I am about to begin my first grow. I have bought all the main equipment and just deciding on growing medium and nutrients.
I plan to grow 1 auto plant in a 2x2 tent. I am considering using soham living soil. I am thinking this will be cheaper than buying coco and nutrients and wondering if i would need to buy a ph reader if i go this route.
I havent seen any discussion about shop bought living soil on the forum and wonder if there is a down side that i am missing?
No matter the medium you grow in you should have a ph meter to adjust your feed to a ph level that the plant will appreciate. Even though you don’t technically need an EC meter for growing in soil I’d still recommend having one of those available as well. When problems occur, and they will, it’s much easier to fix if you have information like input ph and EC.
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@tenthsam never used soham living soil but I do mix my own soil up and only give the plants water from clones to harvest ( add dry food into the soil mix )
using soham living soil could be a great way to go, if you just want pull a good harvest and keep things very simple.
my advice would be to use a large pot 20ltrs because all the foods in the soil and you don't want the plant to use up all the food, also add 10% sand/perlite to the soil mix as you will reduce any root damage (if you water too often and you will) so the soil can drain quick.
@jacks_farm thanks for the advice. Sohum comes in 42.5l bag, do you think that is enough for the one plant?
I see where you may be confused. I use the term feed to mean whatever you are giving your plants, even if that is only plain water. Lots of guides say you don’t need to ph adjust plain water when you are growing in soil however many soil growers that I respect always set the input ph of their water at 6.5 and this gives them the best results.
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That's more than Enough, you could save half the soil for the next crop.
If the soil has lumps, sticks and stones in it, I would sieve the soil, try and break up any lumps of food and add it to the soil.
just did it last night to my soil.
here some pics, all these lumps, roots and sticks often upset the soil ph and ec level and can cause the soil to dry uneven reducing the plants heath
removing all the unwanted parts of the soil, you end up with soil that looks and feels like coco but full of food.
plants love it
Got 2 photos in 21ltrs of Sohum, just flipped into flower at about 3rd week of veg and both are looking great so far...will get some pics when I remember
@monkeydo Hey bro, how do you adjust water to a specific ph, like you say, 6.5 ph water?
Excuse my ignorance. Newbie here. I too am planning my first grow and plan on using sohum living soil, after reading the above am gonna mix in 10% sand/perlite to the mix and sic soil and breakup any big lumps prior to potting.
also, I was intended on feeding Weekly with micro teas and mammoth p throughout.
adding PK nutrients when in flowering for two weeks at 1/8th recommended dose fed every other water, also adding molasses. Stop feeding 3 weeks prior to harvest... switching to just water for 2 weeks, then no water for last week before the chop.
Gonna be running an auto
could you advise me on if this protocol is any good?
You can adjust the ph of any feed, water only included, by adding an acid or base to the mix. There are special liquids you can buy for ph up or down and you add it drop by drop until your ph meter (yes, you NEED one of these meters) says it’s perfect.
You can also use vinegar to lower ph and baking soda to raise the ph if you prefer, whatever you use just use as little as possible so as not to unnecessarily raise the EC.
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