cranker
Legal Moderator, Esq.
*Disclaimer, please do not flame this thread. Feel free to add constructive criticism. I am using only products that I have seen at my local walmart and trying to provide information for people who don't have access to as much as people closer to places that actually sell the good stuff.
Miracle Gro Moisture Control is the current soil I have been using, my plants have been growing great under cfls and some tubes. But you understand more about time released nutrients. MG soil contains high amounts of N. There are ways to combat this. First, add perlite in about a 2 or 3/1 ratio. I prefer 3/1 since there's another one. Before you use this soil, and this sounds stupid, put out a piece of card board, put another on top, and jump on the mother fucker like you're juicing grapes. All those little orange balls are Nitrogen pockets that it will release. After you've popped a bunch of them, put them in your container and flush it about 3 times. If you have a screen (I use one made for hunting arrow heads) with a wood base, you can also put the soil on this and shake it and it gets most of the balls and a lot of the big wood chunks out.
Another thing you need to know is that the time release is based on water. This is because they assume you have a watering cycle, so it's good to get a moisture meter, even a cheap one is better than nothing. Time release soil, you will get less burn as long as there's a tiny bit of moisture. I water every 3 days, but I mist the top every night lightly.
I've never gotten bugs in any MG. If you do, get some sevin spray and spray it early on. It kills everything. But be careful indoors, especially if you have pets. Do it during a dark cycle to prevent A. dot burning from the lights magnifying in the drops and B. less heat means less disappation.
Nutrients. *I use half strenght until I start to see deficiencies* Starting at your first watering after the 12 day seedling cycle with MG tomato. I personally recommend MG tomato because in a bind it can be used through flowering. Marijuana and Tomato share the same dietary needs. Your water cycle should run every 3 days. Since we have time release, you only need to feed once every 2 weeks, so you can get that tiny little $2 box of nutes if you can find it. My 1 med. box has lasted 2 years. I personally switch to MG Bloom Booster for my flowering stage, and I start during week 4 of flowering. The one thing I advise ordering online is Bud Blood for the first 2 weeks of flowering. This gives you a super high PK boost + activators and hormones to promote blooming.
Germination. Germinate your seeds by putting them in a paper towel. folding it keeping the seeds at the top, put them in a shot glass or bathroom cup, and put in water until it starts soaking up the towel and you have about half an inch left. You never want it to get dry and you never want it to be completely submerged. It does need some air. Put it in a relatively warm area or even under a grow light. I personally cover it with another bathroom cup. Ghetto? sure. Does it work? Sure. After this put them into something like Jiffy Peat Pellets. Soak them in water that's about ph 6.5 to losten them up and take a party cup, dig out a holein the center, and throw the seed in the middle and cover it. If you can find some superthrive this is a good time to put a drop of water in with the water before you pour it into the jiffy mix. The first 12 days the plant has enough food to survive, by then the roots will grow out of the moss and into the soil with food!
Flushing. If you're using time release soil, flushing is a complete waste of time. There is a lot of debate in general over if it's a waste of time. If you feel the need to flush, head over to the aquarium section and hope you can find all of these items:
Warning: I haven't bothered to try this and I'm not about to, but I stole the idea from some other threads and if you feel you gotta flush, this is the way to do it with nute added soil.
Bubbler Flush. Get some tubing, an air pump, and an air stone. Grab a 2-5gal. bucket and fill it with ph water(6.5ish). Submerge the air stone and line in the bucket and plug up the pump and let the water aerate for about 30-40 minutes. But you do all this when your plants are ready to your liking. Once the water has been aerated then chop your plants at soil level, then submerge the stalk into the water, being careful not to let the bottom of the stalk touch the bottom of the bucket.You probably have to macguyver something to keep it up... But bubbler flushing will definitely run all the nutes out in about 3-4 days in adverse to trying to actually flush the soil.
That's about it. In growing in MG remember it was not made for MJ, it was made for house plants, and they have slightly different needs. Most pre-nuted soil has this though so it works on all levels.
