Help Choosing Soil and Nutes

Hi everybody,

I couldn't find such a topic on the forums and since I'm still learning I decided to post myself one. Ok, so here it goes. I'm currently in the middle of a grow but because it's my first one I haven't made quite all the right choices along the way. First bump was choosing a right type of soil. Went through hell until I found a decent soil to grow in due to the limited choices I had at the time (had to resume to general supermarket, cheap stuff).

Now I would like to set up everything I need for my next grow and after I did some market research I found those types of soil:
- BioBizz: Light-Mix or All-Mix (I lean towards Light-Mix)
- Plagron: Light-Mix, Grow-Mix, Bat Mix, Worm Castings (not so sure about the worm castings, better off with Grow-Mix I think); maybe just for softer plants that don't need so much nutes.

I would like to hear advice from someone who uses either one of them or why not, even has used both. I plan on starting the seeds into Jiffy pots, and also need advice for/against that. I could always just start into a small cup or pot with the above chosen soil. Not sure how popular Plagron is though.

Okay, now in regards to the nutrients, I have made yet another market research and here's what my choices list would be like:
- Advanced Nutrients Grow + Bloom + Micro
- BioBizz Bio-Grow + Bio-Bloom + Top-Max
- Canna Terra Vegga + Terra Flores
- General Hydroponics (GHE) Gro + Bloom + Micro
- Plagron Terra Grow + Terra Bloom

I didn't quite understand the difference on Canna's simple vs bio line, so if someone can put some light on the subject it would be very much appreciated. I've seen GHE come strong into the reviews and also Canna so I'm kind of leaning towards one of those. Not very excited about BioBizz, I've heard it leaves deposits on the roots and plants need if not weekly, a 2-week flush, is this true? Cuz I'm not looking into flushing all the time.

Bear in mind that I'm looking to pick one type of soil (suitable for seedlings, veg and flower stages) and one line of nutes and go with that on the long run (learn them best). That is, because my current setup isn't quite the best for growing mj (quite unstable, ruined 4 seeds till I got it right).

Many thanks for your kindness and your time, your humble servant.

ValiD said:

Hi everybody,

I couldn't find such a topic on the forums and since I'm still learning I decided to post myself one. Ok, so here it goes. I'm currently in the middle of a grow but because it's my first one I haven't made quite all the right choices along the way. First bump was choosing a right type of soil. Went through hell until I found a decent soil to grow in due to the limited choices I had at the time (had to resume to general supermarket, cheap stuff).

Now I would like to set up everything I need for my next grow and after I did some market research I found those types of soil:
- BioBizz: Light-Mix or All-Mix (I lean towards Light-Mix)
- Plagron: Light-Mix, Grow-Mix, Worm Castings

I would like to hear advice from someone who uses either one of them or why not, even has used both. I plan on starting the seeds into Jiffy pots, and also need advice for/against that. I could always just start into a small cup or pot with the above chosen soil. Not sure how popular Plagron is though.

Okay, now in regards to the nutrients, I have made yet another market research and here's what my choices list would be like:
- Advanced Nutrients Grow + Bloom + Micro
- BioBizz Bio-Grow + Bio-Bloom + Top-Max
- Canna Terra Vegga + Terra Flores
- General Hydroponics (GHE) Gro + Bloom + Micro
- Plagron Terra Grow + Terra Bloom

I didn't quite understand the difference on Canna's simple vs bio line, so if someone can put some light on the subject it would be very much appreciated. I've seen GHE come strong into the reviews and also Canna so I'm kind of leaning towards one of those. Not very excited about BioBizz, I've heard it leaves deposits on the roots and plants need if not weekly, a 2-week flush, is this true? Cuz I'm not looking into flushing all the time.

Bear in mind that I'm looking to pick one type of soil (suitable for seedlings, veg and flower stages) and one line of nutes and go with that on the long run (learn them best). That is, because my current setup isn't quite the best for growing mj (quite unstable, ruined 4 seeds till I got it right).

Many thanks for your kindness and your time, your humble servant.

Click to expand...

Fox Farms, Dyna Gro, Jack's Classic.

I use All-Mix with Bio-Bloom,Bio Grow & Top Max.
I also mix a bit of bat Guano in the soil at the start of flower.
It works wonderfully for me.

Sorry I must have forgotten to mention the ones listed above are really all I can buy from my area. Also I only picked those that fit into my budget, those listed are all in about the same price range.

Roots Organic, if you can find it.

FF: not available
Dutch Master: also not available
Roots Organic: not so much available either

Thanks Billy, will consider it.

After a little more research I've come up with an economical and logical solution. Well, actually 2:
- go manual for manual fertilization: in this case it would seem just right to use the BioBizz Light Mix instead of the All-Mix, because it's not so rich in organic matter and seedlings can go in it from day 1; this though will consume a lot of liquid nutrients, probably 1 or 2 weeks of vegging nutes and all the flowering nutes it can get;
- go 80% auto, 20% manual: in this case, I would also wind up spending a lot less money, and I would have to start in small pots but that would still be cheaper than the nutes; then after about 2 weeks or 3 in vegging I could go with Plagron's Bat Mix (6 weeks covered). This will eliminate the need of using vegging nutes, and also lower substantially the amount of flowering nutes and the amount of work of course (mixing each time the nutes, checking everything).

Now, either of the choices is good for me, but I prefer the 2nd one. Simply because you have to do less, and lesser things could go wrong. On the other hand, if the plants are transplanted too early into the bat mix, most probably they'll get some serious burns, which are harder to combat than if using a more sterile soil + nutes. I think my logic isn't flawed at this point, is it? Plagron's products seem to be very good but also very powerful, but they contain a large amount of fibers and perlite, which can only mean better water flow, better aeration and maybe other things.

Ok, so basically I'm now down to: BioBizz Light Mix (don't want to start in different soil just to go with All-Mix) or Plagron's Grow-Mix/Bat-Mix (in terms of soil). Still have to pick the nutes.

Good thing is, the Plagron's Bat Mix contains a lot of bat guano, which is rich in P and K, so a plus for the 2 thirds of the flowering period; also it's not that expensive either. Also they have the Royalty Mix, but that's like triple in price and I don't want to pay that crazy amout just for the soil. Better buying some meters and what not with the difference.

Ok, so I'm still eager to hear advice. Thanks!

have a look at canna terra professional soil mix. fairly easy to get a hold of in the u.k. if u just lookin to use 1 line of nutrients from seed to harvest id go with canna flores and canna vega, but would also reccomend u purchase pk13/14 to boost flowering. fox farm come highly recomended but im in the same position as u r, as in they r not available in the u.k. unless u pay ridiculous shipping costs to get them from the u.s. dont go with dutch masters, i repeat DO NOT GO WITH DUTCH MASTERS, low quality product(in my opinion).

I put seedlings into All-Mix all the time and i have no problems.