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What to substitute for potting mix?


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Hi OzStoners, first post on these forums!

 

I'm preparing for a stealthy outdoor grow this season. I've never grown anything in my life, hardly a cannabis plant, so I'm very green :)

 

If all goes well, I shall be growing six plants this season, three Feminized Super Skunk and three Feminized Pure Power Plant. I plan to dig six holes, fill them with a good soil mix, and plant them; the soil mix is where I'm having trouble.

 

I planned to have square holes 60cm x 60cm x 45cm, which works out to be around 162L of soil mix per plant, or 973L total. I'm aiming for an 80/20 mix of Yates Premium Potting Mix to Perlite, and around 200grams of dolomite lime in each hole with some cow/horse manure thrown in.

 

I went in to Bunnings today to check out some prices - the Yates Premium Potting Mix was $11 for 30L, and the Perlite was $10 for 5L. If I stick with my current plan, this would work out to be $112 per plant or $675 total - just for the soil mix!

 

I obviously want these girls to grow as big, strong and healthy as they can be, but there's no way I could justify even half that price just for the soil mix. I'm a poor university student :)

 

I think the best way to cut down the price is one of three ways:

- Find somewhere in East Melbourne that sells Yates Premium Potting Mix and Perlite for cheap, in bulk; or

- Reduce the size of the holes I'm digging, which will probably reduce the size of the plants, and ultimately the yield; or

- Substitute some of the Yates Premium Potting Mix with soil from the ground and increase the amount of manure I put in each hole.

 

I've got a few questions that I'd like answered if possible:

- For the best growth, how big does each hole need to be? Ultimately the roots will grow into the earth surrounding the hole, but the earth in the hole is where all the nutrients will be.

- Is six plants too many for a beginner? When I harvest, I'll need to cut, trim and bag the bud outside in the bush, as I have no place inconspicous in my house for cutting.

- Does the soil mix sound okay? I was looking into organic things to throw in, but I really wanted things that could be sourced easily, from Bunnings or the like. I can get cow/horse manure pretty easily though.

 

Thanks for reading my post, hopefully you'll have some ideas! Great community!

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Firstly, DON'T buy your perlite from Bunnings! :faint:

 

100 lt for about $40 at your local hydro store is the MUCH better way to go!

 

If you want to buy bulk potting mix or soil, try your local garden/landscape supply people. You can usually buy it by the trailer load. ^_^

 

Best of luck with it.

 

Hi Bella Rose, thanks for the reply!

 

I went to a local nursery yesterday and sourced some perlite - $40 for 100L of coarse grade perlite - so that problem is sorted. Although the fellow looked at me a bit funny when I said I was going to mix it with the soil :blink:

 

I also visited a local garden supply place, and they had a few different soils there. I asked for one with the most fertalizer / organic stuff mixed in, and he quoted me at $50/cubic meter. The problem I'm facing with this is I can't get the stuff delivered by a trailer, it's too conspicuous to the people I live with, so I'm going to head to bunnings tomorrow to pick up some soil bags, and see if I can make a few trips with bags full of the soil in my boot.

 

The bloke at the soil place said that any plants growing in this soil won't need any additional nutrients, but I'm going to mix in some Searls 5 in 1 organic plant food, cow manure and blood and bone as well. I have a question though - how do I know if the soil I'm mixing is too hot and will give the plants nutrient burn? That would be the worst :thumbdown:

 

Also, I plan to germinate the seedlings inside in some large styrofoam cups, then put them in our outdoor greenhouse thing for a week or so. I'll have to hide them in there though - can't let them get too big and the people I live with seeing them. What's the earliest I can transplant them from thier cups to the ground? I'm thinking maybe 1 - 2 weeks of growth. I'll probably be putting them in the ground end of September, so I've got a while to go, but you know what they say - Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance :thumbsup:

 

Thanks!

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"would work out to be $112 per plant or $675 total - just for the soil mix!" seems awfully expensive to grow outdoors!

Find a good spot with good soil dig it up add some good fertalizer (cow shit - chook shit - bit of sand - lime - stir well and let sit for a month)

Germinate your seeds and return with them after a month turn the soil and cut the bottom off your styrofoam cups with you 1 month old seedlings in them therefor not disturbing them plant and water.....................................................my 2 cents worth cost you under $50 bucks

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I went to Bunnings today - unfortunately, I couldn't find any cheap bags to cart soil around in. I don't want to use those heavy duty orange ones - too conspicous :thumbdown: I need to get a tonne of bags to hold all the soil I'll be buying from the soil place - assuming 3 foot diameter and and 2 foot deep, it's 400L per hole :faint: Anyone know if regular black garbage bags are strong enough to fill with soil?

 

"would work out to be $112 per plant or $675 total - just for the soil mix!" seems awfully expensive to grow outdoors!

Find a good spot with good soil dig it up add some good fertalizer (cow shit - chook shit - bit of sand - lime - stir well and let sit for a month)

Germinate your seeds and return with them after a month turn the soil and cut the bottom off your styrofoam cups with you 1 month old seedlings in them therefor not disturbing them plant and water.....................................................my 2 cents worth cost you under $50 bucks

Hey Hotrod13, I'd love to do that. The problem is that the area I'm growing in is almost a rainforest - so much clay in the soil that the water tends to pool on top in some parts. I think I've found a good area however, as it is on a shallow incline and is kind of on a ledge, providing good run-off. If I could avoid buying soil that would be great, as I'm still figuring out how I can cart that much soil out there inconspicuously - but I don't want my ladies to get root-rot down the track. Price pf the soil isn't an issue anymore, as I can source very good quality stuff for $50 a cubic meter.

 

Water crystals are a must.

:oldman:

Thank for the input Reverend. How much water crystals would I need?

 

 

6 plants is too much I think if ur on a budget and inexperienced. U can grow one decent plant and it will give u 6 month supply. 12 to 16 oz a plant.

Thanks for the advice Token JJ. I'll think about growing less. The minimum amount of seeds I can order is 5 of each stain - I'm getting a sativa dominant and indica dominant, so that's ten seeds. Assuming the plants yield between 12oz - 16oz, how long can I expect it to take me to cut/manicure one plant?

 

Thanks for the replies so far!

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G'day Jokester.

 

If your soil has a lot of clay just add a heap of Dolomite lime, directions on the bag, it's the best clay breaker of the lot, mix what you dig from your holes with the bits and pieces listed, and you should be away. Clay is chock full of nutrients, so the Dolomite will allow your plants to access these. Still add a heap of manure, compost, straw, some sand. You don't need to dig a hole that big, are you going to get rid of a body? 200 x 200 x 200mm is plenty, the roots will take care of themselves. The area you describe sounds ideal, they will take all the water you can throw at them, but they must have excellent drainage. Another way is to make mounds of soil about 200mm high, this assures the needed drainage. If you are new to growing anything, watch a few episodes of Gardening Australia, these people know their shit. Watch for articles on Roses, they are supposedly fairly closely related to cannabis, I use rose nutrients for flowering and it does the job well. Also at bunnings buy a litre can of Go-Go Juice, it's a plant pro-biotic, pure canned magic. Don't worry about harvesting etc yet, just get started on your plot, follow Hotrod's advice about digging everything in and let it settle for at least a month. I'm also in Vic and I look to Melbourne Cup Day as a good time to plant out. Everybody's freaking out about some bag of bones, so it's nice and quiet. Your seedlings should be well established by then, 2 months would be ideal and there should be very little risk of frost. Contact me by PM if I can be of any further help. There is a thread of mine in this section, it may be of some help. :guitar: :guitar: :guitar:

Edited by Auntynorm
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