Soil Mix advice needed.

buckyboy

Well-Known Member
So I'm preparing for 2012, and found a nursery right up the street from the crib. Couldnt believe it. After all these years. Its my 5th grow for crying out loud. lol. In the past I only went to Lowes, HD, etc.. Miracle gro, Scotts soil, etc........... NOT IN 2012. Going with the good stuff.(I hope) Well anyway, here's what they have. Stuff looks good, but I dont know where to start or what type of mix I should go with. I'll be growing in the ground. Already dug my HUGE holes. Took a while in this hard Southeastern clay. Got 4 holes. Need to fill em. Help me out here.

E.B. Stone organic potting soil-Pine bark, Canadian spag. peat moss, mushroom compost, forest compost products, wetting agent, organic slow release fertilizer made from earthworm castings, feather meal, kelp meal, bat guano. Also contains gypsum and mycorrhizae. (ideal for all container growing) $10.99 1.5 cft

E.B Stone organic planting mix- Pine bark, mushroom compost, forest products, chicken manure. Also contains mycorrhizae(ideal for all outdoor gardening) $7.99 1.5 cft.

Monrovia Custom soil blend- Peat moss, composted bark, living compost, beneficial organisms, 12 different strains of mycorrhizae, coated organic slow release fertilizer(ideal for all outdoor container growing) $12.99 1.5 cft.(on sale right now) regularly 14.99.

Monrovia soil ammendment- compost, composted bark, spag peat moss, 12 different strains of mycorrhizae, coated organic fertilizer(ideal for all outdoor gardening) $12.99 1.5 cft.(also on sale)

E.B. Stone earthworm castings $13.99

E.B Stone organic garden soil $7.99 1.5 cft.

E.B. Stone mushroom compost $12.99

E.B Stone organic soil conditioner $10.99

E.B. Stone flower and vegetable planting mix $7.99 1.5 cft.

Perlite $23.99 4 cft.

vermiculite

E.B Stone seed starter 5.99

Miracle gro organic choice potting mix $7.99(never used it. Have always used the reg potting mix with MIXED RESULTS.

EB stone bone meal/blood meal, bat guano etc...(staying away from the blood meal and bone meal though. Dont want animals hangind around my shit.(never used it. Just heard they attracted wildlife.
I'll be going from cups, to 1 gallons, to 3 gallons, to holes, so hopefully i wont have to add xtra nutes..

Now help me fill my containers and holes please. ALL OPINIONS WELCOMED.
 

PIPBoy2000

Active Member
I wouldn't get the stuff with pine bark in it. It won't be available for the plant to use - it's kind of just filler - and it will just release acid as the mycorrhizae eat it.
Earthworm castings are a must. If you get the bloodmeal/bonemeal you can take care of the animals with some of your morning pee, hair, and chunks of irish spring soap.
I'd mix in some of that sweet southeastern clay you dug out of there. I'd just go with the plain organic soil mix and mix in some of your native soil for the microherd.
 

Redbird1223

Active Member
I've never heard of any of that stuff, but if you're going to pick from those choices, I'd go with choice 2. It's a bit cheaper and contains mycorrizae, mushroom compost, and forest floor meaning you'll have a shit load of microorganisms down there - awesome. This is all just my opinion, but from there you can feed with different compost teas. I wouldn't worry about the dirt having nutrients in it because young plants don't need much and after 4-6 weeks, those nutes would be used up and you'd be feeding with teas anyway. Ask him to order some roots organics for you ($18-22 2.0 cu ft) it's worth every penny.

As for animals, use predator pee. Whether it's your own or wolf pee. As long as the pee came from something more badass than the animal sniffin it
If you just want to stick with the soil they're offering, I'd try a different one in each hole, then monitor throughout the grow - this will work better if you grow the same strain in all four holes
 

Redbird1223

Active Member
After reading the post about pine bark, I have to agree it's filler/ garbage. And all four have bark. I would bug this guy about some roots organics everyday until he gets it for you. I also used to use home depot soil ( kellogg's ) but now that i switched to roots organics soil, im a customer for life. I have a buddy that uses " happy frog" i don't know who makes it, but he really likes it
 

buckyboy

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't get the stuff with pine bark in it. It won't be available for the plant to use - it's kind of just filler - and it will just release acid as the mycorrhizae eat it.
Earthworm castings are a must. If you get the bloodmeal/bonemeal you can take care of the animals with some of your morning pee, hair, and chunks of irish spring soap.
I'd mix in some of that sweet southeastern clay you dug out of there. I'd just go with the plain organic soil mix and mix in some of your native soil for the microherd.
So you think I'll need blood/bone meal, etc... even though I'll be transplanting to new soil each time? Never tried it. Never used organic soil to begin with. haha. And which soil should I mix with the castings?Btw, I heard squirrels /chipmunks, etc would dig your plants up after that stuff? Cant have any of that. lol.
 

