soiless media question

Hiramklarke

Active Member
Hey all! Klarke here! Haven't been on RIU in more than a year! Developed a fair understanding on growing outdoors/indoors (soil)and since i last posted, about 8 full grows!! I will post photos one day! Until then, my next grow will be about 8 different strains one of which being my favorite OG Kush! Growing under HPS lighting and for the first time soiless media!! My questions to you guise are
1.Has anybody ever used Sunshine Professional Growing mix? Because i have a ton of it that seems to be good stuff. The tag on it reads:
20150327_151211.jpg
I also purchased 2x5 pound bags of earthworm castings and 2 extra pounds of vermiculite....didnt have the money for bat guano but ill get it in a few days...which brings me to my second question...what else should i ammend my mix with?20150327_153318.jpg Ive been doing some research but couldn't come across anyone else growing with my specific mix and wanted some experienced suggestions before i begin.

Thank you guise!!!
 

Hiramklarke

Active Member
Any suggestions on other amendments? I just found this awesome fertilizer store right near my house and they have an ass load of goodies but im kinda lost using soiless media
 

bf80255

Well-Known Member
Any suggestions on other amendments? I just found this awesome fertilizer store right near my house and they have an ass load of goodies but im kinda lost using soiless media
the only real difference is the Ph keep it around 5.8 and youll be golden, nutes I only use maxibloom seems to work pretty well if your interested just google K.I.S.S grow method or something to that effect.
7 grams per gallon but ill usually cut it to 1/3-2/3 strength
and some Ph up to correct the downward fluctuation the salts will bring

mmm that should be it unless its a touchy strain in which case youll have to adjust fire from there
 

SSHZ

Well-Known Member
You'll get a lot of different answers, most will work just fine. I add a lot more perlite and 3.75 cups of dolomite lime to each 3.75 cu. ft. bale. I I keep the water pH between 6.3-6.5. I use Botanicare fertilizers and always add 10ml per gallon of Cal/Mag.......below is 23 Blue Rhino's, 1 week into flowering grown exactly with the above ingredients.

IMG_0039.JPG
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
Any suggestions on other amendments? I just found this awesome fertilizer store right near my house and they have an ass load of goodies but im kinda lost using soiless media
When you talk about adding fertilizers and things to the peat, you're getting into organic soil which will take time to "cook."

If you want to make your own soil. Get a bag of potting mix and mix it with the peat. Add perlite for drainage. And, add dolomite.

I do that with 50-60% peat, 20-25% Kellogg Patio Plus potting mix, 20-25% perlite. I add 1.5-2 Tbsp/gal dolomite lime. Now it's soil, not soilless. But, it's not pre-nuted like a roll-your-own soil which you seem to be talking about. It has nutrients for the first week or two, and then you're in complete control (like soilless). But, you're using soil nutrients, not hydro nutrients. You're just feeding soil nutrients at your control, not making them available in the soil through a long preparation of the soil.
 

a mongo frog

Well-Known Member
Just my opinion. Don't add anything. Maybe sprinkle some mychrozzae (how ever its spelled) on the roots while transplanting and rock a good plant foot and your money. I add a product called drip clean and feed every single watering. Less volume and more frequent waterings is what I've have found to be best for huge og yields. Sounds like fun times ahead, good luck. Oh and yea like the others said ph range 5.9-6-3.
 

Hiramklarke

Active Member
Thanks for clarifying that up for me guise!! @az2000 that helped me out tons friend!! Thx i have a few bags of organic potting soil i will use with the peat as per your recipe....i have alot of extra vermiculite would it hurt to add more to that recipe?
 

Hiramklarke

Active Member
Another question @az2000 My pro mix and potting mix both say it has lime....should i add more? And is epsom salt necessary as well? Thanks in advanced!
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
My pro mix and potting mix both say it has lime....should i add more? And is epsom salt necessary as well? Thanks in advanced!
It seems customary to add 1tbsp/gal dolomite to bagged soils and Pro-mix. You could try it without and see if you get ca or mg deficiencies and/or unstable ph. I've always added 1-2 tbsp. I haven't tried not using it (yet).

You only use epsom salt if a plant shows mg def, or if you had some reason to believe your mg is too low. I never amend it into the soil. I rarely add 1/2 tsp/gal to my nutrients when a plant has mg def.
 

spek9

Well-Known Member
You'll get a lot of different answers, most will work just fine. I add a lot more perlite and 3.75 cups of dolomite lime to each 3.75 cu. ft. bale. I I keep the water pH between 6.3-6.5. I use Botanicare fertilizers and always add 10ml per gallon of Cal/Mag.......below is 23 Blue Rhino's, 1 week into flowering grown exactly with the above ingredients.

View attachment 3382184
Those are some beautiful plants; they look just like my Cotton Candy I have in flower just now.

I don't have anything to add to this thread other than that I use Promix HP soilless medium as soil nowadays, and I love it. Anything else I say will take away from the post I've quoted.

-spek
 

spek9

Well-Known Member
I don't use it. I want my soil to dry faster. With my mix I water every 2-3 days. (The only time I recall hearing anyone preferring vermiculite is someone growing under HID whose radiant heat can dry the sol too quickly.).
Adding vermiculite under HID definitely does help, but in tests I've done, it seems to possibly cause uptake problems. I don't know if its from salt build-up or what, but I eradicated vermiculite out of my grows in favour of learning to water my plants accordingly with just medium with perlite.

I also find that without vermiculite, soilless mediums are better at buffering pH issues.

-spek
 

SSHZ

Well-Known Member
Forget the vermiculite.......I agree, it tends to throw the pH off. Most vermiculite tends to fall in the 7.6-8.3 pH range, which is high but can help balance the low pH of fertilizer. It also tends to hold lot of water, too much for growing pot in my opinion.........plants do better when the alternate wet and dry- it's better for the roots.

The Blue Rhino are doing wonderfully by the way. At almost 2 weeks I think the elongation has stopped. The "stink:" has started too.
This is very under-rated strain IMO.....it regularly makes people top 10 list, at least those in the know and have grown it.
 
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