Best soil to use

[SirGrowAlot]

Guys I want to give thanks for all the help I have received from the awesome people on this site. But once again I have another question..
What is the best type of soil to use? I have saw that alot of people really like FoxFarm, but I noticed that they got a couple different kinds with really no indications to the huge differences...
What type of soil would each of you individually reccomend?

 

[OrganicTreees]

best soil is one you mix up on your own tailored to the strains you're running.

If you're not ready to build your own, I've had good success with fox farms happy frog. Others use ocean forest, although I personally don't like it.

I also have used roots organic 707 soil plain, it works good but doesn't contain as much food as the happy frog does.

 

[SirGrowAlot]

I have saw a certain generalzied formulas, but didnt know how to get the different ingredients for them..
I figured for now I would go with a soil alrdy made up for me..
Thank You

 

[Stoned4daze61]

It depends if you want nutrients in the soil or if you want a neutral medium to add all your own nutrients.

The Ocean forest and Happy frog are both good but a little expensive and can burn seedlings because they are kinda hot.

Vermicrop organics are very good, they have their vermisoil premium potting soil which is full of microbes or the CocoNot which is a coco alternative.

Dr. Earth makes a few different quality soils !

Some neutral soils are Promix HP, Sunshine mix #4, Atami Bcuzz HP. These can also be bought in larger bags.

Have you thought of trying Coco ? I have yet to try it, but I have a bag waiting for my next run due to all the marvelous things I hear about it on this site. When you use soil, you want a nice aerated soil that provides good aeration to your root system because roots need oxygen, same reason people use air pumps & stones in Hydro. Better aerated soil = more oxygen to roots = healthier plant = squeezing in more water and feedings = even healthier plant. Coco provides excellent drainage and water retention. It also gives lots of oxygen to your roots because it is so porous, EVEN when wet.

 

[SirGrowAlot]

I was wondering why soo many people were using coco. So when you use cocoa do you mix it in with soil or do you use just coco?? Does it have nutrients and stuff in it?

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Coco is not as compact as soil, there for having a greater aeration qualitie around the root zone this also makes coco harder to over water !

Should be treated as an inert growing medium as in very little nutritional value with a PH value of between Ph 5 to 5.8 aprox with a suitability for chemical/man made based fertiliziers/nutrients.

Nutrient solutions/feed should be adjusted to around PH 5.8 on average for better results, R/O water may be considored favourable also.



I belevie its a personal choice whether growers mix thier coco, some do...

• 75% coco, 25% perlite.
• 100% coco.
• 75% coco, 25% branded soil mix.
• & other combinations.

No real solid info is aviable on best ratio with a majority leaning towards 100% coco or perlite mix.


It may also dry out quicker under high heat lighting systems sush as HID/HPS/MH evapourating soil/pot moisture more quickly, which may lead to over fertilization through regular watering/feeding regime to Ph locks & salt build ups leading to regular flush regime on par with hydro systems, for best health of plant etc




A good brand name of soil/compost should have a PH value of 6.6

 

[SirGrowAlot]

So basically coco is just for getting better aeration to the roots. I did not know that it had 0 nutritoinal value...that means that if it is used then you need to have a really great/effective nutrient supplement program bcuz the supplements will be all they will get as far as nutrients, is this correct??
I might try to go with a coco mix /w some soil... see how that works for me...

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Soils don't actually have that much of a nutritional value, even hotter soils like ocean forest or happy frog only have enough nutes to make it through a few weeks of veg and then you will have to take over from there. Those hotter soils can burn seedlings though so you must be careful when they are young.

A decent nutrient should come in a 2 or 3 part base nute and should provide the essential nutrients your plant needs, supplements aren't needed but can be used. Some common supplements I use are a bloom booster towards end of flower & occasionally some Cal-Mag (You will most likely need some cal-mag because Coco uses it at a faster rate).

If you haven't checked out Blue planet nutrients, they are fantastic nutes that can be seen in action on many of the journals on this site. Corey is a really cool guy and formulates his nutrients specifically for cannabis and the price is a steal.

Or you could go cheap and buy some Osmocote plus, its a time release fertilizer that you mix in with your soil. It still gets great results but you lose a little control over feeding.

I wouldn't recommend mixing coco with soil, I've seen a few people try it in journals and they all wish they would of gone with one or the other. It kinda defeats the purpose because a good quality of coco is that it is very forgiving in the sense that it is hard to overwater. The excess water will run-off and your roots will still get adequate oxygen. A good way to explain it is that coco is fluffier, the strands of fiber do not compact as much as soil. Soil is denser therefore easier to overwater and easier to deprive your roots of oxygen causing root rot. I use promix hp (high porosity), it is technically a soil-less medium. It is made up of peat moss and perlite to provide an aerated soil so you can water as often as possible.

I say try 100% coco on half

Try 75% coco, 25% perlite on the other half and see which you prefer