Your making headway.
Chopped fish. OOOOhhhhIIIII don't know about that. Every Vermin within a mile will be digging & knocking over the buckets for the fish. I got a bottle of fish emulsion at the local Nursery, which the plant can feed off immediately.
Rocks at the bottom is good for weight, but only at bottom.
Sand packs too tight. In stead of sand and/or sandy topsoil, I would use good organic potting soil & organic compost. You can grow in straight compost if its good shit.
Pot ash from charcoal is really bad. I would not add any period. Other additives will take care of that need.
Peat moss kills the microbial life in your soil, causing the soil to pack tight & the plants health will suffer.
Any slow release chemical fert kills the good fungi & bacteria that breaks down the soil so your plant has all the nutes needed. Any liquid organic tea, like Medina Hasta grow, Garrot Juice, etc, from the local Nursery will do MUCH better.
Also, get some liquid Seaweed, & Greensand from the local Nursery, and from the local Grocery Store, get some Whole Ground Corn Meal, (not the bleached, enriched shit), Epsom Salt & 100% pure molasses. Perlite is good, also. If you can get some Rabbit manure, 60% of this would be great. You can feed once per week, every other watering. Too much drainage is no good. An old gray/brown & green bed sheet is good to cover the bucket, they can be seen too easy. To be able to quickly water, leave at least 2" on top of bucket free of soil, so you can pour on a gal. quickly. Worms will do good in this soil. Stay away from plants that get 7' or more tall, or use bigger containers. Blood Meal on & around your plants will fert the plant, and keep vermin's away. Other than that, your looking good.

WOW! thx much for the info and input will def.. look into this stuff for next yrs crop attempt on the pals were burried in the ground so they didn't stick out. the rocks on the bottom are for drainage.. an oldtimer that used to grow said it helps hea close friend so i'll trust his word on that he knows wut hes doing XD. reallt peat moss is bad for ur plant how can sumthing natural kill mirboal life never herd that one 1 b4 and i have read a lot. never herd ne thingabout slow release nutes killing fungi b4 either. do u havenay articales on these subjects? thx very much for your time and input!!! ~Strey~

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Anything I say or post on this website is a figment of my imagination. I never have and never will cultivate, consume, or do anything else with marijuana.

The entire goal to all of this is to learn & pass on any knowledge taught. Yes, the Ole' Timer is correct. Rocks, stones does help drainage. The proof of this is the clay pebbles sold for hydro. This proves that plants can be grown in rock like soil, and they can be grown hanging in the air, with a periodical spray of nutes. Upside down, induced flowering when only 6" tall. It goes on & on. Some soils is in dire need of additional props or insurance of good drainage, when some soil does not need any non-nutrient added objects. That, solely, is the variance in soil. Water, on it's on is basically worthless, other than to add needed liquid to the body/plant. City water, boiled water, all water not naturally processed is "The Dead Zone". Meaning that "purified" is defunct of all the things that natural water offers. We are talking rocks here. From natural Springs, the water flows from underground, through the ground, over a multitude of rocks & stones. Water is highly absorbent. It absorbs any & everything exposed to, such as human waste from females taking birth control pills, which is not filtered out in the Cities water processing Plants. And the Gay Community grows. The plastic used for bottled water derives mostly from Barges of trash shipped to China, whereas workers sort through the shit, to make plastic bottles for you to have 'Natural water to enjoy. Whatever the plastic is made from, where it comes from, is absorbed into the water. Drink up.
But natural water is filled with a multitude of vitamins & minerals, because it has flowed over an array of rocks, where the nutrients preside. Also, water seated for any length of time is devoid of oxygen. To add oxygen to your soil, shake the shit out of the water prior to watering the Ladies. But we're talking about Rocks.
Since rocks add, are made of lots of good shit, the process of making Rock wool will give you a hard-on. The greensand, lava rock-perlite is also worth a centerfold for your Plants. Point, use rocks, but good soil in it's own potential, will have very good drainage without rocks.
The best example of organic VS man made nutrients that I can come up with is using Meth. One of the best things in Life is a Sunday picnic, where all is wonderful. However, Monday comes, reality sets in. Back to work, etc. Point is not everyday can be a Sunday Picnic. The Body is torn down, even though it feels good/looks good. That is chemical nutes, looks wonderful, the plant is dancing in the wind. But the chemicals is killing the microbial life in the soil, immunity system. Teeth rot, the soil becomes the dead zone, where diseases set in, causing you looking for a solution, like Spider Mite infestation. Spider Mites only affect plants with problems. This fact is not easily found because there is no Lobbyist, no money, found in Mother Nature's budget. However, the Chemical people is allotted billions to promote it's dead zone product. Only a few are spreading the facts, but once again, they receive no finance from earthworms, microorganisms, or the 1,000's of insects & bugs that defend your plants. For instance, millions of pets are infested with fleas each year, and the Vets. waiting room is filled with high dollar medicines to kill fleas. Follow the money. If profit wasn't an issue, a simple sign would read, "Beneficial Nematodes for sale, one million for $8 bucks, which will kills every flea in your yard, plus grubs, termites, and some ants, also. If no money would be involved, signs would say that only 20% of chemical ferts are actually absorbed at a feeding time, the rest is washed away into the streams & rivers, like birth control pills. Same goes for man-made vitamins. Take Calcium Tablets. The man made shit only absorbs 20% of what you take, and it is a low quality calcium product. Your body demands calcium throughout the body, and when it is deficient, it will decrease/rob bone need & distribute to other parts. Of course, causing problems for the Doctors to make more money on. The whole (bought into shit) is fucked up.
In the spirit of the song, Alice's Restaurant, This is not what I came to talk about. I came to defend an indictment. Cool. Every Sat. & Sun., where I can, I listen to Master Gardeners on the radio, for like, 30 years. Add that to gardening since 1968. That is my bona fides. It takes about 8 years to kill trees with the Scott's slow release shit. Read the instructions very carefully, and slowly. When it says to wear gloves,.... that in itself should tell you what the worms & micro people think. They all die. Here's the drainage point. 24 hours per day, these soil organisms cultivate the soil, breaking it down so your plants can munch, adds oxygen, and allows water absorption. Once the soil is dead, it packs, water runs off, therein the need for rocks in your soil. If your soil is healthy, it will drain well. Didn't know that peat moss would do damage until a month age, via Master Gardeners. For some help, see Dirtdoctor.com. Merry Christmas.

