The biggest issue I have with pre charged soil is that there are so many threads where the problem is that the soil is too hot and it’s burning plants.
When I pour in my organic mix according to instructions within reason I don’t have that problem. Nor do I need to flush excessively if I’ve fucked up.
There are many experts who have the whole damned thing dialled in but for noobs it can be a big problem, especially if they’re trying to mix their own.
I visited a farm in Cuba once. The lady who lived there showed us her orchids growing all over the side of the house, on the sides of a log, in a crag in a rock- everywhere. Effortless natural orchids.
That would be pretty sweet. I like the hands-off approach more and more lately. I can’t take all the credit when the plants turn out great but at the same time I don’t have to take all the blame when something goes awry.
As far as I’m concerned once u get into a “groove” just like any other job you do in life, repeating the same methods becomes more turnkey and less effort. Think about the first day starting a new job, prob your toughest day working cuz after a few weeks it’s prob no thought required anymore to accomplish your assigned task. My recipes aren’t completely basic and I’m sure some would argue I’m adding more amendments than necessary but I’ve done em enough times it’s no more difficult that throwing a soup together on the stove to eat and no thought to put in anymore, just filling the tea bag and letting it bubble overnight and root drench the next day every couple weeks. Soil is already made and will reuse over and over and not rocket science throwing soil in a grow bag with a seedling letting my greenhouse and the sun do the rest of the work
My personal belief when it comes to soil/tea recipes is a basic recipe will usually get basic results, and extreme( beneficial ingredients, not just anything) recipes will get extreme results.
It’s a weed and pretty much anyone can grow it but not everyone can grow top shelf weed, it’s those key differences in grow methods that’s gonna either make or break that final product
For beginners I would suggest keeping it simple and basic just getting that first grow off the ground, may not be the best weed but at least u grew it and achieved something and catching a feel for it, then once u got the basics down spend the following years trying this and that and see what really made a big impact on the final crop
Main things I’d never look back on is raising worms for fresh high quality castings and growing aloe to throw the leaves in a blender as the base of my compost teas for some heat/drought resistance, plenty of silica for stong thick stems and growth hormones giving me some gnarly vigor. Last year I was getting 4ft+ plants in only 6 ish weeks indoor pushing myself ahead of schedule and running out of grow height I had to makeshift another taller grow area for a few weeks till I had room to start flower in the greenhouse
Hydro is much easier. You know exactly what’s in your medium and it came with instructions and measurements.
Look, I topped a plant in soil, now I’m sulfur deficient, Potassium and boron deficient, and losing cotyledons in a few days. It makes me sick. I know why, and fix the problem, but it won’t be fixed in time to save all the leaves. I hate myself when I don’t maintain every leaf until harvest. I might commit suicide if it happens too often. Because it didn’t in hydro, where every crop was perfect. I am embarrassed to show my soil grows.
In hydro you can fix problems instantly. In soil you can only watch them kill your beautiful leaves before balance is restored. Soil will tell YOU what to do. In hydro you know what the roots are doing, and can flush them. And reach into your library of 30 bottles. Hydro roots are not sabotaging your grow by finding hidden pockets of calcium molybdenum selenium and zinc in the medium, like my soil roots have done.
I thought you hated hype cookie strains and we’re all just a bunch of bandwagon jumping sheep.
Boron boron boron.
I 
this 
!
Bro you joined yesterday and this is your 1st post.
Ahhh! I am not sure you actually read the title of the post, " I’m jealous of soil growers"
I do love your 1st statement though
Perhaps you also did not read any of the other post in here…
So Please get off your magic Boron Carpet and read just this one. 
After reading it please advise how you throw a seed in a hydro setup and walk away and in a few weeks you come back to a young plant.
I’ll wait…
Welcome to OG @SnoopCookies!
I actually forgot to add these to my initial soil mix…
Will most hydro stores have pockets of calcium in stock, or are they only ordered by request?
They do but you have to buy the whole pair of pants to get them.
Man… I am outta likes again so let me just put theses here for y’all
@AzSeaindooin420 @lophophora.ca @Foreigner
Haha this is getting really good now! All this talk of hot pockets in soil and topped plants losing their borons. I love it!
But this statement makes me think you’re just trolling.
I love soil growing. I really can’t imagine how I’d be able to grow any simpler than using soil. Just tap water only for me. Set them on a watering timer and I almost don’t even have to be around for the whole grow. They seem to do better when I’m gone actually.
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But it’s not really like that if you don’t replenish what the plants eat aka top dressing etc., the plants will die. It’s not just water it’s top dress this, this and this, and this etc. I grow with jacks 321 in coco and it’s as simple as 1.usable Tap water 2. Jacks 321 and 3. A way to ph that’s it (2 can be seen as 3 parts too). Kiss. If it works for you more power to ya brother. I honestly think soil is too much work.
