How to grow outside IN the ground.

[Greenpassion]

Anyone growing IN the ground this summer? This will be my 1st time trying it, and I don't know what I'm getting into. My yard is literally river sand, and when I had perennial beds, each and every plant had to get augmented soil. I am an indoor grower, but hope to get a large enough harvest by an outdoor grow that will enable me to shut down at least one of my grow rooms through the winter.
I've heard that plants grown in the ground vs. In large pots will get HUGE, which is what I need to have happen...?

[homegrown]

hey Greenpassion , are you growing in a legal state? Is stealth an issue? If no to both..why not get a few LARGE fabric pots? Grow the plants in the medium your comfortable with. I'v seen pictures somewhere on GWE of plants in 100gl fabric pots that are enormous! i think you can get 50- 100 gal on amazon..

[CaptainWiese91]

Or buy the biggest pot you can find, dig it in the ground with some soil you are comfortable with. And make holes everywhere in the pot. And throw good soil around the pot also (in the ground). I did that one time in my early days. It will give it a good start until it’s big enough to go trough the pot.

[oldjarhead100]

Last year I put my girls in the ground in my greenhouse and here is what I found yes you get huge plants but if you dont place them correctly you won't be able to get around them to address any issues you have ,this year I'm going to use 25 gallon pots I grow in Mass and the grow season isn't that long so they should work fine ,weather they are in ground or bag the same thing is said for both the bigger the roots the bigger the bud, I dug holes big enough to hold 10 gallons of soil, so if you do plant in the ground you still have to fill that hole with some type of soil , I also found that you will get roots outside the hole you dug so you plants can leach things from the surrounding soil Good luck and enjoy your grow

[SoOrbudgal]

oldjarhead100 what the heck OJ dang weather out your way looks like cold front again. Your plants still in GH? I glad at my age I don't put plants in ground and crawl threw the woods anymore LOL. Them were the days got ripped off once chances you take.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Just like you would with a tomato, if you got good soil in your area, work it up real good about 2ft. deep, an plant.
If your soil is no good, bring in good soil to fill up the 2ft. hole, we used to use buckets with good soil, an put the buckets in the holes ,
Really easy to grow outside, especially if you keep the insects an weed poachers away, and occasional deer.
Some years are perfect, You don't even have to water them, some years are not.
Lucky in my area of Ms. ,we got good fertile soil.
GoodLuck

[gbauto]

This is what I have to do on my outdoor plants.
I have mostly clay soil, so drainage is an issue.
I dig a 2ft hole 2ft deep and fill that with the best potting soil that's available locally.
I live in a red state, so I can't get too crazy with size but I have had the occasional 10 ft tree pop up.

[Rwise]

You will need to start with the soil, I'll suggest testing it at your local ag center. Then amending as needed with things like cow (or rabbit) shit, ground leaves, blood and bone meal, sulfur, and dolomite.
Last year I fought the wet weather, and almost lost! I had some old food grade plastic 55 gallon drums I made into planting rings and drip pans. (drip pans for inside) This year I am using my 20 gallon cloth pots outside as well, I expect the roots will grow threw the bottoms (the rings have no bottom)
Heres a pic with the bug crew out.

[golfnrl]

I have one plant in the ground. Hadn't planned on that but didn't want to throw out a sprout. Now have an outdoor grow going along with the indoor girls. I have no idea about the soil other than I planted in an unused part of a flower bed. I'm using Foxfarm nutes outside and she seems to like it. I have chicken wire around the plant to keep the dog and rabbits away. Do rabbits eat cannabis plants?

[Rwise]

A rabbit chewed down a plant looking for moisture, I cant say it actually ate any of it, but killed is killed.

[Greenpassion]

Thanks for your replies guys. One of my biggest questions about growing outside in the ground is about what soil to fill the holes with. I paid a guy to dig five holes in the side Bank of my yard, in an area that's about 12 ft by 10 feet. Each hole is about 3 ft deep by 3 2 4 feet wide. But again it's all sand. I don't have a compost pile so I can't make my own Super soil so to speak. So I don't know what to plant my five girls in that will take them through the fall. I still have a grow room going through the summer upstairs, and I work full time elsewhere. So I won't have the time to deal with the plants upstairs in the house, and then love nutrients out to the side yard and take care of them, on a work day. I'm trying to find a way that I can just put the hose on them outside and carry on as usual with the plants inside. Does the sound plausible?
I'm planning on putting a fence around them because I don't even know what sort of creatures like to eat cannabis. I have one neighbor down by the road but no one in the surrounding area just the woods. Keep up with the advice!

