1st time grower, not commercial, planning on growing indoors, in soil without fertilizers… Not interested in quantity… Aims: good quality bud, seed production for future crops… I know there's a few good soil mixes out there (Miracle Grow, Sunshine Mix, etc…) and most of them will say “our mix is guaranteed to provide your plants with all the necessary nutrients for at least 3 yrs… blah, blah…†and I know about the NPK components, so I always look for those on the back of soil packages… My 1st question comes down to the PH: If I use a soil mix, how will its PH vary in time (taking into account the PH of the water I use), how can I measure the soil PH and the water PH, and what are some of the things I can do to control the PH if problems arise? 2nd question: Can I grow decent quality bud in soil only, without fertilizing? Thanx in advance, I really appreciate your guys' advice…
1) Ph will fluctuate. w/ soil you shouldn't have to worry about Ph. add some dolimite lime to the mix (don't know how much). would stil be a Good idea to get a tester. 2) maybe!?! most potting soil mixes have slow release ferts in them. don't know of any that will last 3 years. my grow is all personal. well kinda. do some tradin w/ buds for buds sometimes. I still want the best & most that I can get. you'll be waisting time & $ growing a couple scragly plants yeilding 10g each & may stress em into male or hermies. get some cheap ferts. I use 'expert gardener', cheaper & better than miracle grow.
OK, thanx, Well, of course I'm not plannin' on growing "a couple of scragly plants", I do have some Jack Herer seeds.. my grow will probably have up to 10 plants... Is 'expert gardner' a soil mix, you mean? As for the ferts, I seriously don't desire them, as a matter of fact, a lot of veteran small batch growers are moving towards organic too, so... I guess they know what they're doing...
go to home depot or lowes or garden center and get the cheapest potting soil they have. they should have sumthing called 'pro mix" http://www.living-learning.com/store/containers/premier soil.htm looks like that^^^. this is for 1 full cycle and throw the soil out and get summore promix. no muss no fuss and its easy. as to ferts, fert it in the later stages of veg thru flowering with a weak ass dose of ferts. ask us when u get that far. u can try to f' around if u want but this is the easest. u can worry bout soil improvements later. by ur third round, ull be growin bubble buckets with uniot anyhow