First off, no matter what you hear from newbies like myself or veterans of 20+ years. DO NOT use Miracle Gro regular or organic. If not because of the dangerous synthetics in regular or the oil based N fert in organic, DO NOT use it because the corporation, Monsanto, who owns Scotts and the Miracle Gro lines, is one the biggest polluters on our earth.
My very first grow was with MG non-organic and MG ferts. Seedling struggled, but it vegged great, early flower was good but I struggled late flower. I have a great dry and cure process, minimum 45 days, and the MG MJ tasted like chems. A buddy of mine makes his own tea and gets really down and dirty, and his buds tasted like heaven compared to mine using the same dry/cure process.
--------------------------
I use Sunshine Pro potting soil. It has a tiny amount of nutes to start seedlings, but after a few weeks it's yours to fert. I mix that with chunky or large coarse perlite, vermiculite, worm castings, and dolomite lime.
I mix it 40% soil, 30% perlite, 15% vermiculite, 15% worm castings. A cup of lime per each 5 gal pot.
For seedlings I just use half soil half perlite in 16oz solo sups.
I use the entire EarthJuice lineup. Being I only keep my seedlings in the solo cups from sprouted seed to 4-5" seedlings, about 10 days(I germinate using paper towel between plates with heat pad), I do not feed with EJ until second watering after transplant into the 5 gallons.
EarthJuice is 100% organic, and can be used for both hydro and soil, but nothing is better for MJ than soil.
There is Grow, Bloom, Catalyst, MicroBlast, MetaK and Hi-Brix Molasses. Basically just Grow with tiny amounts of Bloom is used for veg, then just the opposite with flower by using Bloom with tiny amounts of Grow. In between micro, catalyst and meta is used throughout the grow, plenty of info on EJ schedules can be found on here. The Hi-Brix is basically a much better version of black strap molasses which is used in flower to get BIG BUDS.(It's more complicated than that but that's the end result)
For the transplant from solo cup to 5 gal I allow the solo to dry out almost completely, cut the cup pull out and transplant into the 5 gal, which has already been watered a few days earlier with PHed water. With solo cup size hole already pre-dug the clump goes in and dirt goes around it. I water right away with only PHed water and 1/4 strength ThriveAliveGreen. The next watering is the first time I use EJ, a basic 1/4 strength Grow with 1/4 strength Microblast. Even though with 5 gallons of soil mix it could probably sustain the plant for another week or more, I introduce EJ no more than 5 days after transplant. So basically water only pre-transplant, water and Thrive only right after, and EJ mix within 5 days.
I bubble my water in a 5 gallon bucket with a air stone and air pump for 24-36 hours. Then I add EJ mix and bubble a minimum 12 maximum 24 hours. I only add PH up or down no less than two hours before feed.(EJ PH UP and DOWN all organic, I forgot to mention these two extra products) When I get the 6.3 I shoot for I usually wait those two hours to see if PH changes, but it almost never does.
I know Advanced has good products but they're so commercialized it's sickening. A full line of EJ, that is one gallon of each product mentioned(except the PH Up and Down which is a smaller bottle about 10 dollars a piece), is around 120 if bought locally which is impossible for most of us, and around 200 if ordered online and shipped depending on how far you are from distributor. So look for a website who's prices are good and who's warehouse is close.
Only con, the shit kinda stinks, but I've learned to love it. I did not keep it too simple my first organic grow, but simple enough because it turned out amazing. I will use nothing else until I have to.
Good Luck
thanks you
