From Hydro to Soil... Im doing it in the dirt!

Of late I have had terrible dramas with my hydro setup (Posted a thread in hydro section) and have decided to give a soil grow a go. I have growing experience but only with hydro and I want to try a soil grow.

I have had a bit of a search through these forums and found some good info and nearly everything I think I need to convert to dirt but still have some questions I'm hoping you guys can answer.

Soil:
Im growing from seed so do I use a 'seed raising mix' while the plant is small and then change to a good quality potting mix and blend in 30% perlite? Am I on the right track?

Method:
Im thinking of germinating the seeds in paper towel and once a root is visible placing the seed into a 'Jiffy pot / peat pot' and then into a small pot with seed raising mix. Do I then up-pot to a bigger pot once the plant starts getting bigger and use a different soil mix?

Nutrients:
Can I use my hydro chemical nutrients when growing in soil or should I only use organic nutes, can I use a combination of both? I have good access to worm castings and worm juice so Im guessing these would be beneficial to mix into the soil to begin with?

Pots:
What kinda size pots do I use? Do they have holes in the bottom for drainage? how do you stop from getting water and soil all over the growroom floor?

PH:
It seems as though you guys recommend a soil PH of 6.5-7.0, when I water the plants what PH do I set the nutrient to? If Im watering with a EWC tea and worm juice do I PH these before watering the plants?

Sorry for all the retarded questions, this soil growing business is way outta left field for me!

After reading your hydro post and this one, it sounds like you overcomplicate things with a passion.

I'd recommend following a simple, step by step process from a revered grower like nebulahaze www.growweedeasy.com and then tailor it to your situation.

Cannabis is extremely resilient and most issues stem from folks trying to fix problems that don't exist.

Remember POT

P - pH - Cannabis requires a specific pH range to absorb nutrients. Shoot for the right pH and don't freak out when it swings. When all else fails, pH.

O - oxygen - Colloquialism for air, as all plants need co2 as well as oxygen. Fresh air means healthy plants and a gentle breeze strengthens the stalk to support heavy buds.

T - temperature - Cannabis likes warm temps during veg and warm-hot temps during flower. Cool water prevents bad bacteria and fungus growth.

Southern_Lights said:

Soil:
Im growing from seed so do I use a 'seed raising mix' while the plant is small and then change to a good quality potting mix and blend in 30% perlite? Am I on the right track?

Method:
Im thinking of germinating the seeds in paper towel and once a root is visible placing the seed into a 'Jiffy pot / peat pot' and then into a small pot with seed raising mix. Do I then up-pot to a bigger pot once the plant starts getting bigger and use a different soil mix?

Nutrients:
Can I use my hydro chemical nutrients when growing in soil or should I only use organic nutes, can I use a combination of both? I have good access to worm castings and worm juice so Im guessing these would be beneficial to mix into the soil to begin with?

Pots:
What kinda size pots do I use? Do they have holes in the bottom for drainage? how do you stop from getting water and soil all over the growroom floor?

PH:
It seems as though you guys recommend a soil PH of 6.5-7.0, when I water the plants what PH do I set the nutrient to? If Im watering with a EWC tea and worm juice do I PH these before watering the plants?

Sorry for all the retarded questions, this soil growing business is way outta left field for me!

Click to expand...

Mebby I can help.. Just my opinions..

1) Soil, I like using black gold seedling mix, very easy for clones and new seedings to make roots in this mix very soft, and its not hot.. Just use it outta the bag.. no additional ammending needed.

2) I have lots of rockwool for clones.. etc. I guess you can use jiffy pellets if you want. in reality you need to keep transplanting to a minimum, everytime you move or transplant you slow the growth down. I only do one transplant, and thats just to take it out from under the seedling light and to put it into a final container. I like to use 30 gallon pots so I get about 4-5 ladies per smart pot.

3) I prefer "organic" nutrients.. whatever that means. EWC teas, pulverized egg shells, coffee grounds, kelp, guano.. microbe/fungi inoculatants.. Its actually more work to go this route, but I have no problems with nutrient burn. In fact I use a system of heavily ammended super soil on the bottom half (subcools super soil I use promix bx for my base) and the top half black gold seedling mix with about 1/4 of the supersoil mixed in. I just top feed every so often.

4)I prefer smart pots, its a fabric pot. very hard to overwater.. I simply laid out a bunch of plastic and put my pots on some pallets, and put some 2x4s on the edges to make a berm. I got about 6 30 gallon smart pots on them.

5) I dont bother with PH unless its way outta spec, plain old tap works fine. If I do have to PH my water, I cheat a bit and use a little bit of salt based hydro nutes just to bump the PH down... but the microbes should take care of everything.

Soil - once they show the taproot, I go straight into MG seed starter with added perlite. Same for clones. Once ready, yes I go into a larger pot with my soil mix. I mix my own that has very little nutes so I can control it (potting soil, perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, lime).

Nutes - you can use chemical nutes. Just get your PPM right, lower in soil.

Pots - 3 or 5 gal. Yes they need drainage!!!!

PH - whatever is going in (Plain water, buted water, tea) should be around 6.5...

Hydro wasn't for me. Too much babysitting so I decided to give soil a try. I just popped a seed in some good store bought soil and kept it moist using a 5 gallon smart pot. It sprouted and I just watered it for a couple weeks then started feeding. The plant turned out awesome and I didn't have to babysit it. Haven't looked back. Soil is easy.

Awesome thanks for the replies, I reckon I'm on the right track now. Hoping I can regain the joy I used to get out of growing instead of this epic frustration that I have now.

Deadgro - You have me pinned! Pisses my mates off I'm sure lol!

As you research check out the grow guides on the Mandala seeds website. http://www.mandalaseeds.com/ They have some interesting information, some that is contrary to what you might read in these forums. They have germination, soil and fertilizer information there.

I didn't go find your hydro thread but I have a feeling you're talking about a recirculating system of some kind. After going from deep water, to organic soil, to drain to waste, I'd reccommend just going straight to drain to waste. It's super easy and you can still push your nutes and a good nutrient line up won't be the cause of deficiences that you usually end up dealing with running organic.