Any Advice on Selecting Soil?

Hey guys.

I've got an order of Nirvana Short Rider Feminized seeds coming in soon from Amsterdam.
Now, what I'm planning to do is go to a local Home Depot or Lowes and buy the most expensive, high grade potting soil (Miracle Gro, Jungle Growth, etc.) and mix it in with some extra Perlite to air it out.

I've looked into additives like bat guano and supplementary compost mixes, but where do I get these?
Do they sell them in garden store fertilizer sections?

Any Suggestions/Advice is greatly appreciated!

a nursery or hydro store should have plenty of fertilizer options, as for soil, i wouldnt got mg. ide get something blan if your going to feed anyways. i keep it simple and the ladies love it. promix perlite and worm castings. i brew earthjuice teas and feed as needed.

If you go to the Fox Forest Farm website you can look for sellers in your area. Wherever they carry it will have everything else you need. There Happy Frog, and Light Warrior soil is excellent.

Buy some Ocean Forest and leave the other shit out, it has all you need.
But if you are set on MG, well, knock yourself out!!














































































no really, knock yourself out.

Thanks for all the input so far, guys, but I completely forgot to mention that I'm planning on starting them in those expanable Jiffy Peat Pellets.

I've used them before for tomatoes, sunflowers, and skullcap and they work great.
Almost 100% germination.

I'm making it my mission to tell anybody that will listen not to buy FF soils, (1st) it's more of a compost than a soil, don't believe me read the ingredients, and this is the main reason for me that shit had root aphids in multiple bags of HF & OF I bought last year and I got them from different stores they took me forever to diagnosis i thought they were gnats I put up some sticky traps but wasn't catching very many but everytime I watered thousands of these hellspawn would come out the soil I started noticing the majority really didn't fly and there where a couple different stages this was over a 6 mo. period they had so many "flyers" in the room you couldn't open your mouth, literally. I checked on the net someone had posted they got them from their HF too I bought some Mosquito Dunks in about a month I could talk to my plants finally,LOL

Sorry, I didn't mention a soil everytime I speak on that I get to phasing out. Sunshine Advanced #4 or Pro-Mix; they give you a better playing field whether you use dry or liquid nutes.

Umm, ok.
I've heard from many people, not just in this thread, that Fox Farm soils (composts) are excellent for growing.

I'm sorry to hear about your dilemma, but I'm sure that they're soils are usually sterile...
Parasites and Bugs can be seriously difficult problems and it sounds like you had quite an infestation.

Anyways, I'm still going to be using the best potting mix I can find in local garden supply stores.

Thanks for the advice though, I'll be sure to research root aphids a little bit...

They don't mention them in any MJ books at all that's the reason it take so long to get control of didn't know my enemy, but choose almost any type of soil that doesn't have time released nutes added. I'll admit I used MG OC when it 1st came out it needs alot of perlite added, also made my own mix with:

1)3pt. regular potting soil

2)2pt. perlite

3)1pt. composted humus & manure

a bag of Espoma Plant-tone, and some bone meal I don't think I spent $20

symbiote420 said:

They don't mention them in any MJ books at all that's the reason it take so long to get control of didn't know my enemy, but choose almost any type of soil that doesn't have time released nutes added. I'll admit I used MG OC when it 1st came out it needs alot of perlite added, also made my own mix with:

1)3pt. regular potting soil

2)2pt. perlite

3)1pt. composted humus & manure

a bag of Espoma Plant-tone, and some bone meal I don't think I spent $20

Click to expand...

That sounds very similar to what I was planning on.
I always see pics where people's soil is packed to the brim with perlite and, from experience, I can see why.
MJ is very easy to suffocate when it's overwatered.

I was planning on like a 1:3 ratio of Potting Mix to Perlite in my upcoming grow.
After about a month I might add some bat guano to the mix, but no more MG for me.....EVER.

MG soils are filled with bark and are overloaded with chemical nutrients.

My advice : Don't try eating the soil, it might taste like poop.

sounds like you should make it your mission to get some air flowing in your room and a liitle pst control. it never matters were you got it matters how you get it under control and keep it under control. all soil could have pests so dont condem one because you had a bad experience with it. maybe you didnt wash your pots out good enough or not at all and thats were you got the aphids. im just saying MAYBE

symbiote420 said:

I'm making it my mission to tell anybody that will listen not to buy FF soils, (1st) it's more of a compost than a soil, don't believe me read the ingredients, and this is the main reason for me that shit had root aphids in multiple bags of HF & OF I bought last year and I got them from different stores they took me forever to diagnosis i thought they were gnats I put up some sticky traps but wasn't catching very many but everytime I watered thousands of these hellspawn would come out the soil I started noticing the majority really didn't fly and there where a couple different stages this was over a 6 mo. period they had so many "flyers" in the room you couldn't open your mouth, literally. I checked on the net someone had posted they got them from their HF too I bought some Mosquito Dunks in about a month I could talk to my plants finally,LOL

Click to expand...

m.g soil works just fine and anyone that say's it doesnt is just plain wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jesus of Cannabis said:

Buy some Ocean Forest and leave the other shit out, it has all you need.
But if you are set on MG, well, knock yourself out!!














































































no really, knock yourself out.

