Hey all, I’m used to growing in coco with liquid nutrients, but for the first time I’m going to grow in either SoHum, or Coast of Maine Stonington Blend water only soil. What I’d like to know is if any of you guys or gals that have used water only soil, what is the time frame, and container size you use when transplanting to get the natural fade at the end of the flowering phase. I’ll be growing Alchemy, a 50/50 Sativa/Indica, seeds by SubCool, and I was thinking either a 10, or 15 gal. Cloth container. I’d appreciate any suggestions on the subject. Thanks. Mike.
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@Muleskinner has extensive knowledge of the Coast of Maine soils and it is worth checking in on his threads. Also @ReikoX is an overflowing wealth of information. Check his threads too fo sho.
There are also FAQ’s on soil related topics…
Keep seedin’
99
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Hi @99PerCent, thank you, that’s a big help. I appreciate it. Mike.
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It depends on how big the plant is really. A plant will naturally start to fade at the end of its life. The process is called senescence, and will happen regardless of how much nutrient is left.
Because of that, I would use the biggest pot size you can fit so you dont run out of nutrients at a critical stage of development.
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I woudn’t worry about transplanting times & stuff, the plants will tell you if they’re getting rootbound. yes, all plants “fade” at the end of flowering, the challenge is to keep them green as long as possible.
10-15 gallons is bigger than what I use. I veg in a 1 gallon pot till they show sex, then move to a 5 gallon pot and veg for another few days to two weeks, then start 12/12. You could sex in 1 gallon and move directly to the big one, just veg longer before 12/12. I still wouldn’t veg longer than about 2 weeks, there will be a massive growth spurt in the first 2.5 weeks of flower.
The COM guy told me that “Stonington” shouldn’t need added nutes for indoor crops, if the plant’s growing for 6+ months outdoor he said you might need to add some at the end.
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I have used Sohums, I vegged for 6 weeks in a 5 gal pots and they ran out of nutrients half way through flower. I use 10 gal pots now and make my own soil. So as others have said, keep your veg time on the short side, and try and keep to larger pots 5 gal or more, the bigger they are, the less you have to worry about water PH and running out of nutrients. Once you have a taste for organic living soil, make your own and save money Sohum is expensive.
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Wonderful, thanks very much, I just returned from Agway with 1 gal. plastic, and 15 gal. cloth pots so I guessed correctly. And your correct @Shadey, SoHum is expensive. The Agway here in the communist state of ct. just started getting all the Coast of Maine products, so I can at least save on the shipping costs. That will be my next project, too make my own soil. Would any of you recommend the super soil recipe that SubCool has, or is there something better to use? I’m sorry for all the questions but this is my first time attempting to do any type of organic growing. And thanks for letting me know that the fade happens on its own, I always thought I had to let all the nutrients either be used up, or flushed out. Thanks very much @ReikoX, @Muleskinner, and @Shadey.
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Re Ingredients for soil. It will probably be made of what you can source easily at a reasonable cost.
This is what I used to make up a soil recipe created by Clackamas Coot. Some things can be exchanged for others.
Mycorrhizaie Glomus intraradices is the only mycorrhizae you need, the rest dont work with Cannabis from what I have read.
2.25 cubic feet to a 15 gal pot.
1:1:1: mix ratio with, CSPM (Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss) : Pumice/Lava rock : Composted sheep manure split 50/50 with- EWC
Amended per cubic foot with:
1 cup Neem meal or Karanja
1 cup Kelp meal
1 cup Crab/Crustacean meal
1 cup MBP (Malted Barley Powder)
1/2 cup Gypsum (nice sulphur source)
5 cups Basalt ( Basalt gives 50% more minerals pound for pound compared to Glacial rock dust and has 2 more important minerals as well )
7 cups Biochar.
If you add worms and a cover crop, within 2 grow cycles it will virtually run itself, with very minimal needs other than a bit of tea, coconut water, malted barley powder, epsom salts, silica with watering.
The hardest part is, Leaving It The Fuck Alone, and trusting its going to do the job, and not keep messing with it, adding extra stuff that gets it out of balance lol.
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@Shadey, thanks, that soil recipe sounds good, easy stuff to find too.
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Hey @Shadey, I just looked up Basalt on Amazon, and further down on the product description they have that frequently bought together list, it’s Basalt, NeemSeed meal, and Kelp Meal. That must be a very popular recipe. If it didn’t get my attention before, it sure is now. Thanks again for typing that entire recipe for me.
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Run out of likes, no problem, I cut and pasted it from my grow file 
.
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All great recommendations above and welcome to OG @CouchKushn glad to have ya hear!
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Thanks @Tinytuttle,nice to meet you also. @Shadey either way, thanks for the effort, and the tips. I’m still getting used to this website, I keep forgetting about the like button…
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What do you all mean by “water only soil”? Meaning slow release nutes? Wouldn’t you have to start it months before a cannabis grow if you actually wanted everything to start breaking down and be available to the plants? Please Esplain, Lucy… 
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Hello @Meesh, no it’s not slow release nutrients, others are welcome to chime in, but this is what I know. There are 2 types of water only soils, “Hot Soil”, and
“Fully Amended Soil”. The Fully Amended has all the nutrients added and mixed in with the base soil. The Hot Soil also has all the required nutrients, but is too “Hot” or concentrated to plant directly into that soil, so Hot Soil is put into the bottom 1/3 to 1/2 of the growing container, then is filled the rest of the way with your base soil. When the plant is transplanted into this upper base soil the roots will grow and make their way down to the nutrient rich soil and take in what ever nutrients they require. The Fully Amended Soil has the nutrients and micro organisms mixed in with the soil, and plants are planted directly into the soil. Examples of some of the nutrients are, Blood Meal for Nitrogen, Bone Meal for Phosphorus, Epsom Salt for Magnesium, crushed Oyster Shells for Calcium, Earth Worm Castings for establishing the Micro Organisms that help make all the nutrients easier for the plants to absorb.
But as you stated, yes you do have to let the nutrients “cook” for a minimum of
30 days so the nutrients can breakdown and get the micro organisms established. If I missed anything I’m sure others will chime in. If you go on Utube and look for Hot Soil for Cannabis, you’ll get a good idea of what I’m trying to say, there are also some great recipes on this site also.
A good Fully Amended Soil that you can purchase and use right away is by a co. called Coast of Maine, the soil is called “Stonington Blend” Growers Choice. Check out their website, they give a great explanation of their soil, and other good products. I hope I didn’t confuse you too much, and I hope it helped a bit too.
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No you didn’t confuse me I think I confused myself. I was high af yesterday when I read this. For some reason I was thrown off by the term water only. As if there would be no nutrients used at all. I realize now you just meant slow releases already mixed in the soil. Duh!
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LOL, that’s all good. Nice to have talked to @Meesh. Have an awesome day. Mike.
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