What do you guys think about this article on soil growing?

Soil is pretty simple to grow in if you know a few basic things. Let me start off by first saying that soils claiming that they have added fertilizer's with extended releases are no good! You do not want a soil that is releasing too much of any nutrient to your young seedlings. The best types of soil to get are “organic” mixes. Seasoned growers will argue that all the soils available at chain stores such as Walmart and Home Depot are virtually no good, but a fine potent flower CAN be grown from these soils as long as you choose carefully. You want the ingredients of the mix to be something like sphagnum peat moss, humus/composted manure, and perlite. These are the basics of an organic growing medium, and some people like to select and mix these ingredients their selves but we'll look into that in a future post. The most important thing is that your soil has no extended release chemical fertilizers in it. If ordering soil online is an option for you, or you have a good grow store near by, many people swear by the Fox Farm line of soil, particularly FoxFarm FX14053 12-Quart Ocean Forest Organic Potting Soil for weed growing.

Once you have a good soil mix selected, it's time to make sure the pH is neutral or close to it. Marijuana likes to grow in soil that is between 6.3 and 6.7. Give or take a few tenths and you should probably be ok. pH levels too high or too low can cause what's called “nutrient lockout” and this will cause your plant to not grow well or maybe even die. There are a few ways of checking soil pH. The most accurate way of testing is with a quality pH meter. You would pH your water to somewhere near 6.3, water your plant and then check the runoff water (water coming out the bottom while watering) pH. After you determine the pH you adjust the ingoing water as needed to balance it out. If the pH is too low, water with a higher pH and vice versa. A lot of people rave about adding a supplement called dolomite lime to their soil mixes to help keep a balanced pH, so that's something to consider. A good quality pH meter that will last and stay accurate will run you at LEAST $40, and honestly the best meters cost around $80 or more. I advise you not to skimp out here because it really does make a giant difference. A good model of pH tester that's on the cheap side is the Oakton EcoTestr pH 2 Waterproof pH Tester, 0.0 to 14.0 pH Range. A high quality model in the $80 range is the Bluelab pH Pen. An easier, cheaper way to check the pH is by using a pH drop testing kit. This is however very vague and lacks accuracy. It is of course possible to grow fine herb without sophisticated pH equipment, but to have that extra guarantee and control never hurts! Plenty of growers do not use fancy pH equipment and do just fine, but a lot of beginners have problems with pH, and without some sort of testing method you have no way of knowing what the problem is! So in short, invest in some kind of pH testing equipment, we all want the most potent product anyway!

Over time, your plants will grow more mature and use up the resources in the soil. Weed plants need healthy levels of N, P and K to grow at their greatest potential. N stands for Nitrogen, P for Phosphorus and K for potassium. All fertilizers have an NPK ratio on them, something like 10-10-10, 10-5-10, etc. Plant feeding is a subject where every grower has their own opinion, but their are some basic guidelines.During the vegetative state of the plant, you want higher levels of nitrogen and lower levels of P and K. During flower you want the opposite. An example of a good vegging ratio would be 10-5-5. An example of a good flowering ratio would be 10-30-20. The Fox Farm FX14049 Liquid Nutrient Trio Soil Formula: Big Bloom, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom (Pack of 3 – 32 oz. bottles) is always HIGHLY recommended but any nutrients with an appropriate ratio should do. Check out the fox farm line below! It works great!
In conclusion, it can be said that growing in soil is one of the simplest ways to grow any plant. What you decide to grow in is going to be your decision, and if you're not totally sold on soil then check out some of the other posts in this category about other marijuana growing mediums!

link: Growing Weed In Soil |


Is it a good article? I found it earlier while doing research

 

You guys think aside from the fox farm stuff its good info though? I mean it doesnt say you have to use fox farm lol. I wanna go organic and avoid the ph bullshit but I just have to do a little more research.