OK my little girl finally poked her head out of the solo cup THANK YOU Robert!
Found a local store that carries what I was looking for.
Fox Farm Soil Ocean Soil
Nutrients Fox Farm Grow Big, Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom
Newb questions for a first time soil grow.
What is the average time to stay in cup?
Keeping her covered with baggy to keep in humidity and a spray of distilled water to keep the soil moist.
Getting the 5 gallon bucket ready, do you put any rocks in the bottom of the or just the FF soil the whole bucket. I have perlite to add too if needed was thinking to mix it in but at what ratio? Anything else I need to do to get the permanent home ready?
OK now Nutrients I think im supposed to start with the Big Bloom but when do I do that? one or two weeks and do i wait till she is in the big pot?
When do you start using the Grow Big ?
And I assume you use the Tiger Bloom at the flowering stage.
Finally I really love this site and forum thank you all for your help
-metal
*edit so … i found the fox farm chart that answer some of this, still curious about your recommendations.
FF Ocean Forest has plenty of perlite, when I asked the guy at the hydro store the same question, he said, “These guys [Fox Farms] have been doing this a long time, they know exactly what you need.”
I’d say no rocks at the bottom (FF drains just fine on its own), and you can go ahead and put her in the 5 gal bucket now. NO BAGGIES!! That could easily cause your seedling to get too much moisture and rot right in the cup! You don’t need much water for seedlings!
I would still add a little bit of perlite just for added aeration and perlite holds nutrients that can be used later. And you may want to check but I’m pretty sure grow big will be your first nuit for the veg stage then big bloom and tiger bloom for flowering. I’m not sure about the ratio of perlite to add but a couple cups extra ever hurt.
( I attached to this to the wrong person, was sending it to OP )
@metalcrow On the back of the fox farm ocean Forest bag it says to put broken pottery ? in the bottom of the flower pot to aid drainage. I use beach rocks but at least half the time I forget to add them and it seems fine but I suspect that’s because of the extra perlite I add ?
I add about 20-25 percent Horticultural grade perlite to stop it from packing down and help aeration, this is my choice it’s not recommended on the bag but a lot of us do it
I don’t use their newts so I don’t have any info on them, but @Majiktoker has used it for many years and can give you more info
-best wishes
With soil that drains well and doesn’t turn to a ball of clay around the roots, rocks for drainage is optional. I just put a thin piece of a napkin over the drain hole to keep from losing soil if they are too big.
FF Ocean is a little hotter than FF Happy Frog. Both are great soils. A good way I like to go is to use the Happy Frog in my 1 gal vegging pots after they are established in the rooting pot. Then when the roots grow out the bottom of the 1 gal pot I will put them in the final pot with Ocean Forest at the bottom and halfway up the root ball. I top that with more Happy frog and about 2" of Coco Coir as a cap.
The roots will hit the hotter soil when the plant is better prepared for the nutes.
I would not start feeding them until they have three levels of leave at least.
That will be fine I am sure. Remember seedlings come with their own sack lunch that will hold them over for a week or three so nutes in the soil are not necessary at first and too much can make the kids grow strange.
I’m using ff of in 3gal smart pot. I made a hole in the fox farm and put seed starter soil in it. Then I put germed seed in that. Ocean forest has enough crap in it so I didn’t start using any additives for 2-3 weeks.
Its good to let the root system develop in a smaller container like 1gal, and then transplant because the soil will have a hard time drying out in the bigger pot if its mostly soil and only a little root. You could run into root rot
THANK YOU Robert!
OK now Nutrients I think im supposed to start with the Big Bloom but when do I do that? one or two weeks and do i wait till she is in the big pot?
