Me, mixing soil for a run 
1 Like
I’m really on the fence about what medium to use. I like soil for the buffer and dirt smell. And I do wanna mix my own. Just so messy.
Coco/hydro has the lure of more precise management. Initial start up cost for gear a factor on this end.
I moved into town to help take care of my in laws about 5 years ago ago. I grow smoke for myself, my wife and about 3 older folks. Very limited on space.
Any words of wisdom?
1 Like
I was trying to quit soil but it draws me in lol! Thankfully I have multiple tents for placating my many needs. I keep my soil mix simple because I dont compost or anything in my backyard. I buy Natures Living Soil and follow their recipe for potting mix.
-worm castings (3 parts)
-coco (3 parts)
-perlite (2 parts)
-NLS concentrate (1.5-2.5oz per gallon of base soil)
You water it in with molasses tea and let it sit for a week to do its thing. It reaks but works amazing. I make mine a little weak so I can start feeding within a couple weeks of planting. You can make the mix to your liking. If you need quicker dry back, sub one of the castings parts for a coco and if you want slower dry back, sub one of the coco parts for castings. 
2 Likes
I would highly recommend the home made soil. You can control what goes into it and customize for your particular needs and desires. Throw out a tarp layer ingredients and give it a few turns with a flat shovel. It’s no more mess than filling pots. I love playing in the dirt though.
2 Likes
Hermie maybe?
Thanks for all the dirt advice. After I use what I have I’m going to mix my own. @Gl1tch I’ll bite the bullet and throw the tarp down. @SeaOhAreWhy I’m gonna use your mix recipe as a baseline and play around.
Harvested rocbud blueberry passion just shy of 3 1/2 oz when dried. In grove bags. @Gl1tch we had a cool week for August so I pulled a few days before I wanted. My dry was 70/55ish. Hopefully it was enough to bring out the terps
ILGM Apple fritter netted just under 5 oz.
Just got it into grove bags
And the rocbud freebie (trp mnt cookie) cruising along. Learned a few things. Trying to mainline and hand water just plain sucks. At least I thought so. Really was just an experiment.
6 Likes
I think that’s a water shoot, but i does look slightly suspicious. Your probably fine, just keep an eye on it. That looks like a nice haul.
I stated to top at the 6th and 7th nodes for that very reason. Let them get a little taller. Mainlines just takes soooo long with all the repetitive topping. Sure is fun though.
3 Likes
I completely get it. I got some photo seeds I’m getting ready to run. Can’t wait to have a longer veg time.
1 Like
really is fun to be able to experiment and not have to worry about recovery time.
2 Likes
Nice harvy GroBro!
I’m with @Gl1tch, looks very sus so keep a close eye.
I’m doing another organic soil run and planted this morning. Just cant quit this stuff even tho it smells like a pack of buttholes in my tent atm
I’ll be running my own soil mix along with Royal Gold ammendments and Neptune Harvest fish poo. I will likely brew teas vs top feeding. The strains are blue dream auto and orange apricot glue xl auto
6 Likes
The absolute best! I’ll spend 30 minutes staring off into LaLa Land hand mixing 5 gallons of soil, lol… just something about it 
There has to be some endorphins involved somehow. Kinda like the fresh cut field smell thing.
3 Likes
Can I expand these, break them up, and add them to my HFFF to make it a bit lighter? I really don’t have a use for them.
1 Like
I would just add more perlite. People do amend soil with coco, but to me it seems to complicate things with differing ph needs. Just my opinion.
Save them for your future auto pot run 
.
3 Likes
You could, but I don’t think there is much value in doing so
2 Likes
Sorry for the late chime in, busy af with work atm.
I agree with adding more perlite. I run with 40% by volume in my Autopots and have been doing the same with soil mixes. I started rinsing my perlite too because I noticed this off-white cake like build up in my pots. Under the microscope it looks exaclty like perlite so I assume it is. Since I started rinsing, I dont see the cakey build up anymore.
2 Likes
There is nothing inherently wrong with adding a little perlite, but I wouldn’t do it if you don’t a have a specific reason. Do you need to increases Drainage or aeration in your soil? I never bothered with the FFOF or roots organic mixes I used. It’s not bad to add perlite, just know why you are doing it. I never saw the need with a good soil mix.
3 Likes
To add drainage and increase oxygen to the root zone in my constant fertigation application. If you run autopots, it is recommended by them to run a 60/40 mix rather than the typical 70/30 for the above mentioned.
For my non flood or water to runoff organic grows, increasing my perlite ratio has helped mitigate compaction and channels in the soil. It has also helped with faster dry back of the top soil between waterings, which I prefer to help keep pests and stem rot at bay.
Not pushing my style, just giving the reason 
3 Likes
Sorry bout that guys. I reread that post this morning and realized I did not communicate my thought very well. Don’t get me wrong I do add perlite(although I’ve been using more pumice lately) to some of my mixes and I too have a giant sack in the back room. I just meant to say generally be careful fixing what isn’t broke. Have a reason to make a change.
As an example,when I grew in uncontrolled rooms and outside the hot dry environment and frequent transplanting the pots dry very quickly anyway. When I would add perlite to the mix they would dry within a day. Plus it all went in the ground come June and the perlite would be gone. In that situation I saw little benefit. Now that I’m growing in a more controlled environment and mixing soil I do use more aeration in my mixes.
2 Likes
agree Growmie
I would add that if you are going to change something, anything in your grow, do only one thing at a time and then monitor. If you dont get the result you want or expected, it can easily be undone that way. Good reminder for growers at all levels.
Much love Growmies 
3 Likes
That’s the hard one for me to remember. I get so many crazy ideas throughout the day it’s hard to pick just one.
3 Likes