HELP! Not Sure

[Weedeasy]

I just found out from reading gwe (I love this site) that you shouldn’t use miracle grow potting soil for cannabis growing for many reasons. The thing is I did and I am now into week 5 of the flowering stage. Should I just leave my ladies alone or is there anything I can do at this stage ( Purple Kush )

[Sourdiesel315]

The reason why you dont want to use it is because of the extremely high nitrogen content which you dont want in flowering. Honestly I would just leave it be considering a lot of the nitrogen has probably been used up. You could transplant it but that would cause too much stress. Just do ot different your next go around or make sure when you switch to flower use a different soil in your transplant. If anything from now on if youre using nutrients use the least amount of nitrogen as possible if any.

[homegrown]

I think if you have made it to week 5 of flowering stage and havent had any problems...just carry on and keep doing what your doing. Im guessing by now the nutes in the miracle grow have been flushed out with your watering. homegrown

[gbauto]

Exactly-continue using what you have and enjoy the results of your grow. Then learn from your experience.

[Rwise]

IMHO miracle grow does not flush out, it leaves behind a harshness and flavor that I do not like, thus I left it behind a long time ago,,,,

[Weedeasy]

Thanks for the advice guys, I guess I’ll just give the ladies clean fresh water from now to harvest. With the hope of increasing the quality of my buds. I have clones that I will be transplanting soon. What soil do you recommend?

[homegrown]

you can add some molasses in with your fresh water flush..1/2 teaspoon per gallon. mix well and Check pH. homegrown.

[Dude]

https://www.growweedeasy.com/what-soil-is-good-for-growing-cannabis

[Crash1518]

You cant flush out miracle grow because it's a time release of nitrogen. But I'd just continue doing what your doing now and next grow use a different medium. If happy frog works great as out of the bag putting mix. Or go with coco

[az2000]

I just found out from reading gwe (I love this site) that you shouldn’t use miracle grow potting soil for cannabis growing for many reasons. The thing is I did and I am now into week 5 of the flowering stage. Should I just leave my ladies alone or is there anything I can do at this stage ( Purple Kush )

Don't believe everything you read about MiracleGro. There is a lot of misinformation. First of all, you have to qualify which specific product. The "MiracleGro Potting Mix" is fairly hot at 0,21-0.11-0.16. That product uses time-release synthetic nutrients. (You nor the plant have a great deal of control over what the plant receives. If it were organic-sources of nutrients, the roots could interact with soil microbes for what it needs.). However, MG "Organic Choice potting mix" is only 0.10-0.05-0.05. That's half as "hot," and comes from organic sources of nutrients (not something that will "release" with each watering.). There are people who use this potting mix to grow in, happy with it, etc.

You said "potting soil." That's another aspect of MG products which is confusing. For example, there is an "Organic Choice potting soil" which is hotter. I don't think "potting soil" is a good choice for growing cannabis. It can compact and be heavier/denser (slow drying, less air to the roots.). I've never used a "potting soil." I don't know for sure. But, I would stay away from it, personally.

There's also an MG Performance Organics potting mix (and potting soil, just to confuse things further). It has an unusual NPK (0.19-0.01-0.01). That seems unbalanced (toward N). But, probably not as problematic as the slow-release synthetic "potting mix."

Anyway, there's nothing inherently wrong with MiracleGro (other than it's owned by Scotts, and people hate Scotts for being affiliated with Monsanto, "big agro." Although Scotts now owns Botanicare, General Hydroponics, Sun Systems, et. al.). Like any brand, some things are more suitable for a task than others.

I haven't used any MiracleGro potting mixes. Although, that high-N "performance organic" would work well with the Kellogg Cactus mix I'm testing right now. It's very deficient in N. If it was mixed with that "performance organic" potting mix ("container mix" is what they call that one), that would probably help. I have grown a plant from seedling to harvest with MiracleGro "Tomato" fertilizer (18-18-21). It came out fine.

I wish we had a MiracleGro-specific forum that could showcase growing with those products, and answer questions intelligently. The forums seem dominated by urban legend. (Even GrowWeedEasy has a couple pages that I question whether they're really informative, or just spreading a meme. "Don't do it!").

[Weedeasy]

[Weedeasy]

Thanks az2000 for your in put, I posted a picture of the miracle grow I used. My plants seem to be doing fine up to this point. Knock on wood. 😎

[az2000]

Yes, that's the 0.21-0.11-0.16 stuff. It may work out for you because you didn't try feeding the plant(?). I think where that one goes wrong for people is when they think they need to feed, and it turn into overfeeding.

Even if it does work for you (this grow), I haven't seen anyone say they use this potting mix as their preferred soil. The only thing I've seen a few people say they regularly use is the MG Organic Choice Potting Mix (not the potting soil). It's half as strong, and the strength comes from organic amendments (stuff which the plant interacts with the soil microbes to make available). That one's safer to supplement with light feedings. (I haven't grown in it yet. I suppose you'd have to start supplementing around 3-4 weeks.).

The one you're using (the flagship "potting mix") is synthetic, time-released. If a plant had less nutrient need, it could suffer from that.

Black Gold organic potting mix is supposed to be good (0.05-0.00-0.00). I've been wanting to try that one. (I'd add at least 25% perlite to any of these potting mixes. Perhaps as much as 50%. I like my soil to be ready for watering in 2-3 days when the plant has grown into a container.).

I'm growing two plants right now in Kellogg Palm & Cactus potting mix. I'm really liking it. It's very sandy and heavy-feeling. But, it dries in about 18 hours. That's a little too fast for me. I think it might benefit from vermiculite for moisture retention. Maybe some crushed perlite (sand consistency). It has almost no nutrients in it. I have to feed very N-heavy. I'm finding that the NPK ratio 4-1-1.5 at around 220ppm (not including the water's ppms) works really well. I'm getting there by mixing MiracleGro All-Purpose (24-8-16) with Pennington Fish Feritlizer (5-1-1).

So far, I haven't had pH anything. It's just working. (I had a rough first 3 weeks trying to sort out the N deficiency, feeding too much as a result. But, now I've got it lined out. It needs high N, and relatively low strength overall. (220-260ppm).

I want to try mixing that cactus mix with a rich potting mix (like Kellogg Patio Plus). Like 50% cactus mix, 25% Patio Plus potting mix, and 25% perlite. (Maybe it would need vermiculite. Or, maybe the Patio Plus would add some moisture-holding capability. I use Patio Plus in my soil (the soil I usually grow in, and I never have to pH anything). When I increase its proportion, the soil takes longer between waterings. So, maybe it would improve the cactus mix that way.

I think the hardware-store potting mixes are fun to grow with, and make your own with.