Soil or coco brand that you use

[ChadWestport]

Hi GWE crew, I've been really curious about different soils and different coco brands lately and I wanted to ask what are you all using?

I'm curious how long you go before feeding, how frequent you have Ph issues and if you Ph water and at what you Ph it. I'm curious if you let it get dry over an inch down or if you keep the top always a little wet. Do you water to run-off?

I like to try new things but have stayed fairly consistent with my choices.

Fox Farm Ocean Forest; (soilless + perlite)

• I don't need to feed it for 3-4 weeks, sometimes up to 5-6 weeks. I used the Fox Farm nutes, Roots Organics and have also tried synthetics like Cutting Edge Solutions
• I do Ph my water, has been at 6.0 but raised it to 6.5 and I would run into a Ph problem at least once every other cycle, majority of the time easily overcome, a couple times it severely stunted my output.
• Generally I would water when the top inch was dry. I watered to run-off of about 20%
• ***Interesting note, fresh from the bag the run-off consistently tests above 3500ppm and a Ph <5.0, when the input was 6.0 or higher. Those numbers may be useful, they might not be due to unknown variables.

Royal Gold Kings Mix; (coco + peat + perlite)

• Very similar to the FFOF but I watered at 6.5-6.8Ph and the top layer of the soil was always a little wet. I had less frequent Ph issues with this brand.

Mother Earth 70% coco + 30% perlite;

• Needing feeding within the first week of adding the rooted clone. Started 1/4 strength but 1/2 strength could be tolerated too. (synthetic nutrients)
• I was Ph'ing the water at 6.0 and watering to about 20% run-off. Ph in was the same as the Ph out in most cases, when it wasn't an easy fix was to adjust in Ph the next time to offset the deviance. No Ph issues.
• Coco can handle the constant watering, so the top layer was always a little wet before I watered again.
• ***With coco the actual run-off numbers can be accurately use to adjust feeding and Ph of the input.

If any one has experience with any of those, I'd love to hear your results, I'd also love to here from other people and what they are using. Thanks growers for any info you can add. If there is something that I'm doing in any of those methods that seems a bit off to you, please let me know.

[kingfish]

Here is my menu. Roots Organics original soil, Fox Farm Trio, Alaska Fish Fertilizer and Molasses. That's it.

[ChadWestport]

No Ph, no run-off? Do you keep it constantly moist?

[kingfish]

ChadWestport, I have my own well. I check my PH in september, that is the beginning of my grow season and it has always been 6.7 going in and 6.4 coming out. I only water when my pots feel light. It is a great way to water and is a practice every soil grower should learn.

[ChadWestport]

Good stuff Kingfish, thank you. I've definitely gone by the method of when the pot is half weight, water.

[crucialbunny]

I add a lot of coarse sand to aid in drainage with organic living compost and pearlite. The sand creates a granular medium that keeps soil from becoming dense. For me good drainage is paramount. I'd rather water more frequently than have to contend with root issues. Living soil also really helps balance PH. This year and last year I had virtually no PH issues. When I prepare final containers I will put a couple sardines low down in the pot so roots can choose when they want that boost of nitrogen. I actually begin preparing my soil in December for March/April planting. I have 2 vermiculture bins. One is for high nitrogen food scraps and the other for high potassium/phosphorous scraps.

[ChadWestport]

ew, sardines! Thats awesome. Do you grow outdoors? I wish I could, I'd be all about the living soil. 100% the future of responsible farming.

One of the things I've struggled with how to make the most out of is a living soil that is only in use for 90 days. Outdoors, you reuse the same ground and you can constantly add what was taken out from the plant, but indoors, it takes a long time for living soil to breakdown the organics and make them bioavailable. I'd imagine 6 months would be the minimal time needed for maximum efficiency. If you prepare your soil months ahead of time, I can see that working but it isn't practical for me to do and store.

[crucialbunny]

I'm pretty much an outdoor container grower. The worm bins make quick work of processing compost. I started out with 250 worms and now there are thousands of them churning out incredible amounts of castings. I recycle all my spent soil through the bins saving me the trouble of having to constantly buy new mix. The sardines are an old native American trick used on their corn crops. Any fish will work but when I go on fishing trips we use sardines as bait so I just fill some freezer bags with what's left and freeze them until they're needed. I also make fish emulsions that I use on my lawns and bedding plants. That stuff smells to high hell but the results are amazing.

[ChadWestport]

That is a great way to do it. I'm jealous. I can farm my normal veggies all day in living soils, but the weather doesn't permit outdoor cannabis. Something I'd love to do one day. I'd really like to grow a tree.

I definitely wouldn't want to live downwind from you when you were mixing the emulsions

[bboyfromwayback]

I’ve been using CocoLoco the last couple grows with 2 cups of perlite added per gallon. I use Big Bloom and CalMag every other watering until flower then I use the FFTrio schedule at 1/2 strength plus calmag through harvest

[ChadWestport]

I believe I bought a brick of that once but never hydrated it. Pretty sure its in my shed with the other brands I've bought but never tried because at the end of the day I wanted to use what I knew would work at the time. Did yours come as a brick? Any tips for hydrating it other than putting it in a tub of Ph'd water?

[bboyfromwayback]

CocoLoco comes in a bag premixed with perlite ready to use

[PLreef]

I've been using a mix of FFOF, nectar of the gods soil and a little extra perlite in my current grow, coupled with techna flora nutes. No major ph issues that I've found. Small bump in the road once when I got lazy and didn't properly ph my water. That was quickly resolved.
I'm switching to gaia green living soil and dry amendments for my next grow.. Ive heard it helps with keeping ph more stable. Im still new to growing so I'm really just trying new methods till I find the right system for me.

[ChadWestport]

That sounds really interesting, I've heard good things about the Gaia green.

Definitely try new things, it gives you perspective on what really works best for you in your grow. I'm always trying to keep my ears open too.

[CaptainWiese91]

I have a totally normal tomato soil bought for 5$ a bag.
Mixed with leca stones, 50/50. This run I didn’t used any nutrients for the first 10 weeks. Never used any kind of veg nutes.
I do the 50/50 ratio with the leca, because I’m using a 30L pot. And with the leca I can pour only 1-2 liters and I will get run off instantly. In that big pot. It’s crucial for me, when I always start in the final pot.
honestly I never tried the soils you mention, because the tomato soil is working so fantastic for me and my grows.

[ChadWestport]

Geez, you've got it made. I wouldn't change a thing either if I were you.

[JSH1973]

I have just started and went with Coco mixed with Perlite, it's definitely quite involving and a bit of a steep learning curve, not to mention that you have to spend a bit as well on nutrients and water testers etc. it ads up quickly so if on a budget I would go with soil but definitely do spend a bit extra and get a good proven brand/product to begin with,it will save you trouble down the road.

[ChadWestport]

I do like the extremely hands on approach of running nutes in coco.

[JSH1973]

Forgot about the brand
I opted for the little more expensive Canna Coco Pro+ in 50L bags because I didn't want to deal with the soaking/cleaning of the bricks

[ChadWestport]

lol, yeah. Thats why it is still in the shed.