Severed Tongue
Well-Known Member
This is a simple guide for using Miracle-Gro products on a limited income / tight budget and / or not wanting to treat it like a part time job.
Growing with Miracle-Gro soil is so simple, and really requires little to no maintenance. It seems to get a bad rap from the cannabis crowd, but I've used it for years growing everything with great success and now with Cannabis.
This guide is for the new or first time grower, based on an indoor grow using a single tent or two, and growing a small lot of say 1 - 4 photoperiod plants from seed, and just explains using MG soil and nutrients. You could also use this guide for outdoor growing with a little tweaking.
Everything else you do to your grow is optional and your own choices..... and there's lots of other threads for that....
This assumes you have
- a tent or indoor room / closet
- circulation fans and proper ventilation
- a sufficient LED light
- a hygrometer (at least one)
- PH & TDC meters (just in case)
- fabric pots, trays, gloves, dust mask
- basic knowledge of gardening
#1 get the right bag. This is where most people make the mistake. There are a few different kinds, however, the best for Cannabis is 0.18-0.10-0.10 moisture control, and you won't need to add perlite or anything else (You can if you want). MG MC soil is not "hot" like organic soils are, and while it does have slow release nutrients, the amounts are so little, if you were to transplant a mature plant into it, it would require food immediately. For seeds or clones you won't need to add anything except water at first.
#2 We will use the same MG MC soil in all stages. We start seeds in small solo cup size pots, make sure it can drain out bottom. At ~2 weeks (or if using clones) move to 1 gal. fabric pots. After topping and when the plant is happy and starting to stretch (~2-3 more weeks), move to a 5 gal. to finish Veg. and Flower in.
Always losen the soil when potting and do not press or pack. Its best in my experience to use dried soil, so take it out from bag and let it dry for a couple days beforehand.
After planting, mist to moisten then water to runoff after you transplant, not before. Cannabis roots need oxygen, and soaked soil prior to planting can and will suffocate your plant.
#3 We will always water/feed as early in day as possible, 10 minutes prior to lights on if possible.
Feed only tap water for up to 3 months with fresh MG MC soil, however you still need to read your plant as it will tell you if it's not getting the nutrients it needs (it is man made soil after all, so not perfect and usually nitrogen at this stage), if the healthy dark green fans start to go lime green, that's the number 1 indicator.
Also, we do not PH in soil unless your tap water is poor (check it monthly), it has to be really bad to need PH'ing in soil.... my guide assumes ~200ppm & ~7.0PH
As a seedling, you will only be giving a tiny misting of tap water to the topsoil daily, and keep under a dome away from direct light. Also mist in the dome after misting the soil. High RH of 70% is recommended.
While in Veg, You will only water when either leaves are all droopy or if you lift/weight check and it's light and airy feeling. If you have a soil moisture meter, by all means use that. I prefer to read the plants visually and by weight.
If we do need to feed nutrients while still in Veg. cycle, we will feed Miracle-Gro 24-8-16 plant food, as directed - 5ml / 4L once every 2 weeks.
When the plants are mature (or when you decide), we will flip on a feeding day to Flowering. For Feeding in Flower, we use Miracle-Gro 15-30-15 Bloom, 5ml / 4L one feeding and straight tap water every other feeding.
If your plants start to lime green, add a 24-8-16 feed in on one of the plain waterings.
Continue checking with weight or meter and log it. As you get a feel for it, they will drink the same amount until harvest time, at which time they will slowly drink less and less as they are no longer growing, so you can pretty much feed them the same amounts at the same frequency with no worries once that schedule has been established and you keep your environment the same, for 8 - 10 weeks.
If your soil becomes hydrophobic, (where it seems to bead off and not soak in) use a bamboo skewer and poke all throughout to aerate, don't be afraid to get in under the plant into the roots as well, just don't lift, only poke. Then, flake up the topsoil, mist to moisten, then water.
Try to keep your temperature between dark 18C and light 28C. RH no lower than 25%, no higher than 70%
Keep constant air flow above and below canopy. Have an inline fan cycling air while tent is closed.
Feed Miracle-Gro 15-30-15 Bloom right up till harvest, we do not flush in soil.
If you run into fungus gnats, simply bottom water and let your topsoil dry out and they will die out. No need for pesticides.
This is all just general guidelines. Your plant, grow room, where you live, how much you disturb them, all play a major role in the grow. In my opinion though, this is the easiest way to grow, it's basically just watering.
See my journal for pictutes and observations
Happy Miracle-Growing
Growing with Miracle-Gro soil is so simple, and really requires little to no maintenance. It seems to get a bad rap from the cannabis crowd, but I've used it for years growing everything with great success and now with Cannabis.
