This will be my first time growing and I want to make sure I do it right. I read so much material on the various methods. Something that always seems to be left out is the costs of materials. I want to get the largest yield possible, of course. I live in the 40th parallel and want to grow both Northern lights and Master Kush strains. I'm starting them off in solo cups, transfering them to 3-4 gallon smart pots then into 3'x 3'x 3' holes. For a high yielding soil mix... how much would material cost range for 10-15 plants?
Your cost could greatly depend, humus source and soil ammendments seem to be the most costly followed by cost of seeds if not using clones IMO. I would recommend you use a simple mix for your first grow and remember less is usually more, a common mistake first season growers make is overdoing everything which can lead to nutrient lockout and pH swings. A base soil mix I like has 30% organic humus source, 40% soil loosener/moisture retention like sphagnum peat moss or coco coir (or both) and 30% airation which perlite and vermiculite are for. There are other base materials that can be substituted like black leaf mold compost as soil loosener/moisture retention and rice hulls instead of perlite (may be cheaper too). Here is a good recipe I have used to grow large plants of high quality, this mix might seem Simple but trust me its a very effective mix used many times on a budget. 20% wormcastings 10% aged/composted chicken manure 40% sphagnum peat moss 20% perlite 10% vermiculite That's the base mix, to every cubic ft of soil mix (roughly 7 gallons of soil is a cubic ft) add the following... 1 cup alfalfa meal 1 cup fish meal 1/2 cup kelp meal 1/2 cup bone meal or high p bat guano 1/2 cup crab shell meal 1/2 cup neem seed cake Powdered rock minerals/pH buffers 2 cups glacier rock dust 1 cup soft rock phosphate 1/2 cup azomite 1/2 cup domolite lime 1/2 cup gypsum 1/2 greensand 1/4 cup epsum salt All these ingredients are not mandatory and can be substituted. I have left some completely out my mix before with good results so don't beat yourself up if u can't find certain products.