Hello, This year im going to try a couple of small plots with 5-7 plants at two different areas. I found an unopened bucket of: Plant Prod-All Purpose Fertilizer (20-20-20). On the box it says is is a "concentrated water soluble fertilizer with micronutrients. I know im supposed to only do 1/4th or 1/3rd of the recommended fertilizer per litre of water, but how often should i water the plants using these fertilizers? And how often with just regular water? I will be growing in Kamloops, British Columbia, so it's quite dry, and the ground has some clay in it. Would i need to mix potting soil in with some of the regular dirt thats already there? Whats the best brand and how much will it cost? Will classic old miracle grow work? Also, how big should each hole be? I am planning to start them on cups right outside my house, then once they are big enough, i will plant them in the soil at my grow spot. Also, since im slightly low on money at the moment. are there any other fertilizers that are absolutely needed for the succesful growth of the plant? I read online that the last frost in Kamloops is around May 1rst, so how far after that should i start my seeds in cups?
Start 1-2 weeks after last frost. Don't mix peat and clay if you were planning on a soilless soilmix. Mix clay with sand and compost. Add wormcastings and manures too. Miracle Grow is not organic and slow release I think. Good luck.
Also, would it be smart to start them inside under some fluorescent lights? How long would i keep them inside for, and about when would i have start them indoors?
Yes, it would be a good idea to mix your potting mix with the natural dirt at your site. For my established outdoor plants, I add nutes about once a week depending on conditions. You will do fine starting with 1/4 or 1/3 strength and working up. Avoid the MG soil. Start your seedlings out with the floro, and then transition them to outdoors.
As Corto stated, if you got clay in your soil like I do, you can either replace it completely which tends to be quite expensive or just mix in compost (earthworm castings), some good manure and a little bit of blood meal and bone meal and some organic potting soil (try to avoid anything with slow release ferts). Try to go out to your site and dig a hole 1'x1'x1' and then take a bottle of water and fill the hole and see how long it takes for it to drain. If it takes longer than 15 minutes to drain you'll probably want to add some sand to it to help out with the drainage. Another great tip I got from people on here for clay soil is to make sure you keep a little mound in the middle of your hole so that if it rains a lot and you're soil doesn't drain quickly you're plant won't drown in your hole. Try to prep your soil if you can about 2 months prior to the time you plan on putting them in the ground, this will give your soil time to cool off if you're adding things like bone and blood meal. You can keep your plants in solo cups under those flouros until there are 3-5 leaf sets and then you can transplant them into the ground or into 3 gallon pots until they get to be about 3 feet tall. The only reason I'd suggest taking them from your cups indoors to pots outdoors to start is to keep them safe from animals if you have a lot out there. Once they reach 3 feet tall slugs and other little pests shouldn't do much damage, but make sure you know what is a possible predator to your plant and take precautions against those pests. If you use a potting soil that has slow release ferts then you are more likely to cause some nute burn when you're feeding them nute teas etc, if you decide to put them in pots just be sure to get some pot plugs to plug up 3/4 of the holes in the pots so that you won't have to water them everyday. Otherwise just be careful on not overwatering your plants and keep your nute teas to 1/4 strength to start and all should be good. Oh, also if you put mulch on top of your holes when you prep them or when you put your plants in the ground it will help to keep some moisture in the soil so you won't have to water as often. Hope that helps, good luck!