Another point - a ‘weed barrier’ like mentioned above works both ways, and can root-bind just as easy as clay.
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I guess all I’m saying is you have to pick your battles. Do you have a lot of weeds or grass? Bugs? Critters? A big pot would definitely be easier to control, but if you till up a ‘garden’ then just set up a portion of it for your grow, you can surround it with a natural ‘barrier’ of some sort. Maybe a ground cover that provides some benefit, or at least keeps weeds away - but with shallow roots.
This may be of help with planning an outdoor grow. I’m growing in pots this year due to my heavy clay soil.
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@mountainman1 I always dig a hole for my plants 5-10 times the size I need. That might be a challenge in clay… (I know I’ve done it) You want to be certain as your plants get large enough they have plenty of room to spread out, and plenty of space underneath for drainage.
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Quantities I couldn’t tell you . You can grow a good sized plant in a 5 gallon pot out side.
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And with any soil-work you do outside, it gets better over time if you keep up with it. (plant roots break up clay way easier than I can). I’m looking for a cheap tiller myself, and thinking about creating a hidden spot for an outdoor grow.
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I ended up moving my plants. Making sure I dug around the root and lifted. Putting them in pots. We are clearing for a house and it was getting close to my plants.
Its been like a week, and the plants look like they are not doing much. Im sure they need time to ajust to being moved.
Two of the ones I still have in the ground are doing ok, I can see there is growth.
I am so mad at myself, when I work i dont have time to check on my girls daily. long shifts. One of my plants in the ground started doing really well, and I do have chicken wire around the plant. It fell off or was knocked over and a rabbit ate some of the plant.
I hope it has time to recover.
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Yea them rabbits aint the cute little ball of fur every one thinks they are!
Im sure the plants you moved are in shock. Gets some Super Thrive at wally world and add it to your watering or feeding. That should help
Also of note, when I till up an area, I plan on using round-up or comparable repeatedly while working the soil. I have many types of creeping vines (honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, poison ivy, briars etc.), and I want everything DEAD before I even think about adding anything to the soil to prepare it.
I may even go with removing the top layer, then getting virgin topsoil as a starter.
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I added some step one of the 3 step fox farm. Also just making sure that they are getting enough water.
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Thats not a bad idea. I think I am going to try a plant in my veggie garden next year and see what happens. My veggies are doing GREAT this year.
I worked hard on the soil, about this time last year, adding grass, and than in the early spring throwing down a bail of straw, adding top soil, cow manure, peat moss.
I know living here now and being able to make sure they get more water has something to do with it, but all the plants are doing better this year.
I did plant 5 autos, from seed 4 came up. 2 are doing really well and 2 are doing ok. But I think its the type of auto I used, and stupid me dont remember what one is what. I have 2 in pots one of each and the one is doing really well were the other is doing ok, so it has to be the variety
But like i said i really think next year im going with mostly pots.
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Roundup works fine for killing grass and weak weeds but if you have tough, woody brush (like I’d imagine briars and creeping vines) you’ll do better with a chemical called Tryclopyr 4 (name brand: Remedy) mixed 1 part with 3 parts diesel. Spray that on the bottom 6-10” of brush or trees and within a couple weeks they’ll be D-E-A-D and stay that way. Gotta be very careful not to get it o to the trunks of any trees you want - it’s so powerful it’ll kill a big tree with just a little spray on the bottom bark. Do NOT spray leaves. You want the leaves to produce food and draw the poison you put on the lower stalk/trunk down into the roots. It’ll kill the entire plant. I’ve been using it for years to clear land that’s covered in some extremely resilient brush. I’ve never had an issue planting in the same area after about a month. Sux spraying Roundup and then having to do it again 4-6 months later. Triclopyr is pricy but it flat out works!
Hope this helps!
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I’m just returning to growing cannabis but I have native soil with a lot of clay where I live and I’ve learned to use several amendments to help with my other gardening - mainly gypsum and green sand and lots of organic matter. It doesn’t sound like you made a very big hole. This is a problem because a small hole surrounded by clay soil creates a pot that holds water and doesnt give your roots much room to grow. When I make holes for plants I grow (and that I’m making for my in ground grow next year) I’m digging holes 24”-30” deep and 4’-8’ in diameter. I’m amending about 50% of my native soil and adding the other 50% with a super soil mixture. My rule has always been the same as planting trees - dig a hole at least as big as the canopy of the tree will be for the first couple years, at least. Essentially, it sounds like you e been growing in a 3-5 gallon container with no way to drain. If you have a slope in your spot, dig a drain trench away from your hike and fill it with rocks/gravel so the hole can drain well.
Hope this helps!
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I grew up in Joliet Ill. And container was the best for me! Sometimes we would get a early frost and i could bring them in! When their in the ground you have to find some way to cover them or lose it all! I now live 75 miles S of Louisville . Longer growing season helps for out doors.
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I’ve also grown in pots as well as in the ground. I find when growing in the Ground u need to dig a big hole and mix in supper soil type potting soil. If u want big plants u need big beads of worked soil. If u don’t have equipment or a strong back or like. Working soil the bags are a better choice
No my containers do have drain holes, the 4 plants i started with are growing REALLY well… I want to change to 10 gallon containers next year.
The holes I dug and planted the plants just didnt do anything. We are started to build our house and I had to dig up the plants and put them all into pot.
The ones that grew to about 2ft tall grew to 3 and have Tons of buds on them, when I dug them up and put them in pots.
there were 2 that stayed tiny… I put them in only one gallon pots and omg…they are about 2ft tall and filled with buds.
I dont know…the soil just is not good were I am. I have failed 2 years in a row now growing in the ground.
My first year was so good cause I planted in my veggie garden that i worked over for 10 plus years.
I think I am going to just grow in 5 or 10 gallon containers.
I may try a few plants in my new veggie garden that is now 2 yrs old,and next spring will be in its 3ed year… being filled with organic stuff…
I am really happy with the way my container plants turned out…not as good as I hoped but ALOT better than if i left them in the ground
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That is were I use to live, and that is were i had the most luck with growing in the ground. What size pot did you use when you grew in Joliet? I dont live there anymore, but close to it, and like I said soil is bad. So im gonna switch to pot and just grow in the ground as a experiment, till I get the soil back to being GREAT!
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Do yourself a favor. Use 10 gal. Mesh bags. Use this forum to choose your growing soil. Lots if experience here. Read, read , read. Then ask questions. The people here are excellent. Good luck. Happy/ better growing. That may give you time if you wish to ultimately grow in the ground.@Larry815
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I’ve been using Vivosun bags from Amazon and I love them! You can check out some of what I grew/am growing in my Late Bloomer journal but I started in late July when temps were well over 100°F every day and I was growing autos. Still, I did pretty well in spite of some crazy weather that mama earth threw at me. I like the 10 gallon bags or bigger. If you’re doing Autos, 7 gallon will work but, for me, the smaller bags required too much watering. Since you don’t have time to check on your plants daily, I’d go with 15-30 gallon for photo plants and 7-10 gallon for autos.
Like you, I suffer from soil with quite a bit of clay and I’m doing an experiment next year to see what will work better - containers or in the ground. But my in ground plants will each be in 7’ wide holes dug to 4’ deep and the containers will range from 30 gallons to 200 gallons. For photosensitive plants, the container will be your biggest limiting factor in terms of plant size and yield.
Good luck and happy growing!
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