I'm jealous of soil growers

[Syn]

can use promix in it, i use coco for the reusability

even with the promix its still dry af for the first 3 inches of the top of the medium

the only way the top is wet is if you cut down the bag size of the octopot, instead of 18 inches you brought it down to 12 inches, then yes itll be wet

the height of the bag has play with how dry the top layer is. if you fill the bag to spec, itll be dry, if you roll the bag down a few inches, itll be wetter

@Rogue

but that’s not soil, which this thread is about.

your right but the OP commented on switching back to hydro, so i offered the best of both worlds. you get to grow in soil or soilless medium and still get to do the hydro part.

[Rogue]

Yeah, makes sense!
I used regular pots, if they would’ve been narrower or higher it would’ve worked!

[grief]

I love coco but fungus gnats piss me off. I’ve found them in MOST brands, canna, flora flex, general hydro. A little nematodes fixes that right up. But my ogs eat up whatever mag is in soil. If I add new soil it lasts about one month. Then I top dress and have to wait until it gets broken down by microbes. The plants grow healthier in soil but slower. Peat is a pain in the ass too. Soil is too much work imho. Coco and jacks 321 is simple kiss. I’ve grown a few pure organic soil grows and cannot tell the difference between soil vs hydro. It’s all about the cure imho.
I still use organic soil but only for mothers or when I want to grow moms slow and healthy. I don’t put ogs in organic as I don’t know how and when to top dress. May revisit organic feeding/top dressing in the future.

[Syn]

@grief

I love coco but fungus gnats piss me off

knock on wood no gnats on my end

[lefthandseeds]

@Foreigner

Does Promix count as soil?

AFAIK it’s considered soil-less! Or even a soil amendment.

[Rogue]

Soil is the least amount of work, ever.
May wanna check my grow journal.
You’ll either be disgusted or inspired.
Sometimes I don’t water for weeks.

[Syn]

@lefthandseeds

Or even a soil amendment.

Soil mediums are composed of what we normally think of as dirt. They contain structural elements like peat or coco and aeration elements like perlite or pumice. What makes them special is an element called humus––basically, decomposed organic matter that is incredibly rich in macro– and micronutrients. Rich soil–based mediums contain all the nutrition a plant will need during the course of its lifecycle. Here, the farmer is not supplying food directly to the plant; instead, the plant is drawing food from the soil itself. It is the farmer’s job in this case to build and maintain a healthy balance of living biologicals that keep the soil active and fertile. Soil–grown plants often yield slightly less than plants grown by other methods, but these plants also tend to express their individual genomic traits quite readily, and seem to have a better overall taste and smoke.

[LabRat]

I’m basically the same as you Bammer. Could not keep plants growing decent in soil so in '01 came up with my own DWC and that worked great.

The last few years I’ve been experimenting with growing more organically using ProMix HP for a base and adding stuff like manures to it and that seems to ne going good for the most part.

Grew some autos outside in the garden last year in that type of mix and the Mazarilla from Urban_Legends I got from an auction here did great. Expanding this year and moving my grow spot further out in the yard to get full sun all day so hope to increase my yields from the 6oz/plant I got last year. Too far north for regular plants to finish before the snow flies so autos it is. Need a good all CBD auto strain yet but working on that.

This is what I’m using now for indoor plants in 4gal pots.

Supplement Mix March2421 For 120L Promix HP

6 cups each:

Steer Manure from local co-op
Sheep Manure from local co-op
Mushroom Manure from local co-op
2 cups worm castings
2 cups Bone Meal 2-12-0
1 cup activated carbon powder
25ml PyroClay 58% silica and many trace elements
150ml Ghia Green Kelp Meal 1-0-2
25g DynoMyco

Mixed all that together and used 2 cups for each 10L batch I mixed up in a rubbermaid tub along with 1tsp flowers of sulphur in each batch. Was going to use 4 cups but glad I halved that as my sensitive plants are showing signs of nute burn a bit.

[Pawsfodocaws]

I started growing in soil and never quit, lots of reading and learning from mistakes. Still learning to this day. I love soil and will probably never stray far from this medium for full grows.

