SOIL NFTG or FF for Outdoor??

[Supermoto182]

Hellow GWE community.. so I was growing in some generic soil and using Alaska Fish Emulison. I decided to take a trip to the local hydroponic store and I was in heaven but I went in with the intentions on getting some FF ocean forest and happy frog to mix and some FF nutrients cause my grow was moving slowly so I was talking to them and they told me for outdoor I would like the NFTG soil because it stay damp longer and I won’t have to water as much since I’m only using 5gal pots. They said the FF mix for outdoor I would have to water more and I could nut burn my plants easily with FF nuts cause I’m a beginner but I’ve done a lot of research and have a decent grasp on it for outdoors the other thing he mentioned was I should be using at least a 10gal pots for outdoors. But I’m disabled and I’m home all the time so to have to water more for a better soil and nutrients. So if anyone has used FF And NFTG outdoors and has any advice that would be great!!

Anyhows I left with a bag of the NTFG soil #4 and a Nutrient called Biocanna Vega And some organic root booster!! Well I transplanted my first 3 plants this evening and at first the soil was nice and soft and has all the right things put my root booster in the hole everything as usual but when I went to water it for the first time it seems as it didn’t wanna drain down through so easy the water kinda built up on the top and then drained down.. the whole reason i wanted good soil is because my cheap soil I was using was clumping and staying super wet at the bottom of pots I even drilled extra holes and side pot holes for extra airflow but now I’m worried this soil is gonna have the same issues and not get air flow. I’ve got 3 bags ones open so I could return 2 for FF and change And just do a comparison of the plants but hopefully someone here can give me some insight on Pot size and FF Vs NTFG for outdoors and if anyone knows anything about this boicanna lineup of nutrients cause the 2 flowing nutrients are 100 bucks.. please Help!!

Thank You
Newbie Growner 😏😏

[MeestaFeesha]

I cannot give you a comparison of the two, sorry bud. I'll say though, I'm growing (3) in happy frog outdoors in 7gal fabric pots. I'm about to move them into 25gal fabric pots with happy frog. Hehe, I'm 'happy' with it. The soil drains well, sometimes will pool at the top, as it does happen, but always drenches my roots very well.

I have added a little extra perlite and earthworm castings to assist as well. Been using FF nutes with no issues to date, just the cost. Are you worried about having to water frequently?

[Supermoto182]

No I’m home all day I’m on temporary disability so for the rest of this year I’m home all day so to water a few times a day is fine but now I’m reading more and more about larger pots I’m kinda thinking with good soil I’m gonna get root bound issues..I got 11 plants now seedlings but they are unknown seeds if I knew for sure I had 5 good seeds I would love to put them in bigger pots but I got 2 10 gal pots and rest in 5gal pots but there only seedlings now like about 5 or 6 inches tall atm so I’m hoping I can use the pots I have for now to get them big enough to sex them than I can move the females to bigger pots I was kinda thinking about getting some FF and doing a comparison or even maybe just mixing the NFTG with the FF so I can still use my organic nutrients. I was hoping to go all organic but the guy at the hydro store said really it’s so hot that all the microorganisms get cooked out the soil anyways and another thing is they tried to stear me away from the grow bags cause they dry out to fast but I told the guy 30 times I’m home all damn day I can water them as much as they need it I just want them happy 😃😁

Another thing that kinda sold me on the NFTG was it has built in pesticides they have been working on there formula for a “long” time according to the guy at the grow store and actually just went and looked at them a few mins ago and no bugs and they look good

[oldjarhead100]

Jorge Cerventise give a time line for how big a pot you need 10 are best but 5 works for four or five months before its root bound enough to cause problems,if you want your soil to retain more water add peat (like pro mix) , watering in soil is different than coco .plants in soil like to be soaked then dry out you will see better results if you buy a cheep water meter under ten buck and water to you see run off then back it down to just before runoff ,I water in pots 5 or 10 I give about a half gallon every two or three days depending on the plant

[oldjarhead100]

I use fabric pots and they dont dry out to much or to fast

[Supermoto182]

Hey OJH I am outdoors so it seems that yea for now they are okay but when I transplanted my little seedlings from my 5gal to another one just to change soil and better stuff the roots were as long as the bucket but they don’t have any hairs on them it’s just like 1 single long root so I got some new soil I was using dollar general soil 2 dollars a bag but was better than clay and it was clumping and holding all the water at the bottom of the pots so when i put my meter in it says “super wet” pretty much because the probe test from tip that’s in the bottom of the pots and it’s so hot the soil drying on first 3or so inches and when I go to water it he drainage holes were blocked from clumping so it couldn’t run off properly.. so I’m starting to figure this out that why i think better soil and a bag would work better cause i want the soil at the bottom of the pot to dry almost as fast as top and than meter wouldn’t give me a false reading. I got some NTFG soil #4 did a few transplants last night to good soil from crappy soil but I don’t like how much it holds water even with a good fluffy mixture only reason i got was to keep bugs down cause with my organic nutrients and adments the bugs are bad and I’ve tried all the pesticides listed on here organic ones and they just land on the plants right after i spray them.. lol so anyways I’m going to go grab 3 bags of FF soil and I got 3 NFTG #4 and see how they do and when they get a few feet I’m gonna hopefully be able to sex them and be able to take even better care of known females and clone them.. just spending a lot of time and money on these things for not knowing if i got males or females. 😟😟😟 all this is gonna change this fall anyways cause my hydro store sells gorilla tents and I’m gonna get my first tent setup and go indoors and buy real good seeds and do it right. I just threw q handful of Bagseeds in a pot and like 20 came up and I got excited and now I’m addicted and it’s like taking care of my kids. It’s expensive to experiment.. lol

One other thing can I reuse soil next year cause I’m only gonna be using all this soil for about 3 months and I’m gonna have like 200 bucks in soil and I’m not working and it’s gonna be all I got to get this tent and seeds put together. Plz help I’m a hot mess on temporary disability and it’s killing me cause normally I’d have all the money I need and could buy whatever I need..??

[oldjarhead100]

I feel ya Supermoto I went from making good money to a fixed income what a change . at Lowes or home depot they sell this flexible insulation ,comes in a roll 4 feet wide by 50 or 100 feet ,I built two 2x4 frames then wrapped them in this stuff it worked great still use them for starting veggies and seedlings/clones ,I wouldn't hesitate about building a grow tent with it until my funds changed there are alot of DIY builders on here why dont you start another thread on DIY grow rooms you might be surprised.
my first indoor grow was bag seed and it was amazing stuff ,there is a way to influence the sex of the seed to get more females than males if you go the bag seed route again PM me and Ill give you details.I put perlite in with any compost I use it gives the soil breath ability ,the soil at the bottom usually stays wetter than the top but thats ok I water when my meter is just at or above the line between dry and moister , and when I water I use a set amount ,I test the soil to see how much water I can give with out causing run off and thats what I give them,then I let them go until they show dry on the meter ,usually its 3 days ,so now you can water with a set amount and walk away knowing they will be ok for another 3 days