zovoel
Active Member
Many seasoned growers out there tend to favor organic and soil-less mediums for the presumed benefits in yield, THC content, and overall flavor. It is widely recognized that hydroponic set-ups can be very successful when done correctly, as can chemical-free mixtures using all natural nutrients to sustain a growing plant. However, from what I have read so far, it is when people begin to use popular store-bought gardening soils like Scott's and Miracle Grow as their sole growing medium that many more problems begin to occur.
After reading countless posts and opinions on the matter, I decided to give one of these store bought potting soils a try. I currently have a 500 watt closet CFL grow underway, complete with homemade light fixture and soil mix in seven 5-gallon buckets. To achieve my perfect soil, I used a multi-layer mix to create a medium that not only helps nourish growth from seedling through flowering stage, but holds maximum moisture while draining effectively as well.
The first of these three ingredients I used was Miracle Grow Potting Soil, cheap and basic. Starting my dozen seeds in red solo cups, I soon realized this soil was very compact when dry, and allowed for minimal root growth. Because of this my plants stayed small, and had extreme difficulty sprouting even their first fan leaves. After almost a week at the same height and size, I realized I needed to create something much better if these plants had any chance of not just growing, but surviving.
After hours of research both online and at local home supply stores, I bought the components needed to make a tasty recipe for my struggling young seedlings. Since I put this mix together I have seen fantastic growth including new sets of fan leaves and nodes almost daily.
Starting from the ground up: Newspaper acts as a strong support and helps hold the contents of any bucket or pot from shifting during watering. As such, I used several pages, placing them at the bottom of each of my 5-gallon buckets.
Next: On top of the newspaper I added a generous amount of perlite for drainage, combined with another essential component, peat moss. Peat moss has been extremely helpful with my grow so far for its ability to retain moisture up to a certain point. More importantly, peat moss can retain that moisture long after the majority of water has drained or used by the plant. The third layer of this mix is the villain of so many stories, the clumpy and acidic miracle grow. After nutrient burning my babies leave tips while in red solo cups, I used about half as much miracle grow as I did peat moss and perlite. While most of the miracle grow used came from the brown organic bags, I was still able to find percentages on the bags showing higher levels of chemicals than I would have expected. After adding my miracle grow, I mixed these three ingredients together, having now filled up a third of the 5-gallon bucket. I did this same layering mix several more times in each bucket to fill them an inch from the top and planted my struggling seedlings in their new home. While it's obvious the roots needed more space to expand, what I didn't expect was how bushy each plant became in just two weeks of vegetating under 24 hours of light. In the first two weeks they were there, each plant gained an incredible height and width, the smallest towering over 8 inches tall and 16 inches wide.
Because I am using a dozen 42 watt CFLs, I believe their growth has been aided significantly from my homemade growing medium more than anything else. They've gotten so tall that I've topped four of them, and now have four times as many colas growing strong. Each of the three ingredients I used are Miracle Grow products, and with such great growth and no nutrient problems to date, I believe I've found a combination that anyone can have success with. When ph testing with a cheap test, I found the soil I was using to be slightly more acidic, between 5.7 and 6.1. However as it turns out, I found a great solution almost by accident. While shopping at Food Lion and Wal-Mart, I've discovered that store brand distilled water is almost perfectly 7.4. When combining my acidic soil mix with my base room temperature water, the result is a closet forest and a smell that knocks you back a step. (In a good way of course)
Good luck to anyone with their own garden endeavors and please feel free to check out my own progress in my grow journal on my profile page.
After reading countless posts and opinions on the matter, I decided to give one of these store bought potting soils a try. I currently have a 500 watt closet CFL grow underway, complete with homemade light fixture and soil mix in seven 5-gallon buckets. To achieve my perfect soil, I used a multi-layer mix to create a medium that not only helps nourish growth from seedling through flowering stage, but holds maximum moisture while draining effectively as well.
The first of these three ingredients I used was Miracle Grow Potting Soil, cheap and basic. Starting my dozen seeds in red solo cups, I soon realized this soil was very compact when dry, and allowed for minimal root growth. Because of this my plants stayed small, and had extreme difficulty sprouting even their first fan leaves. After almost a week at the same height and size, I realized I needed to create something much better if these plants had any chance of not just growing, but surviving.
After hours of research both online and at local home supply stores, I bought the components needed to make a tasty recipe for my struggling young seedlings. Since I put this mix together I have seen fantastic growth including new sets of fan leaves and nodes almost daily.
Starting from the ground up: Newspaper acts as a strong support and helps hold the contents of any bucket or pot from shifting during watering. As such, I used several pages, placing them at the bottom of each of my 5-gallon buckets.
Next: On top of the newspaper I added a generous amount of perlite for drainage, combined with another essential component, peat moss. Peat moss has been extremely helpful with my grow so far for its ability to retain moisture up to a certain point. More importantly, peat moss can retain that moisture long after the majority of water has drained or used by the plant. The third layer of this mix is the villain of so many stories, the clumpy and acidic miracle grow. After nutrient burning my babies leave tips while in red solo cups, I used about half as much miracle grow as I did peat moss and perlite. While most of the miracle grow used came from the brown organic bags, I was still able to find percentages on the bags showing higher levels of chemicals than I would have expected. After adding my miracle grow, I mixed these three ingredients together, having now filled up a third of the 5-gallon bucket. I did this same layering mix several more times in each bucket to fill them an inch from the top and planted my struggling seedlings in their new home. While it's obvious the roots needed more space to expand, what I didn't expect was how bushy each plant became in just two weeks of vegetating under 24 hours of light. In the first two weeks they were there, each plant gained an incredible height and width, the smallest towering over 8 inches tall and 16 inches wide.
Because I am using a dozen 42 watt CFLs, I believe their growth has been aided significantly from my homemade growing medium more than anything else. They've gotten so tall that I've topped four of them, and now have four times as many colas growing strong. Each of the three ingredients I used are Miracle Grow products, and with such great growth and no nutrient problems to date, I believe I've found a combination that anyone can have success with. When ph testing with a cheap test, I found the soil I was using to be slightly more acidic, between 5.7 and 6.1. However as it turns out, I found a great solution almost by accident. While shopping at Food Lion and Wal-Mart, I've discovered that store brand distilled water is almost perfectly 7.4. When combining my acidic soil mix with my base room temperature water, the result is a closet forest and a smell that knocks you back a step. (In a good way of course)
Good luck to anyone with their own garden endeavors and please feel free to check out my own progress in my grow journal on my profile page.
. it also doesn't have humic acid and all those things.. but nevertheless.. these are some nice mg grows.