I'm getting an outdoor grow going and i already have the seeds germinating and i'm planning on putting them in dixie cups for a little over a week and then transplanting them into the ground. currently i have a bag of orgnanic soil with a .06-.09-.06 that i plan on putting the seedlings into. will this be fine to put seedlings into? what ratio should i look for in a soil (i can't find fox farms around here)? and can any one help me better understand the relationship between adding nutrients to the soil and the n-p-k ration that it has in it? I got the week organic soil under the premise that i could add nutes if it was too week to be effective. thanks in advance
I germinate my seeds in a 4" pot with regular potting soil and transplant them into 3.5gal pots after a week. That tap root can grow an inch a day. For the pots I use a 50/50 mixture of the soil I'm going to plant them in and an organic composition. They go in the ground after sexing in 3' x 3' holes filled, this year, with a organic composition from the local grange co-op having about the same ingredients as Fox Farms Ocean Forest. I don't use any nutes until our summer heat begins, normally in July. At that point I periodically (once a week) add a solution high in nitrogen until flowering begins and then back off the nitrogen.
As Madodah said, don't use a soil with ferts until 1 month (will kill them). They're ready to go out when the stem is a little thick and bendable. Mine are 3 weeks old (planted on April 25, sprouted on May 1). They only get 4-5 hours direct sun (alll I got!) and will be ready to take out on June 15th , 45 days old NOT 1 week, I think 3 weeks (with my 4 hour set up) is a minimum. It's much quicker to start inside under CFLs or fluos: they'll be ready to take out after 1 month. No nutes until July is what I think too. Keep the organic ferted soil for the holes/pots, use simple fert free potting soil to begin. Then place the 1 month old plant in ferted soil (I use old compost as base and place manure/meals (careful blood meal attracts pests if mixed up. You can use it as topping no problem though. I place it a bottom: not a lot of pests normally here). Blood meal has N (can be replaced with high N bat guano or coffee grounds), bone meal has P (don't use high P bat guano -not liked by micro organisms), kelp has K (those 3 at the bottom). I also mix the base with some rock phosphate, kelp and a general organic fert (3-3-8). Then I mainly use aerated compost teas to stimulate the micro organisms who eat the nutes, breaking them up for the plant, and who also protect the plant among other benefits. Let the soil cook for 2-3 weeks min. prior to putting in plant. You can also make veg. or flow. oriented teas. This is if you want it all organic.