buckyboy

Well-Known Member
I've never heard of any of that stuff, but if you're going to pick from those choices, I'd go with choice 2. It's a bit cheaper and contains mycorrizae, mushroom compost, and forest floor meaning you'll have a shit load of microorganisms down there - awesome. This is all just my opinion, but from there you can feed with different compost teas. I wouldn't worry about the dirt having nutrients in it because young plants don't need much and after 4-6 weeks, those nutes would be used up and you'd be feeding with teas anyway. Ask him to order some roots organics for you ($18-22 2.0 cu ft) it's worth every penny.

As for animals, use predator pee. Whether it's your own or wolf pee. As long as the pee came from something more badass than the animal sniffin it
If you just want to stick with the soil they're offering, I'd try a different one in each hole, then monitor throughout the grow - this will work better if you grow the same strain in all four holes
Thanks. Got some seeds from a guy who sells kush. Hooked me up. Maybe I'll go with a different kind in each hole. Should I also throw in some garden soil, and perlite or is it unnecessary? Btw, when u say choice 2, do you mean the planting mix without the time relese organic nutes?
 

buckyboy

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't get the stuff with pine bark in it. It won't be available for the plant to use - it's kind of just filler - and it will just release acid as the mycorrhizae eat it.
Earthworm castings are a must. If you get the bloodmeal/bonemeal you can take care of the animals with some of your morning pee, hair, and chunks of irish spring soap.
I'd mix in some of that sweet southeastern clay you dug out of there. I'd just go with the plain organic soil mix and mix in some of your native soil for the microherd.
Plain organic soil mix? Which one?
 

mugan

Well-Known Member
you should get some kind of beneficial microbe brew, put it in with maybe a tea spoon of molasses after planting

see you have microbes, just the molasses then :)
 

buckyboy

Well-Known Member
you should get some kind of beneficial microbe brew, put it in with maybe a tea spoon of molasses after planting

see you have microbes, just the molasses then :)
So which soil would you go with? And where do you get Molasses? Besides hydro store. Paranoid about going to Atlantis Hydroponics. The nursery is a lot safer. And closer. lol
 

buckyboy

Well-Known Member
I've never even heard of morovia! But if you have to choose from what you listed initially, that's probably the one I'd pick. Read that super soil thread, it's a creative way to obtain long term nourishment. If you want be more involved then I would use organic teas. So here is a thread on that
https://www.rollitup.org/organics/48966-basic-compost-tea-guide.html
But I'm going to be transplanting into fresh soil each time. 1 gallon(sex), 3 gallon, to ground. Wouldnt think I'd need all that xtra stuff. If I had some female seed it would be different. I'd definetely try that supersoil mix. That way I could start them in it. But I'd hate to waste all them goodies from the supersoil on males. I suppose I could use the supersoil in the bottom of the holes, but wouldnt that be a lot of nitrogen during flower? I figured each time I transplant into fresh soil, im feeding. I take it you think I'll need more?
 

buckyboy

Well-Known Member

catmando

Well-Known Member
just a suggestion, you should skip the one gallon pots and go straight from cups to three gallon. It avoids unnecessary transplant shock and the one gallon pot isnt really needed.

i went from solo cup to 3 gal. last year
 

buckyboy

Well-Known Member
just a suggestion, you should skip the one gallon pots and go straight from cups to three gallon. It avoids unnecessary transplant shock and the one gallon pot isnt really needed.

i went from solo cup to 3 gal. last year
If i skip anything, it would have to be the cups and the 3 gallons. Last year I started in 1gallon after germination. And I cant sex in cups. So cups to ground wont work. Nothing but girls going in my holes. Just heard I'd do better transplanting into 3 gallons for a bigger root ball b4 they go in the ground. Probably just bullshit. haha. Last year I went from 1 gallon to ground. They did ok, but the previous year, i had a one in a 5 gallon that turned out to be a girl. I put that bitch in the ground and that mf blew up. Thats influenced me a little bit on the bigger rootball thing too. lol. It was a bitch to transplant though.
 

buckyboy

Well-Known Member
So nobody else ever used Monrovia or EB Stone soil? Help me out here. Need to get some good soil while its on sale. lol
 
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