First attempt at Auto's

Moose71

Active Member
i just planted my 1st seeds. all autos and also 1st. weed grow. they should be up soon. planted 2 n.lights , 1 n.l. blue, 1 critical diesel. can't wait for them to come up! using coir with 30% perlite and a little worm castings . added a very small amount of cal/mag to water. castings should give enough nutrition till i start to fert.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
I don't recommend using organic material in Coco. I guess it can be done, but I've had the most success treating it as a Hydroponic media and running it sterile.
 

Moose71

Active Member
yep. i read that. didn't put much tho. maybe a 1/16th of the total. just wanted a little nutrition to help my seedlings get a start then its all my nutes i add. hard to break away from my organic gardening past.
 

Moose71

Active Member
me too. this is my 1st cannabis grow but i have over 30 yrs. growing experience in trees and gardens. I've added coir to our acidic clay soil with great results! if it wasn't so expensive to get decent soil up here i would have gone with my own soil mix. it was actually cheaper to buy the coir , perlite, and nutes than to make my own super soil!
 

DigitalTorture

Well-Known Member
me too. this is my 1st cannabis grow but i have over 30 yrs. growing experience in trees and gardens. I've added coir to our acidic clay soil with great results! if it wasn't so expensive to get decent soil up here i would have gone with my own soil mix. it was actually cheaper to buy the coir , perlite, and nutes than to make my own super soil!
I live in southern Canada. The soil in my garden was pretty much a big block of grey clay when I moved here. I added loads of Rock dust, my own compost and coco. The soil is tones better and it's been only two years. My tomatoes were really impressive this past season. I can only imagine what my cannabis plants are gonna be like next year.
 

Moose71

Active Member
im in n. maine so we have the same soil except mines more ledge than soil. i tried a garden but finally went to all raised beds. a lot easier to manage. gonna do my weed this summer in a greenhouse with air pots.
 

DigitalTorture

Well-Known Member
im in n. maine so we have the same soil except mines more ledge than soil. i tried a garden but finally went to all raised beds. a lot easier to manage. gonna do my weed this summer in a greenhouse with air pots.
Honestly, I found the air pots to be a complete pain in the ass to water. You have to be really slow or the water just leaks out the sides right away. I've been using cloth pots, and watering from the bottom. But to each his own.
 

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member

Moose71

Active Member
Honestly, I found the air pots to be a complete pain in the ass to water. You have to be really slow or the water just leaks out the sides right away. I've been using cloth pots, and watering from the bottom. But to each his own.
my father grew the biggest tomato trees I've ever seen grown in homemade air pots. yeah they are a pain to water but the results are amazing! tried both 5 gal. airpot to a 5gal pail grow. at least a 30% improvement in the airpot. can't get root bound. a few drops of dawn in your watering can occasionally, helps the water soak in faster and better and it doesn't effect the plant.
 

DigitalTorture

Well-Known Member
my father grew the biggest tomato trees I've ever seen grown in homemade air pots. yeah they are a pain to water but the results are amazing! tried both 5 gal. airpot to a 5gal pail grow. at least a 30% improvement in the airpot. can't get root bound. a few drops of dawn in your watering can occasionally, helps the water soak in faster and better and it doesn't effect the plant.
The dish soap thing doesn't affect microbial life in the soil? The past few years I've been growing my cannabis in strictly organic soil mixes. I don't use any chemicals and have been getting awesome results.
 

Moose71

Active Member
nope. but i don't use a lot . only a few drops once and while to help the soil absorb faster. use the plain original dawn. not the scented extra degreaser type. used this on my raised beds as the soil had a lot of peat, which when dry repeals water like a duck! i too like to grow organically but i got coir , perlite and nutes for a lot cheaper than making or buying supersoil. will be growing in the greenhouse come spring.
 

DigitalTorture

Well-Known Member
nope. but i don't use a lot . only a few drops once and while to help the soil absorb faster. use the plain original dawn. not the scented extra degreaser type. used this on my raised beds as the soil had a lot of peat, which when dry repeals water like a duck! i too like to grow organically but i got coir , perlite and nutes for a lot cheaper than making or buying supersoil. will be growing in the greenhouse come spring.
yes, organic CAN cost lots, but I do my indoor for next to nothing. I compost all my left over coffee, fruits and veggies, etc in my basement. That mixed with some dolomite lime, bone meal and blood meal seems to be all my plants need. Well i guess using worms helps a lot. I usually start with promix organic vegetable soil as a base and build it up from there with my compost. For a boost during flowering I do use my organic banana tea. but that is all.
 

Moose71

Active Member
yeah. i love organic but we don't have any big box stores like home depot or walmart. only mom and pop gardening shops which are double the price for a bag of soil compared to the big boxes. local loam is terrible and full of clay. i get some compost from my piles but our very cold winters to our cool summers. takes forever for things to break down. bag compost is really expensive and hard to find. no one sells bulk compost up here either.
 
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