Best Premade Soil(s) for Autoflowers?

Hey guys and gals,

first time grower still in research phase. I’ve basically figured out all my supplies except soil.

I want to use stonington blend with amendments later in the grow as needed, but I’ve seen a lot of successful people using fox farms products.

Between coast of Maine stonington blend and fish/kelp meal later in grow, versus a mix of fox farms coco loco and FFOF with added perlite, and nutes later in the grow which would you pick for an autoflower seed to harvest and why? If you didn’t pick either of these more or less what would you use and why not any of the ones I suggested?

please let me know about this, thanks in advance!

I do a mixture of Ocean Forest/Happy Frog/Perilite. I don't feed at all during an auto grow.

TheDifferenceX said:

I do a mixture of Ocean Forest/Happy Frog/Perilite. I don't feed at all during an auto grow.

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How do you not feed? Auto is ATLEAST 70 days and more closer to 90 and FFOF feeds for 3-4 and maybe 5 weeks max.

MATTYMATT726 said:

How do you not feed? Auto is ATLEAST 70 days and more closer to 90 and FFOF feeds for 3-4 and maybe 5 weeks max.

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GSC from FBs is done in 63 days for me. I could probably pack on extra weight and feed more and let her go a week longer, but i'm only looking for personal smoke and i'm already getting more than I need. Anymore and i'll be drowning in meds, lol

You helped me last year through a few grows with GSC/GG/GC/BD autos all from Fastbuds. Nice to see you still around, very knowledgeable.

TheDifferenceX said:

GSC from FBs is done in 63 days for me. I could probably pack on extra weight and feed more and let her go a week longer, but i'm only looking for personal smoke and i'm already getting more than I need. Anymore and i'll be drowning in meds, lol

You helped me last year through a few grows with GSC/GG/GC/BD autos all from Fastbuds. Nice to see you still around, very knowledgeable.

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Just wondering, i definatley remembered your name. I have always concidered trying FFOF for easier feeds, but love coco too much to have ever tried yet.

@TheDifferenceX @MATTYMATT726 have either of you heard of KIS organics biochar water only soil? What about that?

@TheDifferenceX what ratios do you use in that mix of fox farm soils and perlite?

I buy a 1.5 cuft bag of Ocean Forest and a 2 cuft bag of Happy Frog. Then 1 cuft bag of perilite.

I mix it up in a large rubbermaid tub and just scoop out of there as needed.

@TheDifferenceX what about KIS organics with biochar or coast of Maine stonington if I didn’t want to blend soils?

organicgordon said:

@TheDifferenceX what about KIS organics with biochar or coast of Maine stonington if I didn’t want to blend soils?

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I'm a coco grower so i can feed nutrients in my water 2-3 times a day. The frequent water, food and fresh oxygen to the roots can grow a coco plant in 1 gal the same size as a 5 gal of soil and bigger.

MATTYMATT726 said:

How do you not feed? Auto is ATLEAST 70 days and more closer to 90 and FFOF feeds for 3-4 and maybe 5 weeks max.

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I was going to agree with you. I grew some autos outdoors last summer and around week 7 or 8 I started seeing major deficiencies. Except for 1 plant that seemed to be much more sensitive to nutes. Now it did rain "A Lot" while they were outside... And that could most likely have flushed a lot of nutrients from the soil also.

Plants don't eat food. They use the energy from the sun, or other light and use it to make their food. The ingredients for this process are water, air, and light. The nutes are only supplements. I use Biobizz lite mix for seedlings and then FFOF after I transplant at around 10 days. If I don't give my autos N most of the leaves are yellow by the end of stretch. Then they wither and fall off. Now the main source for energy is gone because the buds and sugar leaves can't turn light into buds (photosynthesis) the way that big green leaves can.

I think dropping the word "feed" when referring to nutes will allow you to see the plant differently.

I grow in half M3 super soil, half roots organic original, and some perlite for flavor. This year I ran 5 gallon pots and Im really glad I did. Only had to water every 4 days. All my strains are fast buds. They got WAY bigger than last year in 3 gallon pots. I did upgrade from a 1000w single end HPS to 1000w double end MH for veg and HPS for flower so Im sure the bigger size is a combination of both pot size and light. Only nutrients added was organic top dressing at start and middle of flower.

Any amended loamy soil pre buffered into the mid 6's will work fine right out of the bag.

McStrats said:

What I wrote I stole from an academic study to see if some internet "know it all" would have his own take. Never fails. LOL..

Snacking on Sunlight | Ask A Biologist

If it weren't for plants, most of the other organisms on this planet wouldn't survive. Most plants can use energy from the sun to make their own food. Let's take a closer look at the complex process of photosynthesis that gives them this special ability.Also in: Nederlands | Français | Español |...

askabiologist.asu.edu

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I don’t think you’re reading it correctly. True; almost all the biomass comes from water and CO2.
However the biochemical machinery that makes it happen requires that the plant absorb N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S and a list of micronutrient elements through almost all of its life cycle.
Getting the concentrations and ratios of these ionic nutrients right is the grower’s art. Failure to do this very quickly leads to sick and dead plants.

McStrats said:

What I wrote I stole from an academic study to see if some internet "know it all" would have his own take. Never fails. LOL..

Snacking on Sunlight | Ask A Biologist

If it weren't for plants, most of the other organisms on this planet wouldn't survive. Most plants can use energy from the sun to make their own food. Let's take a closer look at the complex process of photosynthesis that gives them this special ability.Also in: Nederlands | Français | Español |...

askabiologist.asu.edu

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I know from personal experience plants need nutrients. I put fertilizer on my lawn, it gets way greener and grows faster. My dog pisses on the lawn (full of nitrogen) it gets way greener and grows faster in that spot. Would the lawn grow without those nutrients? Yes, but that is because there are some nutrients in the dirt already. Thanks to fungus, bacteria, worms, etc., the compost in the soil will be turned into more nutrients for the grass to grow and in turn create more compost and the cycle continues. You are trying to claim the only thing plants need is air water and light to grow continually. This is just not true.
Please, prove me wrong, grow a plant in playground sand or gravel with nothing but water, air, and light. What ever you read either you misinterpreted it or the academics themselves are wrong.

cannabineer said:

I don’t think you’re reading it correctly. True; almost all the biomass comes from water and CO2.
However the biochemical machinery that makes it happen requires that the plant absorb N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S and a list of micronutrient elements through almost all of its life cycle.
Getting the concentrations and ratios of these ionic nutrients right is the grower’s art. Failure to do this very quickly leads to sick and dead plants.

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Yeah this guy is soft in the head. Thinks he read some academic work once and knows everything. Must have missed a few pages. The biggest factors may be light and water, but the small factors are critical as well.