[CaptainWiese91]

I have 18 plants outside and 5 inside. I only go in the tent inside, when I need to turn light on/off, or if they need water. I use so little time on my plants. That I’m kinda bored in this time, because of the virus. It takes so little of my time.

[swegrow]

I think you will be fine just buying a good premade compost and mix it with a good plant soil and maybe some perlite. Afterall, ganja grows everywhere and under all conditions!

[Greenpassion]

swegrow, that is exactly how I hope it will go. I'm hoping that's all I have to do.

[Greenpassion]

It would cost me a fortune to try to fill those holes with kind soil. And as I have said on a previous post, kind soil seems to run out of gas or something towards the end of flowering. And do I have to check the pH? So if so I need to fill up like a 50 gallon can and stand out there and check the pH. Is that what you guys do?

[Rwise]

Pelleted Sulfur and Dolomite control PH, the plant will move them around as needed. What I have read about the commercial soils is they are good for the start then you feed.

[CaptainWiese91]

Every time I plant cannabis plants- outside or inside. I use tomato soil - in Europe you can buy it in every garden/supply shop, it has all the nutrients for a cannabis plant for the first 4-6 weeks and also the right PH level. Never used anything else in all my years. And I have no trouble at all cultivating big buds.. I pay 5€ for 50 liter bag, and then I just fill the hole/pots with leca or perlite. Usually Leca because the stones are bigger and give better oxygen to the soil and roots. Pretty simple pretty cost less.

[Rwise]

Tomatoes and MJ luv many of the same things, such as leaf mulch.

[CaptainWiese91]

Of course I always check PH in the soil. And only give water/nutes in the right range of PH, but it takes 20 min, not more to change the PH to the right level you want.

[Greenpassion]

One of my issues is that I have such a small window of time from when I get up until I have to get ready to go to work. I don't know what ratio to mix all these things up are or how to figure that out. Do I just dump the stuff in a pile and mix it up? Am I right in thinking that I would use let's say my Bar Harbor coast of Maine soil and throw a bunch of guano and worm castings in that? Then fill up the hole with it and I'm all set?

[Rwise]

I use ladybugs and preying mantis outside to control pests, all purpose flower dusted on plants around them to control grasshoppers (they eat it and it gums up their chompers)
Anyone in your area raise cattle? Make a deal for the cow chips. Give folks a place to take bagged leaves (if you have space), many things can be done to save costs! Banana peel and other fruit/veggie peels are good K.

[CaptainWiese91]

Rwise What i know is, you Can always look at the bag on the descriptions and look PH - normally the range is actually around 6,0 in the soil. And also see how and many nutrients is in the bag

[CaptainWiese91]

Greenpassion i don’t what type of soil you are talking about, so that I can’t give you an correct answer on, sorry. But the PH levels, of course you buy a PT measures meter, digital. When I need to drop my PH from 7,2 to 6,2 I use an organic lemon, take the juice from that, it’s acid an will lower the PH. Been doing this for a couple of years. And if works fine for me. You will quickly find out of much acid you need for a Bottle of water/bottle nutes example.
personally I don’t use bat guano and worm casting, so I can’t give you an correct answer on that, maybe Rwise can do that.
Rwise My personal experience is I water every morning and they are fine for some days outside. And the PH bottle can last for a week or longer, depends on how much Liter/gallon you make at the time.

[Cali]

Greenpassion i would say forget about kindsoil it’s way to expensive. Just look up the clackamas coot soil mix that’s what I been using for a year now and haven’t checked the ph or anything I just reammned after each grow and do some compost teas and water with kelp aloe Vera soap nuts alfalfa things like that. They are already in the mix I just like to doit because it builds up the plants SAR to help fight pest and diseases. I have post on the mix here. Also you can go to buildasoil.com that’s where I got my mix I just made the base soil mix myself. Also they have it at kisorganics.com cheaper. They also have water only bags like kind soil except this one you can resize by amending the soil after harvest. Go on YouTube and look up Kaligrownbudz he grows outdoors. His mix is similar to mine and he shows exactly what he uses where to buy it and recipes on feeding. He posts weekly and he just started his girl outside so if you follow him you can grow along copy everything he does and he bets pounds off each plant so you can’t go wrong. No checking Ph or any BS like that. You have to do that when you force your plants to take in what you want them to take in. In living soil the plants decides what she wants when she wants it. Good luck

[Greenpassion]

Thank you for that Cali. I appreciate it. I'll check it out tomorrow. Headed out to work now until after midnight.