No it wont attract preditors. I have never seen any or seen any activity of at my spot. I do run into bears the odd time.. which is very common for my area. British Columbia but I keep my distance. I have a can of bear mace just in case. Coyote piss is where its at if you don't want anything eating your plants. Soak an old sock in piss and place them around the perimeter. I warn you it's pretty brutal lol. Go to any gardening store and they should have it. I will be taking pictures and making a journal of my outdoor this year. So stay tuned ! :P

wow read that articale on peat moss... not gunna use it ne more.. lol i see wut u were talking about i'll still use rocks on the bottom layer thou for a lil extra drainage seeing that the buskets go in he ground so it should help the holes in the buckets draina lil better ina heavy rain. that for all the info south texas u really know wut ur talking about i can't even inmagine wut u yield per yr =P and i will def have to try the coyote piss or the piss soaked sock(i would piss by them usually ona daily basis but the 1 night i didn't sumthing ate my shit... so hopefully the sock will hold the scent longer, or use both! XD and may just go back to digginga hole and throwing my mix in it just cuase of the size diff in hole in woods vs 5 gal bucket to me this yr was a total learning experice and a waste of time but ehh i learned XD my very first grow i ended up with 3 females that were like x mas trees! would took 2 people to conect hands around the it all i did was dig a hole say 2ft x 1 ft and use the sandy/rocky soil that was there threw ina alil peat moss sum hi-yield bone and blood meal mix a lil perlite and i mean lil and threw them in when they were 3-4 inchs tall and early still if weather temps at night.. and let them go pretty much and water once or twice the whole yra dn it was fairly warm and dry... but.... never got to see it finish.. ex g/f's ex b/f chopped them down cuase of sum idiot freinds showed him where they were they caught me walking out the woods with the males at 6 am .. -.- walked out the woods and dude was like wuts that.. long story short i went ona 3 day vaca and when i came back the grils were chooped at the bases and the male that were hanging were gone also -.- the females had buds ahh i dunno bout the size of ur thumb nail... woulda been monsters... gunna just have to do it again this time way more careful like this yrs grow XD i lost my plants cuase i broke the gold rule on grow my herbs... hope u take that advice XD thx everyone for their input and info even thou its dec gets my pumped for this spring now just to find sum decent bag seeds.. later all and hope u havea merry x mas and a happy new year!!! Peace ~Strey~

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Anything I say or post on this website is a figment of my imagination. I never have and never will cultivate, consume, or do anything else with marijuana.

So, I got busted... 2ND year playing. you got ripped. The question is, jump back on the horse, or post advice that reeks of defeatism. Never listen to the failed, only the winners. I see no failure, I see a lesson. 2 rules, learn from other people's mistakes, that is a wise man. Learn from your mistakes, a smart man. I'd rather be wise. Do not ever play the game of Poker in the blind. As my Ole' Man said, before you run your horse though the slew (creek), stop and see what your gettin' you ass into. This applies to everything, Marriage, business, etc. One Parole Officer told me one time that any person ever met, Wife, Friend, etc., will only drag you down, or build you up. There is no gray matter here. Also, " Good intentions is the road to Hell." But then again, it's just a thought.