I've been using organic kelloggs potting soil mix, has a shit ton of wood chips and I don't like it... there's a nursery across the street from my house, literally. I decided to stop in and was amazed that they had these.. now, what would you guys say to do? Use happy frog Fox farms (heard it's very strong) That soil bag Or but perlite and moss and worm castings and make my own? Also, what's the ratio of worm castings and what would be the purpose of using them? Thinking about Adding to already in ground plant
Which kellogs was it? Was it the red and white striped bag that comes with 3cubic feet for like 5 bucks? That's what I bought and pretty happy with it. Def not meant for seedlings cuz of all the wood but the bat guano and worm castings work. I bought foxfarm, and promix hp to experiment with to see if I can save loads of money for the next grow. I'm super skeptical about everything and not really a huge believer in "you get what u pay for". Turns out this kellogs stuff is good. In the middle is kellogs, to the left is promix and to the right is foxfarm (back wall, the wall of plants closest to you is all FFOF. All came off the same motherplant and identical. Notice how they're indentical. Difference is negligible in growth. Price difference was enormous tho. Maybe the promix looks a little smaller. Could be that it comes with nothing but myco from factory. Foxfarm is amended from factory.
Also haven't experienced any deficiency or pH issues of any kind. Obviously when the soil comes amended you don't want to use full strength nutes (lol actually this might not seem obvious to a lot of people, prob why they overdose). I used full strength on the promix from the beginning. I thought that was gonna give the promix an advantage. Turns out no... The amended stuff from kellogs and ffof was better.
Take that back. Not better. Difference is somewhat negligable but price difference isn't. So going with kellogs next time
Can't beat 3cubic feet for 5bucks. Amended with bunch of good stuff too. One thing I will add is that the promix already has perlite which I had to buy extra on the side for the kellogs. Either way I was gonna do it. The promix comes with tiny perlite balls. I wanted size four mother Earth style perlite balls (outdoors, larger pot)
That's my issue with Kellogs man, barely any perlite and some bags have a bunch of wood chips and some don't.. I'm not knocking Kellogs at all, that is my go too before anything.. just wanting to try something different and more, appropriate in a sense..
I used the red and yellow striped.. this last one I bought the patio mix, green and yellow stripes.. and it has wayyyyyy more wood chips then the red and yellow one. Amended meaning pre mixed? I heard that the fox farm ocean forest is high in nutes or something like that.. or that is posed a problem for some
The promix was 32 bucks for 3.8cubic feet. Kellogs red and white striped bag was 5.99 for 3cubic feet. Foxfarm Ocean Forrest was $11 for 1.5cubic feet. I guess if you do the math with a common denominator of 6cubic feet it would be $50 promix, $44 Foxfarm, and $12 kellogs.
Yea when it's amended it means it already has nutes in it. I can see how a rookie would have issues by feeding plant the second they transplant into foxfarm. The PPMs would be sky high. Best way to get around this is to literally just use water for first two weeks at least. The bag tells you too that it comes with stuff. When people go all out with full doses I'm like, "wtf, really, did u not see the label lol".
Some people go as far as "washing their soil" but then why buy amended soil I the first place? In that case it would have been optimal to go with promix which doesn't have anything. Washing is really common with Coco growers. Btw have you looked into that? Coco is nice too. Plants get pretty huge pretty quick.
I don't know the exact term used but by washing medium you deplete the PPMs that are in it to ensure little to no surprises. I don't mind surprises. I feed off what the plant is telling me regardless.
I think it depends where u buy your stuff too. I bought my soil in San Diego, California. I think the contents vary by state. Forgot to mention this. I guess my example isn't exactly applicable to everyone. Maybe just Californians
I think it has to do with how fine it is. The roots barely have to put in any work to move through the medium. Also drains quick, and lots of oxygen. Way more forgiving too. Flushing soil will tend to just waterlog it. With Coco it'll still breath
I've never waterlogged a soil grow Really just depends how aerated the soil is is all and of course drainage holes in the container... as for the roots moving through coco easier yep most people consider it a form of hydro since the growth rates comparable in both environments. Robs New Journal RQS SQ#1 Clones
I'd imagine you can. Idk if I'd want to go through the trouble of tuning in the doses of nutes on a 9 foot tree though haha I think I'd rather do me a nice organic soil in a 30-40 gallon container or bigger... but that's me I mean it's all preference shit I seen some grows on here recently with outdoor hydro making due just fine. But for now I'm stuck with indoors anyhow haha Robs New Journal RQS SQ#1 Clones