Not to mention doing soil tests for soil you want to reuse. Damn I just want to grow lol
I started with MGMC and advanced nutes and 50/50 mix of MGMC and Perlite overwatered overfed over compulsed on my plants killed some rocked some by happenstance. Gave up Gave in and tried again. Eventually I picked up on a few things. I started on a forum in 2005 thecannacabana still pop in lil but Im guessing most are here now. I recognize some names. My original screen name was MyOnePlant shortened it long time ago to MOP. Read Read Read Post Post Post Use the mentors on the site. Do a soil digital diary. Used to be called video diary. Document it semi daily or weekly and get advise. Use that advise to create your own grow style and soil technique. Peace
I’ve never had to do a soil test, soil is easy too. Just fill grow bags with it and dump a compost tea in it every couple weeks, what’s so tough about that?
And here I was going to write a long o’l piece on common misconceptions of growing in soil.
The greatest thing is that we all have our own unique ways that work for us to grow this miracle plant.
I have the utmost respect for all of the varies ways we “bat shit crazy humans” have come up with on how to do this.
Shit to be honest! I would rock a Hydro or DWC setup or anything for that matter if I knew WTF I was doing. I just choose not devote time to learn them because I am old and I was raised with my Dad growing all kinds of Fruit trees,Veggies and Flowers in that beautiful CA soil…
I know what I know and that’s soil.
I do have a Shit ton of respect for @LabRat and any other grower that is trying something outside their comfort zone. This is how we learn and improve our processes or not. My old ass may even try DWC or Hydro one of these days
And @Bammer1082 , @Rabeats2093 is correct!
@Jinglepot hunting fishing camping trips without worry. Need anyone say more?
@PhilCuisine 
to the LITFA method 
@Syn I was this 
close to getting an octopot set up. Made me a cheap ass Sip and Never looked back. Still trying to talk my local Hydro store into letting me set up one of his older octopots in the store. I am 100% positive he would sell his entire inventory quick after his customers see what they can do.
@Soiltech Love your style. I am a huge believer in LITFA…
@Foreigner Promix is soil in my book. I have a bunch of it floating throughout my pots
@Pawsfodocaws I am right there with ya, still reading and learning from my mistakes .
@Flylowgethigh Surprised I never ended up with a SWICK grow… I remember seeing them when I was checking out those octopots.
@masterkusher I love you man… How the hell did you do what you did when you did what you did? Never seen that before but you definitely had me questioning things right der.
@GrowingInThePines You were unintentionally the spark that lead to my “Soil is the Shit post” with your “fallen Soldier” comment in the, you know the thread!
You made me smile. 
My wife has a farm in CUBA. I am convinced CUBA should grow cannabis/ Hemp and they could use the $ to help out their country men and women. They would probably put a serious hurt on the 
and 
Cannabis/hemp industry if they did it. The reason I think this is because I see everything they plant grows with little to no effort. Shit they don’t even have water to water the crops with most of the time and the shit still grows… It’s amazing. Don’t get me wrong we have lost some stuff over there but dam that soil/climate is 
My wife is headed back to Cuba with my son in a few days. She’s bringing lots of seeds to grow on the farm and food and basic necessities that you and I can get at any local store. I could go on but we will save that rant for another day…
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@SnoopCookies Still waiting Brah! 
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@Rogue I think we all now how you feel about soil. Thanks for the follow up post to my “Soil is the Shit” post…
@schmarmpit All that talk about hot pockets and boron got me hungry… I have a feeling this ain’t over and your going to need 
and some more hotpockets
@grief send me your addy and I will send you a little SIP. I want to see you rock a SIP thread. Let’s see If mother nature can change your mind.
I know I did not get y’all but it was the best I got right now.
And you 3 hoodlums I think the 's speak for themselves
Ya! I know I cant just STFU…
@Bammer1082 We all would not have traveled down this road without ya! It has been a fun ride. Not an “E” ticket but still can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
Technically it’s not. Soil is actually the sand, silt, and clay from the ground not the peat, aeration, and compost most of grow in. Technically that’s a mixed medium.
It doesn’t change this conversation much, just when a soil scientist says soil, they don’t mean a Coots mix.
,oooo I love me a good controversy
So here’s mine
There’s dirt and there’s soil
Dirt is sand, rocks clay and NO MICROBES to support life
Then u have soil which is decomposing matter,compost, humus, and loooots of microbes
Forest floor is soil, vast open desert is dirt
Can’t grow in dirt but u can certainly grow in soil
That’s the problem we’re seeing in the farms on a large scale, all the years of farming the land is turning to dirt from a good soil that was over farmed
Prove me wrong/change my mind?
I wont disagree, biology differentiates dirt from soil. Elaine Ingham taught us that. But soil is still not peat, aeration, and compost.
Well I ain’t never seen a bag labeled " potting mixed medium" haha
I’d have to disagree with ya on that last one, what do u think a forest floor is? Peat moss, roots that give the aeration/drainage and decomposing plant matter(compost)
If anything it’s the coir and perlite that isn’t naturally found on that floor lol