Paws

[Flylowgethigh]

That ‘Octopot’ is pretty close to the SWICK system. I use 10 gallon bags of soil on a perlite bed, with 4 tubs in a 4 x 4 tent. The watering is automatic by pumping into the outside ring of my control box, where the taps to the tubs are. There is an inner tub with a pump/float valve to return the overflow to the reservoir. This works great.

I call it a ‘waterfall’ control box, because the water that is pumped to the outer ring, where the taps to the tubs are, will waterfall into the return tub. The level of the water in the tubs is kept very even. If a stopper is put in a hole at the bottom of the inner tub side wall, the whole system can be drained when the pump empties it out back to the reservoir.

This is scalable to more pots.

https://www.icmag.com/forum/marijuana-growing/organic-soil/378704-you-gotta-sip-not-slurp?p=12562418#post12562418

Below is the system after a year in use (better waterfall tub), opened up after cleaning. Click the pic a few times to zoom and see the water level.

As for growing in soil, it is all I know and I just started. This worked for me, and is getting better. Sorry about the off-site links mods…

A couple more posts down is the bags in the soil. You have to top water until there are enough roots to suck up water. The cover crop helps get surface root activity and makes the top moister. Later, the top will be dry between top watering… Also the young plant is drinking mostly from the leaves, so have a wet VPD. I start at T5 levels of umoles (90ish) with such a small plant, and increase as the roots can handle more LED power. A good top soak once the leaves are well over the pot edge is about 10% of the soil volume - 1 gallon. They will drink that much a day in mid-late veg. More drainage aids in the soil wicking up moisture, and making a wetter soil gradient. Vermeculite works well also, and rice hulls, and volcano rocks, and…

https://www.icmag.com/forum/marijuana-growing/grow-diaries/18079604-run-5-grimm-situation-in-the-big-tent?p=18093041#post18093041

I top water when I feed and add microbes. Otherwise the reservoir is pH to 6.3ish, and cal-mag added, sometimes a tad of epsom salts - depending.

This system of soil and watering is like cheating. Microbes make the system work. I visualize it like a Walmart, where the shelves are all stocked with amendments, and the microbes are stuffing the carts as people go by, with just what they ask for. I keep the shelves stockes and the microbes happy.

I will stick my neck out a little further with another ICMag link to soil. I use this 3 way (compost, drainage, fluff) base with a bunch of amendments from Build-a-soil. I use a lot of their top dress also. I have two 100 gallon tubs to support 8 10gallon bags, and amend/‘cook’ while the other half is growing. The soil is recycled and re-used.

https://www.icmag.com/forum/marijuana-growing/organic-soil/241125-living-organic-soil-from-start-through-recycling?t=241964

One thing I do is pH my soil to almost 8 with lime and some oyster, and use 6.3 acidic water. When the microbes are really doing their thing, the same pH probe that read almost 8 in the tub, will read under 4 with good root activity. I call that ‘sparking’, and to me is is a sign that ions are transferring.

While I am pissing off mods already… this is a good hobby to have too.

https://www.icmag.com/forum/marijuana-growing/organic-soil/55608-worming-101?s=076328f9384da1d8a16e7a6214dd3a3c&t=60422

[Rogue]

Feed life with life.

Let’s not forget about Nitrogen fixing cover crops like vetch and clover.

Think like a forest.

Geoff Lawton is like the Bob Ross of gardening / permaculture.

And Paul Stamets the Gandalf of the mushrooms / fungal field.

[rooted]

Yeah I’ve always run soil just cause that’s what they grow in naturally. I’ve thought hard at hydro cause cleaner and lil less work but the thought of power outage keeps me in soil.

[Flylowgethigh]

The SWICK system can be as simple as a drain pipe circle in a big tub, with rinsed perlite on top. You want a 2" layer of dry between the top of the water and the bottom of the bag. Either water the perlite reservoir, or the soil when feeding. A water bottle with the top cut off, and some holes in the bottom, works as the water height gage.

Here is a 16 week Sativa that was a seed run, about finished. Sam Skunkman SK1 x Haze, hit with a Skunkman OH x Love Potion skinny leaf male… I have almost a pint of seeds now, not counting all the ones in those top flowers.

