questions about soil mixture

all purpose potting soil usually means time release fertilizer
some have luck with this kind of soil, some do not, it can be very unforgiving to new growers
if you've already laid out the investment for lights, soil isn't much more

thanks man...so basically i dont need all purpose because i have a couple diff kinds of nutes i can add myself right?? what kind of soil would you recommend???

yeah, that sounds right, preferted soils release nutes as they see fit, which may or may not be good for MJ
basically, a soil that is composed of compost and peat moss is the least 'hot' for getting started
they won't burn your young plants, Promix is used by many, widely available
the soil i use isn't used by too many here, MG Organic Garden(not MG Organic Potting)
it can work well, but it has some tricks
i add 15% perlite, 1 tbsp bone meal(MG Organic 6-9-0) per gallon soil, and 1 tbsp dolomite per gallon soil
MG Organic garden is quite acidic, you need the perlite and dolomite to tame it
it also has the unwelcome fungus gnats, which aren't a disaster but are a nuisance
i bake the soil lightly and bye-bye gnats
the Fox Farms soils are much loved here, they are more expensive and can be harder to find

I like to use fox farm ocean mix with about 20% big and chunky perlite added. All ph balanced and ready to go. I like to add a good soil drench a day or 2 before planting of maxicrop liquid kelp and fish hydrolysate / fish emulsion(50/50) , mix per directions, and aerated in a bucket with a pump and air stones for 12-24 hrs, ph and go. Lazy soil food web compost tea.(no compost) =)

bts - i have heard alot of good things about fox farm from quite a few people, and the last 2 trainwrecks seeds i planted (about 4days old) i also drenched my soil about 2days before planting but i just drench with filtered room temp water. that was kind of just an educated guess...i see that you added some supplements to yours but do you think that what i did was better than planting in dry soil?? thanks alot for your adivce much appreciated... check out my grow sometime... SMOKE UP

growone - thank you for that..it was very helpful. just a couple questions..peat moss is not something i have (yet) now that i kno it is recommended i will go purchase it. with that said what kinda ratio approx. am i looking at soil/peat moss. with that said when you mentioned the gnats inwhich im sure i will encounter at some point, you mentioned that you baked the soil lightly...what exactly does that mean? i have a couple thoughts as to what that could mean but i would appreciate what it is exactly i need to do. again thank you both for your tips and advice. SMOKE UP

you may not need peat moss directly, it's usually a part of the soil you buy
MG Organic Garden already has peat moss in it as part of the mix
if you do buy peat moss, that usually means you're doing your own soil mix
you can find recipes on here, typically peat moss is mixed with composted manure, ratios i don't have off hand
and baking is literally baking in a oven, 200 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes
you don't have to bake, there are other fungus gnats treatments like neem oil
i do it because the fewer pesticides(even organic) the better, it works well for small batches of soil

this may sound very stupid but your talking about baking your soil at 200F for 30min...how do you do that without killing your plant??? do you bake a whole new batch of soil than transplant??? im sure that sound dumb but i am a little confused. and about the soil and peat moss...i checked the info on my soil bags and it does have peat moss in it. it does not specify how much tho and i can see the perlite in it. i kno i keep going on and on about the soil but im sure its a big deal considdering this is where the pot grows from. i plan on adding some perlite to the mix no matter wat kinda soil i go with...but wen it comes to peat moss im assuming ill just have to wing it. and about the manure i have heard about that quite a few times...i heard worm shit does very well too. and i have chickens, and goats and a few other animals down in my yard. if i could use some of their manure it would b free and always available. i guess i will look into that tonight and post my findings...again thnx bro

i bake my soil before using it, it would kill a plant if you shoved it inside the oven
be very careful of raw manure, it can burn the crap out of young plants(pun intended)
it is composted manure that many soil mixtures are made from
sounds like you have the raw materials
for percentages of peat moss, perlite, check out the organic forum, plenty of examples there