This guide is for the new or first time grower, based on an indoor grow using a single tent or two, and growing a small lot of say 1 - 4 photoperiod plants from seed, and just explains using MG soil and nutrients. You could also use this guide for outdoor growing with a little tweaking.
Everything else you do to your grow is optional and your own choices..... and there's lots of other threads for that....
This assumes you have
- a tent or indoor room / closet
- circulation fans and proper ventilation
- a sufficient LED light
- a hygrometer (at least one)
- PH & TDC meters (just in case)
- fabric pots, trays, gloves, dust mask
- basic knowledge of gardening
#1 get the right bag. This is where most people make the mistake. There are a few different kinds, however, the best for Cannabis is 0.18-0.10-0.10 moisture control, and you won't need to add perlite or anything else (You can if you want). MG MC soil is not "hot" like organic soils are, and while it does have slow release nutrients, the amounts are so little, if you were to transplant a mature plant into it, it would require food immediately. For seeds or clones you won't need to add anything except water at first.
#2 We will use the same MG MC soil in all stages. We start seeds in small solo cup size pots, make sure it can drain out bottom. At ~2 weeks (or if using clones) move to 1 gal. fabric pots. After topping and when the plant is happy and starting to stretch (~2-3 more weeks), move to a 5 gal. to finish Veg. and Flower in.
Always losen the soil when potting and do not press or pack. Its best in my experience to use dried soil, so take it out from bag and let it dry for a couple days beforehand.
After planting, mist to moisten then water to runoff after you transplant, not before. Cannabis roots need oxygen, and soaked soil prior to planting can and will suffocate your plant.
#3 We will always water/feed as early in day as possible, 10 minutes prior to lights on if possible.
Feed only tap water for up to 3 months with fresh MG MC soil, however you still need to read your plant as it will tell you if it's not getting the nutrients it needs (it is man made soil after all, so not perfect and usually nitrogen at this stage), if the healthy dark green fans start to go lime green, that's the number 1 indicator.
Also, we do not PH in soil unless your tap water is poor (check it monthly), it has to be really bad to need PH'ing in soil.... my guide assumes ~200ppm & ~7.0PH
As a seedling, you will only be giving a tiny misting of tap water to the topsoil daily, and keep under a dome away from direct light. Also mist in the dome after misting the soil. High RH of 70% is recommended.
While in Veg, You will only water when either leaves are all droopy or if you lift/weight check and it's light and airy feeling. If you have a soil moisture meter, by all means use that. I prefer to read the plants visually and by weight.
If we do need to feed nutrients while still in Veg. cycle, we will feed Miracle-Gro 24-8-16 plant food, as directed - 5ml / 4L once every 2 weeks.
When the plants are mature (or when you decide), we will flip on a feeding day to Flowering. For Feeding in Flower, we use Miracle-Gro 15-30-15 Bloom, 5ml / 4L one feeding and straight tap water every other feeding.
If your plants start to lime green, add a 24-8-16 feed in on one of the plain waterings.
Continue checking with weight or meter and log it. As you get a feel for it, they will drink the same amount until harvest time, at which time they will slowly drink less and less as they are no longer growing, so you can pretty much feed them the same amounts at the same frequency with no worries once that schedule has been established and you keep your environment the same, for 8 - 10 weeks.
If your soil becomes hydrophobic, (where it seems to bead off and not soak in) use a bamboo skewer and poke all throughout to aerate, don't be afraid to get in under the plant into the roots as well, just don't lift, only poke. Then, flake up the topsoil, mist to moisten, then water.
Try to keep your temperature between dark 18C and light 28C. RH no lower than 25%, no higher than 70%
Keep constant air flow above and below canopy. Have an inline fan cycling air while tent is closed.
Feed Miracle-Gro 15-30-15 Bloom right up till harvest, we do not flush in soil.
If you run into fungus gnats, simply bottom water and let your topsoil dry out and they will die out. No need for pesticides.
This is all just general guidelines. Your plant, grow room, where you live, how much you disturb them, all play a major role in the grow. In my opinion though, this is the easiest way to grow, it's basically just watering.
See my journal for pictutes and observations
Severed's 1st Indoor 3 x 3
My 1st indoor grow. 1st post - The Seeds! Ordered Seeds from True North Seed Bank on Sept 12th 2020 - Red Dragon Feminized Seeds (Barney's Farm) The crossing of a Pakistani Kush with a true Brazilian Sativa paved the way for one of our most exotic strains. Red Dragon gives a distinctive and...
www.rollitup.org
Happy Miracle-Growing
Great post.