[masterkusher]

  there is flower and veg fertilizer that I mix together, then after I mix I spread by hand. Starting plants in pots gives them a viable chance to compete with native plants that are already in the soil. I have tried indoor growing, and I tend to run into pests like fungus gnats. Spraying neem oil dilute on plants in veg. or early flower keeps them pest free. Ole handy dandy shovel is always there for me never really used a tiller for the marijuana. Only overturn the soil once after fertilizing as more than that is more or less unnecessary. A beginner can also mix nutrients into the lower half of the pot and have about an inch or about 1.5 centimeters  between the roots and fertilized soil as not to burn the plant. 
     I've got an outdoor marijuana seedling going right now that's on its second set of normal leaves...3 leaflets on each side.

[Maddawg]

I guess what I like about soil is that if you relax and STFU and listen to the birds… Ahh shit I was only playing…

What I really wanted to say is I went through this entire “short” thread and highlighted a bunch of quotes by all of you and in the end I had way to many awesome quotes in my reply and erased them… I felt like a arsekisser I guess!

So let me just say this, “Soil is the Shit”.

I took a few of my fallen solders (Thanks! @GrowingInThePines)/ Mystery Seeds (Thanks! @rlslmshdy ) And chucked them in with my other herb plant and this is what I got.

Now let me explain why soil is the shit.

I literally went outside and threw some seeds in a pot. I did not bury any seeds. I did not lightly dust the seeds. I simply threw the little bastards in a pot and walked away and never thought about what I did again.

Not sure how many days went by but I did start seeing some more life in the herb pot. When I bent down I could see a few seedlings poking their little helmet heads up. So what did I do? I didn’t do shit:.

As the days went by I witnessed the cotyledons throw their helmets on the ground and some true leaves start forming. The whole time this was happening I didn’t do shit.
I just watched. (ya! I am a plant watcher) I took the above picture today, I think, and still haven’t done, you guessed it, shit…

Ya, ya I know…For the record the above pot is one of those cheapo bottom water pots so technically I did fill the bottom with water as I would normally do for the other herbs that were in the pot. But remember I water 100% of my plants from my outside hose water. My hose water is 100% plain o’l well water.

So technically I did do something to grow the seedling I watered the bottom when it was dry.

But then… when I was up potting from Solo cups into 1 gal pots I noticed this little guy and his younger sibling in the area I was going to start putting all of the new pots.

Now this little “Wildman” was another Mystery seed that was just tossed outside. I didn’t even water the little bastard. I simply threw his arse outside. I trample in this area moving plants around and don’t even pay attention to any ground foliage as I am simply going to chop and drop it. BUT… Today I noticed the little Bastard … How could you not…

Anyway, this little bastard is alive and living his best life simply because some dumbarse threw his arse outside in sum soil and walked away.

Now that is why soil is the SHIT in my book…because I didn’t do shit.

[Rogue]

[TastyCrop]

I think it is easier to grow in soil over hydro or aero.
Most advanced users compost and make their own soil, but with 20bucks you get 50L of any good named brand with everything on it.
I been using all mix, and works great on indoor pots.
Outdoor is a matter of preparation of the spot, it is better to dig a hole and fill with somw nice soil and go from there.
I am scared of trying hydro or aero, I will keep things going in soil anyway.

[GrowingInThePines]

@Maddawg

(Thanks! @GrowingInThePines)

I need to find who uses this phrase,

EDIT: CSI Humboldt Seeds is the breeders that use this term for his seeds that fall on the floor during packaging.
I am guessing you can get some really good Genetics for lots less.

[Foreigner]

I use a hybrid system with Promix and organic bottled nutes.

Doesn’t get more simple than that.

I don’t even pH.

Not trying to get into a pissing contest but it doesn’t need to involve complicated things like meters pumps rezs float valves drip systems ebb and flow tables etc.

[TastyCrop]

That is so true, I am just using all mix soil and I have the biobizz starter pack with organic bottled adds, but I don’t use nutes all the time, for example last crop was miserable because of a bad light, the roots didn’t grow so I am using the same soil and no nutes because last grow it was full with nutes but the plants couldn’t reach them so this time is just tap water.

I don’t use PH meter too, 1st I don’t have one, second: if they grow outside with acid rains, they will grow with tap water I drink, if it is good for me, it is good for them.

This plants are weeds not orchids, they will grow and may take a lot of abuse, nature will do his thing.