I bought some miracle gro soil to plant my clone in to start off with it was really soft and spongy, but now I feel like it isnt draining well at all. I tried to check the drainage with my new ph tester, and the water just floated on top of the soil for a good two-three mins or so. Shoudl I stop using this soil? Any thoughts? I didnt mix with perlite.
Yeah the dude is right miracle grow sucks for what your doing. Get some other soil that has worm castings and act guano and add perlite
If you have to use cheap soil, add perlite. Ive had soil so bad, uoi coild mix in 60% perlite and it still wouldnt drain well. Miracle grow sucks overall, I wont even grow veggies in it because of so many problems. I do like fox farms, but realize not everyone has access or funds. Just about any large city will have a real gardening store though, with something better than miracle grow.
Miracle Grow doesn't suck at all, it's a great soil for veggies, phenomenal for flowers,.. just not made for Cannabis. Comes with time release nutes that can burn when they kick in.
iv seen it used sucssesfully there just so many variables that could affect your end product tho :/ i would def stop using MG around the time i induced budding so you dont contaminate your bud with MG
what's so phenomenal about MG for flowers? I seriously doubt that. then again I also doubt how phenomenal most chemical ferilizers are but there are endless testimonials for them.
My wife built a grotto next to the pool that we use MG in every year. From their potting soil to their feed. The compliments never stop. If YOU can't get them to grow, maybe we can help, but it's time to stop blaming the soil.
I built a big raised bed out in front of the house and a small grotto next to the pool for the wife to go nuts in every spring. She uses MG potting soil and nutes on the flowers and "dynamite" on all the greens and it looks amazing every year. The compliments never stop. Not sure why that's so hard for you to believe. If you can't get similar results, maybe we can help, or maybe you could stop blaming the soil and look a little deeper for your issue.
Yes, MG is not what you want to be using for MMJ. Ever. I know it's cheap, I know it's readily available. It's made for potted plants and growing things that I wouldn't eat. MMJ is different and it needs to be treated differently. Take some time to read up on how to grow before you start growing. I'd strongly recommend you read a botany book or Marijuana Horticulture. Personally, I use Advanced Nutrients in a hydro setup, and it works for me. Good luck!
Buy "Pro-Mix" HP...it's the best shiite money can buy! or Sunshine mix #4. Pro mix is 25% perlite and has micorsise right in the mix!!!
Thank you everyone. My plant is still young and seems to be growing fine, but Ill go to the store, and replace the soil. Another question. What is the consequences of switching out the soil? Should I just do it asap?
Thanks for all the suggestions I just got the cannibis bible looks like i need 20-20-20 soil with some perlite in there. ?
If you go with the pro-mix suggestion just make sure you add lime and ph your pots before planting in them. HP is roughly 4.5-5.5 out of the bag, need to get that runoff up to 6.5 before planting
[quote name='"PlantEngineer"']If you go with the pro-mix suggestion just make sure you add lime and ph your pots before planting in them. HP is roughly 4.5-5.5 out of the bag, need to get that runoff up to 6.5 before planting[/quote] I just used promix hp for my first grow and highly recommend it. I added a little extra perlite and some worm castings and have had great success.....the stuff drains well and is almost impossible to overwater as it gets super light when dry, it's obvious when they need a watering. I disagree with the part about bringing runoff ph up to 6.5 though, after doing a lot of pre grow research, I found a lot of recommendations to run soiless mixes (which promix is) at a lower ph than standard soil. There is some debate on the subject, but I read lots of journals In which growers aimed for a runoff of 5.8-6.2. I kept mine from 5.8 and 6.0 (watering at 6.3 ish) and the ladies loved it. Definitely add extra lime on top of what is already included in promix Hp though.....I added a little extra and still had my ph dip a bit in week 4-5 of flower as the peat started to break down and acidify. I top dressed some lime to fix the issue but will just add more to my mix next round. Other than this, the stuff is very ph stable.....runoff was within .2 ph for my entire grow other than the blip latest in flower. No lockout/ph issues at all Don't worry too much about the ph of the promix out of the bag, mine tested at 5.3, but was up to 6.0 after a couple of waterings....takes a bit for the line to activate and the ph to settle out. If you are transplanting Nd want to avoid shock from a sudden change in ph, add some lime and water the mix with straight RO water a week before transplant and this will have the ph up by the time you want to repot. Can't say enough good things about promix, very newbie friendly! Good luck! The exact mix I used is in the journal in my sig if you need it.
Just wanted to add that if you use promix, go easy on the ferts.....peat based mediums accumulate salts pretty quickly. I fed lightly every second watering and flushed well when I switched to bloom nutes, worked well for me.