Seedling Soil: Side by Side Comparison

Fellow Farmers,

I am conducting a side by side soil comparison to see which seedling takes off the quickest, just because there is nothing better to do The 3rd mix sat for two days prior to placing germinated seeds into soil in hopes that the subculture will have began to start. I am interested to see how the tap root will react once it gets to the base layer. 6 germinated were planted today; 3- "Blue Hell" and 3- "Hanks Legend".

Which mix do you think will work the best?

Mix 1- 80% Ocean Forest, 20% Light Warrior.
Mix 2- 100% Happy Frog.
Mix 3- 2" Base; 50% Ocean Forest, 50% Happy Frog, 1/4 Tsp Raw Humate, treated base w/ Myco Grow and topped with 80% Light Warrior, 20% Ocean Forest.

I saw on an episode of urban grower where he made the experiment to see what soil grows better. First he had sunshine potting mix. He put new soil in one spot and planted. He used soil that has been through one grow on the other spot. The results were crazy to me. The new soil had good normal looking plants but the old soil.... The growth was twice as much as the new soil. I was like what old soil better than new...LoL. Keep this page updated so I can see the results.

I will post some pics the moment one of them pokes its head through the soil. I have some germinated Kush Berry that I need to transplant today also. Since there is an overwhelming opinion that the 80/20 mix is the best, I will go with that one. Check out the end results of the Kush Berry from my first grow, this was before I discovered Gravity and Snow Storm Ultra... can't wait for round two of this strain.

So it looks as if the majority was correct. The 80/20 seeds broke the soil first, 100% Happy Frog sprouted next, and the special mix sprouted 3rd. More updates to come...

So Mix 3 is now impressing me more than the 80/20 and Happy Frog Mixes. When I transplanted from the Solo cups into the 1 gallon pots, I treated all pots base soil with Myco Grow until it flowed out the bottom. The Happy Frog mix seedlings had no consistency as far as root ball density is concerned, I will not use this product for seedlings or clones again. 2 of the 3 HF seedlings were not worth transplanting, but I am giving one a shot and it seems to be doing better since being transplanted. The 80/20(OF/FFLW) mix seemed to take off the quickest as previously stated, BUT the special "Telecom Brew" seedlings are by far outgrowing the others!!! Without a doubt the subculture introduction in the seedling phases absolutely makes a difference in overall plant health.

If nobody responds to this post I will not post any further updates to this thread, I would really like to hear your opinions.

i just voted before reading the thread. i picked the third mix because of the extra biostimulants. i would think it would contribute to a more robust root system which, regardless of initial growth rate, will win in the end. if a plant doesn't appear to grow for a few days we don't always think to give it credit for working on that root system. nice thread. i actually just started a thread in the nutes forum about some new fancy fungus crap i got as a sample from the grow shop. it's encouraging.

I ended up having to transplant the two mix 3 plants which are noticeably larger than the mix1 & 2 plants. I could probably go ahead and transplant them all but ran out of Ocean Forest. The results are so astounding that I cannot see growing w/o introducing a subculture in the earliest of stages of the plants life. If growing from seed, I will introduce it when transplanting the germinated seed into the Solo Cup. With clones, I will also introduce it when transplanting into the Solo Cup. Is anyone paying attention to this thread?

i am. does the myco gro have an npk? i have a sample of plant success granular that i plan on using when my seedlings are ready for their permanant pots but it has an npk of 3-1-2 and i'm nervous about that.

No, to the best of my knowledge. Here are the labels from the front and back of the package for your viewing pleasure. This small package is enough for 150-200 plants. I broke down the measurements which come out to 2.33 grams per gallon, giving each plant about a 1/4 cup early and when I transplant to the 3 gallon pots I give them a 1/2 cup. I started using 1/2 recommended dosage of Pro Bloom Veg about 1 week into veg w/o any ill effect, although I have read that less N is necessary when using an advanced subculture.

nice. i did a quick search and the myco grow is made by the same people who put out the plant success line, but the myco grow seems to be better from what i can tell. its purpose is more soil health and the plant success stuff is more directly geared toward the plant hence the inclusion of npk. i have about a week to go before transplant. if i like the results i'll probably give the myco grow a shot for next round. i use a soil mix that is very similar to your 3rd mix without the special goodies so i'm looking forward to this quite a bit.

interesting thread !!! hope to see more results and information from experienced growers like your self. subbed

A quick look at the root ball from all 3 mixes. I learned from another member(Viagro) that light warrior already contains mycorrhizae, so there is no need to add additional if using it. This explains why the Mix 1 root ball looks just as strong as the mix 3 root ball, Happy Frog not impressive at ALL. Going forward, I will use a 50/50 mix of OF/LW for seedling/clone transplants.

that's kind of a bummer for me because i've been using happy frog for seedlings for over a year now. my local shop doesn't carry light warrior but my bag of happy frog does say it contains mycorrihizae and humic acid. i'm actually surprised it came in third because i would think the ocean forest to be a bit much for seeds but the mix seems to be working very well for you. very interesting indeed. i'm wondering if the happy frog could perform as well with the additional goodies.

"Mix 3" is definitely the way to go. I am glad that I ran two strains side by side so it leaves little doubt that inoculating the seedling/clone transplant soil will most surely speed up growth.

i transplanted a couple 2 days ago into a mix of about 35% ocean forest, 20% happy frog, 25% perlite and 20% worm castings. more of an effort to use up what i have than achieving the perfect mix, but i think it will serve me well. the seedlings were only about a week old but the roots were screaming out of the bottom of some of the pots so it was time. i had sprinkled the plant success on all the seeds when i planted but there was no control group so i can't say for certain if that's what made the roots that way. there are 3 strains in there. i used the plant success stuff in the transplant holes of the two i transplanted, but it is worth noting that the first watering was done with a moderate solution of liquid lime, about a tablespoon per gallon, so i'm thinking this may lengthen the time required to form a decent microherd. the rest should be ready soon so i can set up control plants of different strains. my camera memory stick is elsewhere at the moment, but i should be able to put up pics soon.

Have you looked into Foxfarm's mycorrhizae inoculant and root stimulator? I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you do a side by side.

GrizzlyBudz said:

Have you looked into Foxfarm's mycorrhizae inoculant and root stimulator? I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you do a side by side.

Click to expand...

have you used that stuff? there was some discussion on another thread but no one really piped up about using it. i was concerned about the liquid form not being as effective as a granular or dry solution. i'm really not aware of any other liquid brands. i'm thinking if liquid was effective more companies would use it.