Soil and coco are managed very differently. They each have differing watering and pH requirements.
Vermiculite retains water and dry cycles are very important for good root health. Vermiculite should never be used in a cannabis grow. I expect the use of vermiculite is a big factor in your soggy soil.
Soil should only be soggy following a watering. The soil should be left to dry out between waterings (generally 2 to 3 days.)
Fair enough; however, Dr. Bugbee is referencing a peat/verm mix and not a soil/verm mix. A Verm/coco mix is very common, but I will say that we’ve rarely heard of peat grows at all and I don’t ever recall a soil/verm mix ever being mentioned. Soil needs drainage and verm inhibits drainage.
30%perlite. Any potting soil of choice. No miracle grow…lol. you will drain fine. Do not pack the pot. Just scoop it in with no compression. Some perlite will float to top. Dont stress it. If liquid nutes drench/dry cycle. Living soil top dress keep moist for life. Not wet. Damp/moist. Using a riser of any height will assist in drainage also. 1". 5". 10". Wont matter. As long as air between pot and surface then it will pass water. Coco or peat I cant help.
This is done to provide Mg to the medium. It’s not something I’d recommend unless expert at growing cannabis. If you have someone who IS an expert (@MidwestGuy) for example, you should listen.
Welcome to the forum! I use 60/40 soil and perlite with an autopot watering system. Works great. Vermiculite and soil is a big no-no. These guys won’t steer you wrong. Happy growing!
Exactly! Vermeculite retains a lot of water and is usually only used in cases where there is no water for extended periods of time. My opinion is it’s not for growing weed as we want faster wet dry cycles for faster growth. Perlite keeps media loose and helps drainage. I use 40% in Promix and just started a coco grow with 15%. I used up to 50% in soil, but done with soil!
Wassup growmie! Welcome to the forum! I’m a new grower but I think I can help you a little bit. It looks like you’re having some issues trusting soil and I don’t blame you! imo, I feel like soil is harder to work with when dealing w. cannabis, since it’s usually a dark color and it can be hard to determine when to water, and don’t mention the wet/dry cycle, but I see some people having success, so to each their own.
But like others pointed out, don’t mix vermiculite with soil. Vermiculite retains water really well and from what I know, soil can easily become compacted and waterlogged. If you want to use soil, I suggest mixing with only perlite and amending with your choice of fertilizer(s). I personally use Jiffy Seed Starting Mix. It’s about $5-$10 at Home Depot and it’s a mix of coco, vermiculite, and peat, if you want to go by Dr. Bugbee’s standards. I was pleasantly surprised to find that same video after i started my seedlings. Also, I hear you can’t overwater coco, so I think it’s very good for beginners, I just don’t know about getting those coco bricks and buffering it. I’ve been using jiffy in the garden for many years and it’s always worked wonders. Never had to buffer. These are my plants currently. The big girl is in a 3G and about 10" tall and about 14" wide after some LST and 14 days after getting a good grow light.
The smaller girls are about 21 days old and I should have transplanted them 8 days ago, but I ran out of soil😭 and the one in the grey pot fell over but she’s recovering nicely. This was her at 14 days old & I did not have to water the mix for 2 weeks since I dropped the germinated seed!
Posted all of this to show you that the coco, peat, and vermiculite mix works. Not soil and vermiculite. I feel like the jiffy is very beginner friendly and very forgiving. You can check my grow journal if you wanna check out anything, hope it all works out growmie!
Ive used agricultural vermerculite in the past with my soil grows and prefer perlite. I always add at least 8 more quarts of perlite to my soil mix in a 5 gal container. I do use Coast of Maine Stonington blend (recycle when poss) and it doesnt matter who you order your soil from, youll always have to add more perlite. Cannabis prefers a drier soil with good drainage. thats why a drench to nearly drought routine is needed.