McMurphy
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2015
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Over the years, I have experimented with a variety of different methods for growing. Soil. Hydroponics. Aeroponics. Indoor. Outdoor. You name it. I have a whole ton of equipment and supplies in my shed because I moved on to another type of system and/or nutrient menu.
While I have had a lot of success with each one these methods, I have fallen back on good old reliable - soil.
Frankly, the benefits are many and the afflictions are few. Soil is very forgiving and a lot less labor intensive. The chances of over fertilizing are reduced as the soil acts like a buffer. There is also a lot less to go wrong. No pump failures, clogged jets, failed timers, or nutrient disorders means a whole lot less to worry about.
And then there is the "taste factor". Lets face it - there is nothing that tastes as good as some properly grown, properly flushed and properly cured nugs. As far as taste goes, I'll put my soil grown buds up against the hydro stuff anytime!
I use a special blend that I mix up myself for my grow medium, and it works wonderfully! And I'd like to share this with you all. It's not the cheapest way to go but just like everything else in life, quality costs a bit more.
My Soil Recipe: First I mix a 50/50 batch of perlite and vermiculite. Then I mix a 50/50 batch of Fox Farm's Ocean Forest and Aurora Original Potting Soil. Then I mix a 50/50 batch of these two mixtures. The result is a light, airy mix that the plants absolutely love! The roots get plenty of oxygen, meaning maximum nutrient absorption and healthy, hardy plants. They truly do thrive in it!
*A word of caution: Fox Farm's Ocean Forest is a "hot" soil, meaning that it can and will burn some plants due to the high content of available nutrients. This is why I cut it with another soil.
For watering and feeding I use only distilled water. While it's a little more effort and expense, (about 75-80 cents a gallon) it keeps the pH of the soil right where it should be. Roughly 6.5 - 6.8 range. Plus I'm not loading up my soil with any additional additives that serve no other purpose other than to raise or lower the pH. I have found that even after months of growing, the pH of the soil within the root mass is as stable as the day the plants were first started.
For nutrients, I use primarily Fox Farms Big Big Bloom, Grow Big, and Tiger Bloom. I also use just a touch of Superthrive during the vegetative state and the first week or two of flowering. (Just 3-4 drops a gallon!) I also flush my soil religiously, every 21 days with Fox Farm's Bush Doctor Sledgehammer.
Some have reported bad results with this stuff but it works quite well for me. I believe the key is to mix it light. I use just one teaspoon per gallon instead of the recommended two. Other than that, I follow the Fox Farms feeding schedule pretty much verbatim - minus the 10 other Fox Farm products they include such as Cha-Ching, Boomerang and Open Sesame. There is such a thing as too much. Clearex and similar products work as well for flushing out excess nutrients, thereby minimizing the possibility of a toxic salt build-up. Flushing is especially important the last 10 days to two weeks before harvest. It works wonders for the flavor!
I learned a long time ago that cutting corners will cut your crop. I also learned what I consider to be the most important tip about growing - what you put into it is what you get out of it. Don't be afraid to spend a couple extra dollars for a good, high quality grow medium. It will pay off many times over.
Now I'm always looking for new, state-of-the-art products, and Lord knows there's an abundance of them, but most of the time it's just new packaging on the same old mouse trap. But six months from now, I might very well be preaching the wonders of some new or recently discovered soil mix or nutrient solution...but right now, this is what works best for me.
McMurphy out!
While I have had a lot of success with each one these methods, I have fallen back on good old reliable - soil.
Frankly, the benefits are many and the afflictions are few. Soil is very forgiving and a lot less labor intensive. The chances of over fertilizing are reduced as the soil acts like a buffer. There is also a lot less to go wrong. No pump failures, clogged jets, failed timers, or nutrient disorders means a whole lot less to worry about.
And then there is the "taste factor". Lets face it - there is nothing that tastes as good as some properly grown, properly flushed and properly cured nugs. As far as taste goes, I'll put my soil grown buds up against the hydro stuff anytime!
I use a special blend that I mix up myself for my grow medium, and it works wonderfully! And I'd like to share this with you all. It's not the cheapest way to go but just like everything else in life, quality costs a bit more.
My Soil Recipe: First I mix a 50/50 batch of perlite and vermiculite. Then I mix a 50/50 batch of Fox Farm's Ocean Forest and Aurora Original Potting Soil. Then I mix a 50/50 batch of these two mixtures. The result is a light, airy mix that the plants absolutely love! The roots get plenty of oxygen, meaning maximum nutrient absorption and healthy, hardy plants. They truly do thrive in it!
*A word of caution: Fox Farm's Ocean Forest is a "hot" soil, meaning that it can and will burn some plants due to the high content of available nutrients. This is why I cut it with another soil.
For watering and feeding I use only distilled water. While it's a little more effort and expense, (about 75-80 cents a gallon) it keeps the pH of the soil right where it should be. Roughly 6.5 - 6.8 range. Plus I'm not loading up my soil with any additional additives that serve no other purpose other than to raise or lower the pH. I have found that even after months of growing, the pH of the soil within the root mass is as stable as the day the plants were first started.
For nutrients, I use primarily Fox Farms Big Big Bloom, Grow Big, and Tiger Bloom. I also use just a touch of Superthrive during the vegetative state and the first week or two of flowering. (Just 3-4 drops a gallon!) I also flush my soil religiously, every 21 days with Fox Farm's Bush Doctor Sledgehammer.
Some have reported bad results with this stuff but it works quite well for me. I believe the key is to mix it light. I use just one teaspoon per gallon instead of the recommended two. Other than that, I follow the Fox Farms feeding schedule pretty much verbatim - minus the 10 other Fox Farm products they include such as Cha-Ching, Boomerang and Open Sesame. There is such a thing as too much. Clearex and similar products work as well for flushing out excess nutrients, thereby minimizing the possibility of a toxic salt build-up. Flushing is especially important the last 10 days to two weeks before harvest. It works wonders for the flavor!
I learned a long time ago that cutting corners will cut your crop. I also learned what I consider to be the most important tip about growing - what you put into it is what you get out of it. Don't be afraid to spend a couple extra dollars for a good, high quality grow medium. It will pay off many times over.
Now I'm always looking for new, state-of-the-art products, and Lord knows there's an abundance of them, but most of the time it's just new packaging on the same old mouse trap. But six months from now, I might very well be preaching the wonders of some new or recently discovered soil mix or nutrient solution...but right now, this is what works best for me.
McMurphy out!
