Soil for my first grow

[billy469]

hey all,
I'm about to start my first grow, I have the seeds, but haven't started them yet cause I'm not sure about my soil. I know a lot of people don't like miracle grow, and some swear by it, but I went ahead and got some mg moisture control cause that's the only soil I've read about that I can find around here. I've got it in a 5 gallon pot, with gravel in the bottom, and I mixed in a bag of perlite (also miracle grow). I read that if you're gonna use this soil you should flush it prior to use because of the fertilizer in it, so last night I ran about 10 gallons of water through it. like I said, I now have my seeds but don't want to waste them in shitty soil. should I use this stuff or not? please help, I'm itchin to get these things in the ground. thanks

 

[billy469]

any help on this would be appreciated. c'mon y'all.

 

[oldman60]

It would probably be better to use something besides MG soil loaded with ferts to start your seeds.
Some strains can take it and some can't. Keep in mind every time you water it releases ferts.
A hand full of dirt out of the yard mixed with a little of the mg and perlite would probable work ok to sprout.

 

[JJ Bones]

I like to start seeds in Happy Frog, then transplant into an Ocean Forest and Just Right Xtra mix, 50/50

 

[billy469]

I plan on sprouting them in water. Will this be ok?

 

[AudioBassiks]

i like to go this route very easy and simple,, float the seeds in water after then sink i then like to put then in a wet paper towel, then into a ziplock bag,, i put them into the cabent above the oven .. keeps them nice and warm come back and look at them in 2 days take the ones out that sproted and then into solo cup i first take a razor and slice holes in the lowest part of cup 3 or 4 of them ,,, then i put about .5 inch to 1 inch of clay rocks then i get dollar store soil 1 dollar for 8oz or something enough to fill 16 cups.. plant my seed in there and then wait,,,

your not going to want to plant them right into the 5 gallon for seeds.. you want something smaller.. sliek a solo cup or a cup flowers come in

 

[billy469]

ok cool, will do. if I start them in a solo cup like suggested, when should I transplant them to the 5 gallon pot? and will they be ok in the miracle grow at that point?

 

[AudioBassiks]

there going to get pretty big yu want to be atleast the point where your alredy feeding the plant ...

 

[AudioBassiks]

you should thumb thru a few diffrent peoples grow journels give you ideas and see what others have done kinda get an idea of avg on everyone

 

[billy469]

It would probably be better to use something besides MG soil loaded with ferts to start your seeds.
Some strains can take it and some can't. Keep in mind every time you water it releases ferts.
A hand full of dirt out of the yard mixed with a little of the mg and perlite would probable work ok to sprout.

thank you for the input. my other option is compost. I work at a place that makes compost. it's pretty good shit. used it on grass seed in my yard and the seed took off. would this be a safe alternative to the miracle grow?

 

[AudioBassiks]

could be not sure i am not really a soil conasere

 

[billy469]

you should thumb thru a few diffrent peoples grow journels give you ideas and see what others have done kinda get an idea of avg on everyone

Will do. thanks man.

 

[billy469]

just outta curiosity, why don't I want to start them in a 5 gallon pot. wouldn't transplanting them cause stress?

 

[AudioBassiks]

my best guess would be roots would get too long before they made a lot,,, not sure to be honest,,,

 

[billy469]

anyone else know why it would be bad to plant directly into a 5 gallon pot?

 

[oldman60]

Nothing wrong with starting them in the permanent home with the right soil. Many start their seeds in small cups
or other media, and when the seedling starts to develop move it to the big pots.
If you are willing to take the chance pop them in the 5 gal pots with the MG and hope for the best.

 

[billy469]

Nothing wrong with starting them in the permanent home with the right soil. Many start their seeds in small cups
or other media, and when the seedling starts to develop move it to the big pots.
If you are willing to take the chance pop them in the 5 gal pots with the MG and hope for the best.

thanks again. I found some Fox farm ocean forest at a local store. I'm gonna use that instead. I'll probably start them in a 5 gallon pot with that. I don't want to transplant more than I have to.

 

[AudioBassiks]

for me i dont have the room to have 20 or 30 sprots in 5 gallon buckets even more so when your not sure if male or female..

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

anyone else know why it would be bad to plant directly into a 5 gallon pot?

Nothing wrong with it... but planting seeds into a compost heavy preloaded with nutrients may cause nutrient burn at such a tender stage of life for the seedling sprout !


I often start seeds in jiffy pellets, root roit cubes etc to name a couple of brand names !

Waiting for roots to poke through sides of pellets/cubes before transplanting into a compost suitable for seedlings either with no nutrients or a small amount of preloaded nutrients suitable for such a small plant !

I often transplant seedlings into 1 litre pot for a duration of upto 3 weeks, in this time the seedling/young plant should fill out its root system with in the pot & be ready to tansplant/pot up into final pot size & compost.


Potting up/transplanting is hardly stressful & a slight period of a few days is required before noticing enhanced growth.

Damaging the root system extensively may induce mild stress of upto several days before new growth is noticable... just takes more time for roots to repair and progress into into new growing medium.



I transplant, pot up, re-pot tens of thousands of plants every year (not MJ) but same principle applys to many species of plants !