Hope this helps some of the people who are starting out and using what they can.
Good luck! 
Miracle Gro Moisture Control is the current soil I have been using, my plants have been growing great under cfls and some tubes. But you understand more about time released nutrients. MG soil contains high amounts of N. There are ways to combat this. First, add perlite in about a 2 or 3/1 ratio. I prefer 3/1 since there's another one. Before you use this soil, and this sounds stupid, put out a piece of card board, put another on top, and jump on the mother fucker like you're juicing grapes. All those little orange balls are Nitrogen pockets that it will release. After you've popped a bunch of them, put them in your container and flush it about 3 times. If you have a screen (I use one made for hunting arrow heads) with a wood base, you can also put the soil on this and shake it and it gets most of the balls and a lot of the big wood chunks out.
Another thing you need to know is that the time release is based on water. This is because they assume you have a watering cycle, so it's good to get a moisture meter, even a cheap one is better than nothing. Time release soil, you will get less burn as long as there's a tiny bit of moisture. I water every 3 days, but I mist the top every night lightly.
I've never gotten bugs in any MG. If you do, get some sevin spray and spray it early on. It kills everything. But be careful indoors, especially if you have pets. Do it during a dark cycle to prevent A. dot burning from the lights magnifying in the drops and B. less heat means less disappation.
Nutrients. *I use half strenght until I start to see deficiencies* Starting at your first watering after the 12 day seedling cycle with MG tomato. I personally recommend MG tomato because in a bind it can be used through flowering. Marijuana and Tomato share the same dietary needs. Your water cycle should run every 3 days. Since we have time release, you only need to feed once every 2 weeks, so you can get that tiny little $2 box of nutes if you can find it. My 1 med. box has lasted 2 years. I personally switch to MG Bloom Booster for my flowering stage, and I start during week 4 of flowering. The one thing I advise ordering online is Bud Blood for the first 2 weeks of flowering. This gives you a super high PK boost + activators and hormones to promote blooming.
Germination. Germinate your seeds by putting them in a paper towel. folding it keeping the seeds at the top, put them in a shot glass or bathroom cup, and put in water until it starts soaking up the towel and you have about half an inch left. You never want it to get dry and you never want it to be completely submerged. It does need some air. Put it in a relatively warm area or even under a grow light. I personally cover it with another bathroom cup. Ghetto? sure. Does it work? Sure. After this put them into something like Jiffy Peat Pellets. Soak them in water that's about ph 6.5 to losten them up and take a party cup, dig out a holein the center, and throw the seed in the middle and cover it. If you can find some superthrive this is a good time to put a drop of water in with the water before you pour it into the jiffy mix. The first 12 days the plant has enough food to survive, by then the roots will grow out of the moss and into the soil with food!
Flushing. If you're using time release soil, flushing is a complete waste of time. There is a lot of debate in general over if it's a waste of time. If you feel the need to flush, head over to the aquarium section and hope you can find all of these items:
Warning: I haven't bothered to try this and I'm not about to, but I stole the idea from some other threads and if you feel you gotta flush, this is the way to do it with nute added soil.
Bubbler Flush. Get some tubing, an air pump, and an air stone. Grab a 2-5gal. bucket and fill it with ph water(6.5ish). Submerge the air stone and line in the bucket and plug up the pump and let the water aerate for about 30-40 minutes. But you do all this when your plants are ready to your liking. Once the water has been aerated then chop your plants at soil level, then submerge the stalk into the water, being careful not to let the bottom of the stalk touch the bottom of the bucket.You probably have to macguyver something to keep it up... But bubbler flushing will definitely run all the nutes out in about 3-4 days in adverse to trying to actually flush the soil.
That's about it. In growing in MG remember it was not made for MJ, it was made for house plants, and they have slightly different needs. Most pre-nuted soil has this though so it works on all levels.
Hope this helps some of the people who are starting out and using what they can.
Good luck! 
