So I just got a 50lb bag of Happy Frog potting soil from Fox Farm and I've been going over some ways to improve it. I've heard that Happy Frog is too hot for youngins and burns them, but I've also heard that it is perfectly fine for all stages of growth. Regardless I'm going to improve the soil any way that I can.

I know I need to add perlite for drainage and aeration. FF makes some "chunky" perlite which they say can be used to line the bottom of containers and mixed into soil for better drainage and what not. But it looks a little too big for me, but idk, has anyone ever used it?? I was thinking of using coarse horticulture grade perlite because its more fine and seems easier to mix but who knows.

Anyhoo I was thinking of adding some Myco Maximum from Humboldt Nutrients to the HF soil to start off. Then I was going to add perlite to this improved HF soil until the mix is about 25% perlite.

Then I was going to make a seedling/clone mixture that was around 30%-50% perlite and 70%-50% HF soil to fill in the top quarter of the containers(the top four inches or so). This way the seedlings will have to dig to get to the more fertile soil and by then they'll be older and wont be weak enough to get burnt, also their roots wont have to works as hard to spread down and out

In addition I will line the bottom of the pots with lava rock/gravel for more drainage. Also I will start watering with Rhizotonic and 75-80 degree ph balanced chlorine free water only. I am trying to get a large healthy root mass started as soon as possible since im starting an Auto strain-Easy Ryder(AK-47 x Lowryder #2)- whos lifespan is only 11 weeks or so.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can further improve this Happy Frog soil??

Peace

i used ocean's forest, but i was concerned about the same thing, so i just added a bit of light warrior. I've also heard some people say they prefer the chunky kind of perlite. i also transplanted them and when i transplanted them i used more ocean's forest than before.

i've barely ever even fertilized them and they've been doing fine, as far as i can tell. but this is my first serious grow so maybe you would want somebody else's advice.

you dont need to add the myccorhizal, HF already has it inside, use water under 75F, aside from adding perlite, that soil is fine, too hot for my tatse but fox farms soil is excellent for a reason....it has everything you could possibly put in a mix. if you really want to tinker, then i advise you to add espoma's bio-ton starter plus for transplanting, all you need to do is mix it all up or like i do i sprinkle it inside the dug out hole for the new transplant, using the stuff you will not see any transplant shock, the plant wont skip a beat(the bio-tone has mycco in it too) and its like $5 for 4lb bag as opposed to like $20 for straight up mycco

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I have used the FFOF for about 4 grows of auto hindu kush, and about 4 grows of auto AK-47 X Blueberry. The AK X blue is very very sensitive to nutes, and I find the soil alone will get them thru best. The hindu kush can take more nutes, but dont need it until they start flowering (14-20 days old), at that point I go light with big bloom for every other watering and light tiger bloom once weekly..... depending on how they look. I have started seeds in OF and added 2 TBSP of the starter (mycco and humic acid) per gallon, but I found it best to add the starter to the OF at transplant time.....it's just too much for sprouts. My new grow is in Happy Frog, wich I am hoping will solve the dilema of not having enough time to get the nutes and Mycco in with the autoflowers before they start flowering...since it's in there to start with. Hope this helps!

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Cultivation is my peaceful rebellion, grow it everywhere....they can't get it all!

Hey, I got some happy frog and cut it with a load of perlite to make it fluffier.

The general consensus seems to be people use Happy Frog for seedlings and cuttings and such and Ocean Forest for transplanting into in the more aggressive stages of growth. Reason being OF is more likely to burn your plants since it is a much hotter soil.

From my experience I have a seedling in Happy Frog and it did turn a little bit yellow (looks a tad bit burned) but there was no necrotic damage and it looks to be doing pretty well. It is a strain I find to have higher tolerance for nutrients in DWC. I also added a little bit of a 'hot' mycorrhizae supplement and cut the HF with vermiculite and perlite, but yeah happy frog is certainly capable of burning your seedlings.

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