I plan on taking my germinated seeds and planting them in Foxfarms Ocean Forest, which will be in Sunleaves root pots. When they are ready for transplant, I plan on planting the pots themselves into 5 gallon pots filled with Ocean Forest. The root pots are advertised as allowing easy penetration of the roots through the pots themselves. It seems like an easy and less messy way of transplanting. Is this ok, or should I be thinking of doing it different? Also, should I mix some perlite into the foxfarm ocean forest mix in the 5 gallon pots, and should I put some straight large perlite at the bottom of the pots to aid in drainage and help eliminate any chance of the mix becoming compact and muddy at the bottom of the pots. This will be my first real grow and I want it to go right. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'll certainly have more questions as I get farther into the process. Thanks.
FF Ocean forest has a lot of organic nutrients in it which COULD be problematic for some seedlings. Try mixing it with a 1/3 Perlite for drainage and to "dilute it" if you will. What pots are you talking about? Are they those peat pots? Those are not great. You are best to just use a good solid plastic pot and go through the trouble of transplanting properly. I would not recommend taking any shortcuts as weed can be a pretty fastidious plant.
These pots. http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproducts.asp?subID=47&catID=21 Also, would it help to have something like silica stone in the bottom of my 5 gallon pots for drainage and to keep the medium from becoming muddy? And if ocean forest is too nutrient rich for seedlings, would just a straight organic potting soil be preferable for the seedlings?
Hey man, Don't use those pots. The general consensus is those are not good for growing weed. If you want to put your petunias in there, grow for it. Just use good old hard plastic pots. They are easy to clean, re-usable, will keep the roots in and not keep excess moisture in. Secondly yes, some kind of stones like peat gravel at the bottom inch or so of the pots are great for drainage. Organic soil is good for seedlings but, remember it should be free of any worm castings, guano etc or at least have very small amounts of them for the first three weeks of life.