil to be mostly dry than just take a butter knife and go around the edges and make sure that all the edged are seperated than i turn it upside down and walllah. than transplant right up to where you please on the stem. peace THEo hope that helps! CRIPPLED
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Just amend the MG soil. You saw it had no drainage. Even the FF needs to be tweaked with some perlite. (I don't like vermiculite since it retains water)

(and I hope they aren't boys, but gals! :) )
 
G

gforce420

Well-Known Member
Even if you go w/ fox farms or any other kind of soil you need to add the drainage aeration yourself. I use a mix of 40% ProMix, 20% Fafard 3B & 40% Perlite (Don't buy MG Perlite as it has mutes added in the perlite). So if you use FoxFarm soil, you should need to add perlite yourself. So you should ask yourself actually if you shouldn't pull your plant out, dump the remaining soil together & mix it w/ perlite then repot to solve your probs. I'm sure foxfarm is a little better but if you already spent the money on the MG organic then I'm sure you could add some perlite & use it & have great results & save a good chunk o' change. sounds to me like the problem wasn't the soil, but the fact you didn't add any perlite.

Good luck to ya.
 
thrawn

thrawn

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys, the concept of altering the soil didnt occur to me until you said it. So goes the problems of a first grow eh.

gforce420 said:
Even if you go w/ fox farms or any other kind of soil you need to add the drainage aeration yourself. I use a mix of 40% ProMix, 20% Fafard 3B & 40% Perlite (Don't buy MG Perlite as it has mutes added in the perlite). So if you use FoxFarm soil, you should need to add perlite yourself. So you should ask yourself actually if you shouldn't pull your plant out, dump the remaining soil together & mix it w/ perlite then repot to solve your probs. I'm sure foxfarm is a little better but if you already spent the money on the MG organic then I'm sure you could add some perlite & use it & have great results & save a good chunk o' change. sounds to me like the problem wasn't the soil, but the fact you didn't add any perlite.
Click to expand...
If im pulling out the plants (currently in 1.5 qt plastic pots with 6 drainage holes) how much of the soil should i knock off and then alter with perlite? Should i just keep the rootbal and knock off the rest of the soil that surrounds it? Ive heard this can be a bad idea because it can make my plants rootbound...Or should i just remove the bottom half of it, considering my big drainage problems are at the bottom of the pot. Any ideas?

Thanks dudes.

Tayo
 
G

gforce420

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure i entirely understand your wording. But I would First let the soil get a little on the dry side. Then when you pull the plant up make sure that you cut out a big enough area that you don't damage alot of the roots. Once you have it out you can slap around the dirt ball (i mean gently slap around), trying to knock away the dirt without snapping or breaking roots. knock off what dirt you can without damaging roots. You probably will break a few but that's ok, just don't be too rough. After you have removed a reasonably ammount of soil fromt the root ball then you want to act fast. Have some perlite on hand & dump out some of the soil so that you can add perlite & mix it in with it. Some ppl use 50/50, I use 60 soil/40 perlite. Anywhere around there you should be fine IMO. So add perlite, mix it by hand. BTW you may also wanna dip your rootball in water b4 you do that. Then x-plant your plant back into the soil-perlite mix. I would do them 1 @ a time so your plants don't spend too much time being stressed. Also give them a little water after they have been replanted & if possible do it @ the end of their light cycle so that when you are done they can go to sleep in the darkness for a bit. I've heard that can help them after they have dealt w/ some shock.

One more thing I wanted to mention, that you may already know is that when you mis up your soil... b4 you add your plant into it you want to prewater the soil. You want to get it moist b4 hand. If you put a plant in totally dry soil & then try to water it the water doesn't always reach all parts of the pot evenly & may make channels water can quickly drain thru & other spots that are dry. So it's best to prewater your soil, mix it, then put it in your pot & plant your plant.
 
thrawn

thrawn

Well-Known Member
Thats exactly what I was asking mate. Thanks. Once I get all these stupid little fuckups figured out, life will get a little easier. Im all about being attentive but fuck man, I didnt realize how much I did wrong. Thanks for all the advice brothas.
 
H

hendar

Active Member
mix 35-40% perlite but next time dont buy organic miricle grow it sux
i use regular or moisture control
 
thrawn

thrawn

Well-Known Member
still waiting for my soil brova, the local hydro store is anything but local (2 hours) away and i havent been able to snag a ride. i might have to order it online. cost me $45 for a bag of ocean forest, ahh so lame.
 
HeyBud69

HeyBud69

Active Member
Any bits of styrofoam you could grind up in the meantime? If it were sterile anyway, would give you some drainage for free. Good luck.
 
MaryJaneDoe

MaryJaneDoe

Well-Known Member
These are the little things we all learn when we first grow.take it as a learning and don't do it next time, and there will be problems then too, just learn from your mistakes. Or better yet look around on FAQ and see before you make the mistake. I have been growing for years and years and I still fuck up every now and then. I just crossed the amount of pyrethrum with the amount for the neem oil. Turned my whole budding plant into a yellow mess. But it made it still. That was a rookie mistake on my part and literally I have been growing for at least 25 years. OOOPPPSSS but I do have to say drainage is one of the most important things
 
A

atombomb

Well-Known Member
I have never had a problem with FF Ocean Forrest draining, It has quite a bit of perlite already in it. I have 4 1/2 inch drainage holes in my 3 gallon pots and it runs quite freely through them
 
thrawn

thrawn

Well-Known Member
How about tossing in some clean pebbles at the bottom of my pots so it doesnt get all nasty and damp all the time. Even though I havent transplanted em yet, there looking awesome. Ive been taking one of those shishkabob sticks in the mean time and stabbing through the soil pretty gently to help aerate the soil. Seems to be working well. But then again my root system isnt to big and can afford a little bit of shanking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top