Just been shopping... tell me if I've bought the wrong stuff...

So first grow coming up want to get it right.

Havent even started the seeds yet.

Bought so far today

Some small cup sized pots for first week

some 5 inch pots for 2 weeks

Then there going outdoors

I bought a ph and soil tester basically two big spikes with a meter reader on top.

and heres where I'm not sure.

I bought some miracal grow potting mix "3 months of miracal grow feed built in"

Now I didnt know what soil to buy.. Is that stuff ok?

What about the feed bit.. I'm doing auto's that flower in 3 months so will I not need to feed them at all?

Helllllllp

Ok, I'll bite. First off, miracle grow will work, but by most growers standards the stuff is garbage. I've had good success with both fox farm ocean forest and with happy frog, and my own personal suggestion would be the happy frog, since it's not as "hot" as ocean forest, making it a better hoice for seedlings and young plants. Yes, the stuff runs about $20 a bag, but when it comes to soil you don't want to use the cheap stuff.

As for nutrients, yes, your plants are going to need nutrients if you want them to reach their full potential. I'm sure you soil has most of what they need, but not necessarily in the right quantities or ratios, which means the plant has to work harder to absorb it food. You can pick up a bottle of dyna grow general purpose at most garden shops for about $15, and you'll only need to use it once every week or two if your growing outdoors. I like it because it has all the micronutrients as well as a good NPK ratio, though you might want to add a supplement like jacks classic bloom booster ($4.95 a tub) during flowering. Don't bother giving them nutes until they've been transplanted for a week or two though, since a good quality potting soil will have more then enough to carry them for the first couple of weeks.

Thanks mate, great advise.

I think the first few goes they'll probably die on me but live and learn and all that!

I'll have a look for the products you've suggested... I'm in the UK though so dont know if they will differ

MG = a no no for autos. The "3 months" of feeding is all slow release ferts that can screw you when start feeding. best bet is to go back to a store and make your own mix, cheap and easy method is 1cuft bag compost $2, 1 8quart bag peat moss $2-$4, 1 8quart bag perlite $2-$4. So with ~$10 you get 3 times the amount of MG and is a lot better. or if you don't want to go that way buy a quality product like pro-mix or something by the Kellogg company or something that says organic on it. These usually out perform MG by leaps and bounds. Now as for the MG organic i haven't tried it but it is probably the best MG offers but is still far behind the competition imo.

Yeah I seen the MG organic plant food... Will go back and see what they have