proper soil mix for my next grow, need advice from soil growers...

[dustydundee]

I'm looking to make my next soil mix. On my last grow, I had lots of watering issues and drainage issues. On my current grow, I'm growing in FF Ocean Forest with 20% perlite mixed in. Overall, its worked great, I'm about a month or so from harvest on some jack herars that have done great. Also growing some chocolopes, but those have had PH issues that have led to some cal/mag deficiencies I think. The Ocean Forest seems like a tough soil to flush out to stabilize the PH once it starts trending down.

In any case, for my next grow, I'm planning to go to FF Happy Frog with 20% perlite and add some dolomite lime to help stabilize the PH. Can anyone recommend the right amount of dolomite lime to the mix? I'm going to start out in 3 gallon pots and then move up to 7 or 10 gallon before flowering. I'm going to be growing some LSD and Super Skunk.

I understand happy frog has less nutes than OF, is it still considered a "hot" soil? Anyone have experience with flushing it if you have PH issues? Proper mix of dolomite lime to add to it?

As far as nutes, I'm sticking with the GH trio with calmag, using the formula on this site, i'm most familiar with that, and I'm hesitant to switch nutes until I master GH first. I'm considering adding epsom salts to my routine to help with mag issues. How do I incorporate epsom salts into my feeding schedule with the GH trio? How often would I add epsom salts? Would I only provide it on times that I water, or times that I feed, and how often in what concentrations? Would I reduce the amount of calmag I give them?

[Drekthar]

Questions from a hydro grower:

When using the FF Ocean Forest do you have to add any nutrients or just water as needed from start to finish?

When starting from say 3 gallon pots, if you switch to 5 gallon later in the grow do you just keep the soil you had in the 3 gallon and move over to the new pot and obviously add additional 2 gallons to fill the pots?

Reason i'm asking is on a different thread TheKieftan is asking why folks use hydro (re to much equipment and special nutes) but now see you growing in soil asking how to mix it, further you mentioning all your nutes and additives. Just curious as I wouldn't mind using soil if I can import some just to help simplify my grows.

Sorry to hijack your post with all my questions..

[dustydundee]

you start feeding later in ocean forest, but you absolutely have to feed. it will start to run out of nutes by around day 30 give or take. when replanting from 3 to 5 gallon, you put an empty 3 gallon pot in your 5 gallon pot and fill around that with soil and water it to make a mold. then remove your empty 3 gallon pot, pull your plant out of your old pot, and stick the root ball in the new pot.

[Drekthar]

thanks makes sense. i think i will stick to hydro lol

[Bowhunterwoody]

That's exactly what I do when I'm up potting. I learned that from SoOrbudgal. Works perfectly.

[dphipps1020]

I've never had to feed my soil before harvest. Even reusing my soil a second time I usually don't. If you're watering with a lot of runoff, you're essentially watering all your nutrients right out of the soil. That could be part of the reason you have to feed after 30 days. I was using a Happy Frog/Ocean Forest mix and my plants loved it. I've since had to add a different brand because they stopped carrying Fox Farms soil locally. My suggestion, get a fresh bag of each and mix them really well. The Happy Frog will make the Ocean Forest not quite so hot but will add additional nutrients that the OF doesn't have and make it a little more well-rounded so to speak. I've never had to add anything else to the soil, not even extra perlite. Hope that helps.

[RetiredGuy]

Interesting, this is the first I heard of anyone doing this. I just used 50/50 OF/HF but added bloom nutes during flowering. I never considered going the whole grow with no added nutes. I would expect a phosphorus deficiency during flowering.

[Rwise]

One can add wood ash over the soil then water for a PH up and some good flowering nutes as well.