Click to expand...

its not overloaded with chemical nutes but you dont need to feed for the a few weeks after planting in it. It is call growing a plant not going by a textbook. WATCH THE PLANT GROW and you will see what it needs and when it needs it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sativica said:

That sounds very similar to what I was planning on.
I always see pics where people's soil is packed to the brim with perlite and, from experience, I can see why.
MJ is very easy to suffocate when it's overwatered.

I was planning on like a 1:3 ratio of Potting Mix to Perlite in my upcoming grow.
After about a month I might add some bat guano to the mix, but no more MG for me.....EVER.

MG soils are filled with bark and are overloaded with chemical nutrients.

Click to expand...

I use an equal mix of FF ocean forest, happy frog, and perilite. That combination drains good, roots well, and has enough nutes for veg. Once you transplant and begin to flower, slowly begin to feed nutes (more as needed) and maintain proper PH and you won't be disappointed.

I'm not a "pro", but it has worked well for me...

Sativica said:

Hey guys.

I've got an order of Nirvana Short Rider Feminized seeds coming in soon from Amsterdam.
Now, what I'm planning to do is go to a local Home Depot or Lowes and buy the most expensive, high grade potting soil (Miracle Gro, Jungle Growth, etc.) and mix it in with some extra Perlite to air it out.

I've looked into additives like bat guano and supplementary compost mixes, but where do I get these?
Do they sell them in garden store fertilizer sections?

Any Suggestions/Advice is greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

I personally use coconut husk mixed with shanghai moss. It's way better than soil. The coconut husk hugs your roots while the moss helps retain moisture. Plus you can reuse it over and over again.

I've used MG soils plenty of times and never had any issues, but I prefer pro mix. It's actually a little cheaper than the MG products and I find it to be much better quality. Less bark, twigs, and other junk that shouldn't really be in there. It also has better water holding capacity. You can add extra perlite if you want, but I don't feel it is necessary. The pH is right about where you want it and it usually stays that way. What I like most is that there isn't any added nutrients, so you control when, what, and how much it gets. Sunshine Mix is very similar, but Pro Mix is more readily available where I live so I usually go with that.

Do you have an Ace Hardware nearby? Some of them carry Pro Mix, but if not they can order it for you. The product number is 7136385 for the big bales and 7008634 for the small bags.

queenster said:

sounds like you should make it your mission to get some air flowing in your room and a liitle pst control. it never matters were you got it matters how you get it under control and keep it under control. all soil could have pests so dont condem one because you had a bad experience with it. maybe you didnt wash your pots out good enough or not at all and thats were you got the aphids. im just saying MAYBE

Click to expand...

sounds to me like a hard statement for someone without details of my growroom, anyways i have 481 cfm 8" intake, (2) 16" wall fans, 6x24" phat filter on 465 cfm squirrel cage exhaust and if it gets hot a dual window fan set btwn the canopy and light using 600 watts on a light track in a 4x7x7 homemade grow tent now you can tell me if i need more air or not "queen"? I live in America if I keep having the same bad experiences with a product it would be foolish to keep supporting that product when i have other options. who will keep going to a restaurant where they keep getting roaches in their food and not tell other ppl or worse just say it's good if you pick them out? as for pest control I'm all organic I use neem oil, diatomaceous earth, organicide, and Bti in my Aurora and Smart Pots which i wash in a net bag in the washing machine b4 reusing them AND now I quarantine new soils in a tote where i treat with Bti and let sit a couple weeks b4 using. I've been RA free for almost a year and I got the right not to fuck with FF "soil" and give ppl the heads up if they do!

i have read that due to the increse in sales of FF there ability to produce good products have fallen i for one never have tryed it and won't

i like my mixture of soil 4 bags of promix
1 bag of sheep manure
1 bag of shrimp compost
1/2 bag of peatmoss

and plants love it

I got "stuck" using MG organic choice potting mix this grow. It's not bad but it needs help. I went 50/50 with perlite/potting mix. Nice and airy, holds water but isn't soaked. It feels wet but you can squeeze a handful and won't even get a drop of water out of it. I also use a layer of hydroton on the bottom for drainage. The real problem with MG and new growers is that some of it comes out of the bag at pH5. In my state it's mostly peat, very little bark, so it's quite acidic. Some pulverized garden lime worked in will make this soil an excellent 6.8 pH with plenty of natural goodness. It's got many trace elements but notably lacks calcium and magnesium, which luckily the lime provides as well.