so I got this spot but i want to grow 25+ plants.. but that is a lot of soil to facking haul. So I was thinking of working the soil and adding nutrient products and the like. what kind of stuff do I need? and how much do I use?
[quote name='"jaykewashere"']Buy 50-100 bucks worth of top soil it will pay off[/quote] I'll have to agree. With this grasshopper here. It does pay off. I've been growing outdoors here in Cali sun. And the soil really does make a difference. All I can tell you is to make sure your soil stays moist.
I plan on buying maybe 10 huge bags.. thats 10 trips. 10km trip 1 way by tricycle so just 200km travel just to bring 10 big bags..
haul in perlite (very light weight) , peat (weight depends), lime (heavy) (or some soil mix like FFOF or Promix) and green ferts (soybean meal, cotton seed meal, alfalfa meal...) + some slow release ferts (organic) + miccorhyze. In bold would be the minimum. Also, to reduce the weight of the peat or the soilless mix, you can put it in a room with dehydrators for a few weeks, months to dry it out and make it lighter to haul. You can also use compressed coco bricks (use a bag on the spot with water). this doesn't go well with miccorhyze apparently (trichoderma from the coco or other eat miccorhyze so it's no good) Use few bricks if you got micco and trichos together. Since you are on foot, I would reduce the number of plants and give more soil per plant to get bigger so stronger plants, higher total yields (more soil per plant yields more than more plants with less soil). In other words, if you grow 4 plants in a lot of soil or 1 plant with that same amount of soil, they will yield about the same for the effort of hauling. It is also less risky and easier to hide. Imo, there is no need to use a lot of native soil as it may need to be tested before using it in quantities. I just haul it all in personally. Hauling is when you can get burnt so it shouldn't last too long and be a problem (appraoch by car when no one's around...). 20 gallons per plant is good. I go for 40 gallons by hauling little by little in the evening or early morning for 8 or 10 plants max.