[brokencage]

Originally Posted by fdebozo

mike837,

not to sound harsh but that plant wasnt looking like it was going to "grow anywhere" in that soil... is that even soil? it looks really compacted and doesnt' look like it has good drainage anyway. it doesn't look like a good growing medium. you want to make a soil mix that has good water retention but also needs to be able to drain excess water effectively.

technically this is hydro, but try getting a good ratio of peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite (a soil-less mix) and fertilize the water you will feed to the plant. also, in this way you can be sure what you are giving your plants at all times through checking the llevels of ppm/ph in the water as opposed to trying to check the actual grow medium. also this is great because you can flush the medium and start from scratch any time you like, making correcting things like overfeeding VERY easy and simple... basically, flushing will let you start w/ a clean slate on the feeding side of things!

anyway, good luck on the PC box build!

Good advise.A simple vermiculite and perlite mix is also very very easy to maintain.I don't know why people tell beginners to start with soil.it is not easier.