Soil questions

[Funbudd]

New grower here and I’m a bit confused about soil. I bought a bag of Pro-mix -HP to use for my next attempt. I was told from the manufacture that this is all I need and do not need to add or mix anything to it. I plan on feeding the plants with fertilizer when watering.
So my question is would it help if I added worm castings or bone meal to the soil mix? If I do should I reduce the fertilizer amounts I add?

I think the Pro-mix-HP is pretty much a soiless mix but I could be wrong.

What are others doing? Any comments or tips Would be much appreciated.

 

[Tracker]

New grower here and I’m a bit confused about soil. I bought a bag of Pro-mix -HP to use for my next attempt. I was told from the manufacture that this is all I need and do not need to add or mix anything to it. I plan on feeding the plants with fertilizer when watering.
So my question is would it help if I added worm castings or bone meal to the soil mix? If I do should I reduce the fertilizer amounts I add?

I think the Pro-mix-HP is pretty much a soiless mix but I could be wrong.

What are others doing? Any comments or tips Would be much appreciated.

What nutrients do you plan on adding to your water? If you're doing synthetic salt nutes, I wouldn't add castings and bone meal IMHO. If you're trying to figure out some organic techniques, then maybe you can work those into your soil.

I use salt nutes, and I don't have a good grasp on organics...yet.

 

[franklinz]

A great place to start would be watching the Build-a-soil series and understanding how amendments can assist with your farming. Castings are great for veg time and through vermicomposting can be valuable during flower too. Personally, I prefer a fish bone meal during flower (good P and Ca) and have started feeding this to my worms through the wonders of avocado tech.

 

[Funbudd]

In my first attempt I used the following nutes:
In veg state I add a Miracle Grow water soluble 24-8-16 at about 500ppm TDS. In the flowering stage I switch to Ferticare Bloom and Fruit 1-25-35 with TDS from 500ppm to 800ppm as plant develops. Both fertilizers have a mix of other minerals.

In that first attempt I was using soil and adding everything I read about in to the soil. Eg worm casing, bone meal, Epson salts, molasses, plus the above nutes. Plants were getting over fed and burnt. I didn’t realize the difference between organic soil and soilless grows. End result was about 60 g (2 ounces) per plant which I was more than happy with despite myself.

For my second attempt I will go with Pro Mix HP as it is soilless plus the two nutes I mentioned above. Hoping to keep it simple this time.

Am I on the right track? Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Funbudd]

I also started to air bubble the nute mixture a day before watering to add oxygen to the nutes. I had a old aquarium pump so just set it up with an air stone to bubble up the solution. Hoping this will add O2 to the roots. Didn’t cost me anything so hopefully it helps.

 

[Tracker]

In my first attempt I used the following nutes:
In veg state I add a Miracle Grow water soluble 24-8-16 at about 500ppm TDS. In the flowering stage I switch to Ferticare Bloom and Fruit 1-25-35 with TDS from 500ppm to 800ppm as plant develops. Both fertilizers have a mix of other minerals.

In that first attempt I was using soil and adding everything I read about in to the soil. Eg worm casing, bone meal, Epson salts, molasses, plus the above nutes. Plants were getting over fed and burnt. I didn’t realize the difference between organic soil and soilless grows. End result was about 60 g (2 ounces) per plant which I was more than happy with despite myself.

For my second attempt I will go with Pro Mix HP as it is soilless plus the two nutes I mentioned above. Hoping to keep it simple this time.

Am I on the right track? Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Those are synthetic salt nutrients. I use GH products for base, supplemented with Easy Weed soluble kelp and a soluble humic fulvic powder.

A simple to use dry nute is GH MaxiGrow. Also, the GH Flora series had been around a long time. I use both for different purposes. The MaxiGrow works great for me and its really easy.

I haven't used it, but there are plenty of people that swear by Jack's or Master Blend. Those are both very low cost per dose, and I've seen good results other growers have had with those.

I wouldn't mix extra castings or other amendments into the soil if you're using salts, but that's just me. I'm sure there are other opinions.

 

[Funbudd]

Thank you for the advice. I will look into your suggestions.