From hydro to soil - Any advice?

Hey there,
I started growing some time back and invested plenty of my time into trying to get it perfect however this was all foiled when I went to amsterdam, the lights were cut off and i lost it all except two plants which had been living in darkness for a week.

After saving these; one crashed a week later probally still down to the shock it had been through.

The other one died soon after due to my rents finding out and chucking me out...

Anyways, long story short. I've moved house now and im all fine with them so thats all patched up and im planning a new grow. Except this time im thinking SOIL.

I've looked around into different soils, soil nutrients etc and so far i have decided to use; Canna flora professional mix plus. I'm planning to get 50l of the stuff, do you know how many plants this will support?

What im asking for in this thread is any advice of using soil as im completely new to it


Here are some questions you may be able to answer?

Q: What size pots shud i start in / finish in?
Q: How much longer will it take?
Q: Do i still need to flush it in the last week?
Q: How much / often do i need to water them?
Q: Does anyone know about the Ch9 strain of seeds? (what i've decided to go for again due to liking the looks of it last time).

Sorry for all the questions but i know we all like to help and heres the opportunity So if you've got some spare time and could lend some help then hopefully this will be out there to help any other soil growers aswell

So all facts, advice, figures, opinions are all appreciated.

So now sit back, roll it phatt, get high and tell me how and why.

Any advice at all guys?
Anything that is useful to know whilst using soil instead of hydro?

TheMightyS said:

Any advice at all guys?
Anything that is useful to know whilst using soil instead of hydro?

Click to expand...

As for pots I think 2 to 3 gallon pots are good for most plants.

I don't really flush soil plants, I usually just cut off the nutes and just use plain water the last two to three weeks of flower.

As for time, I would say your veg times will increase but flowering will take the same amount of time for the same strain.

I water mine every other day in flower.

Thanks for the reply
How much should i water them? This is all so new to me! Thought growing in soil would be more simplistic but really its like starting all over again I have to learn all the new figures haha

I use 5 gal. pots and Miracle grow with Ocean Forest and have nothing but great resuklts.
I flush every 2 weeks and water every 3 days, 2 with plain water and 1 with nutes and everything else.

Can yu define flushing in the soil world? and how long does it take?
Would i just feed it plain water? and for how long?

Also, still how much do i need to water it every 3 days? like 1oz or something? :S

p.s.
Thanks for the reply Jesus

You are a Loser.. Sorry to say that but you wqnt to come to a grow site and say you tried??????and yor from wehre the laws are We over her in AMERCA grow our FUCKING weed brhind closeese dooors aand work our ass off just to pay the electric bill.

What was that for?

Slightly uncalled for? :S

Maye be Wrong thread But I have a hell of a defencen don.nt I?????

lol are yu high by any chance my lad?

Sorry Mithy 5 nothing bad diredted at you just talking out my ass...

Yes sir I have smoked White Rino to nite whith many BEERS>>>I grew I m self and en very Happy with the out come How bout you::::

Yeah, people flush usually because of nute burns or to clear if there are excesive salt built up in the soil. Sorry to hear your last grow, seeing all your precious babies die off. "My precious ....." lol

I can see problem of using big pot too early, you need more lights to cover the area, but transplant shock may delay you a couple of days. I never done hydro so I don't know how much longer, but it can't be that much. I thing I learn recently is that if you provide more air from the bottom of the pot, even with soil grow, it seems to grow quicker. Its kind of a stolen principle from hydro.

I think a early strain would be good so to give you a good stock earlier and also they seems to be more forgiven with the environment. Harvest and quality won't be as good ofc, but at least you do get your rewards. I have 4 short rider going at the moment they are pretty easy but may not be clonable, I also heard AK strains are pretty easy going.

Right, got the info here now guys;

im thinking of using this;

Light = 1 x 300W CFL, blue spec to start them off in the veg. Keep them in there for around 3-5 weeks depending on the height.
Soil = Terra Profesional Plus + Soil Mix 50 Litres, Canna (50L)
Nutrients = Terra Vega 1 Litre Canna (V) & Terra Flores 1 Litre Canna (F)
(I'm slightly confused over the nutrients tho as i did want this to be a 100% organic grow but i've now realised Canna Terra is not organic, the organic choice is there but im not sure if its for soil or not, its called 'Canna Bio' and is named 'Bio Vega 1 Litre, Canna')

Anyone know anything about that?

I plan to be using some Ch9 Green bud seeds, all femanised and water every 2 days. I'm still confused by the exact amount i need to water tho and how soon do i start nutrients? Is it the same as hydro where the first two weeks is just plain water then you do 1/4 strength, then 1/2, then 3/4 then full? and if so how often do i need to add the nuts? once a week maybe?

I'm hoping this will all go well and am planning on starting a grow journal to show you guys the cupboard i'll be growing in and the development i make.

Thanks for the replies so far

http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/GrowFAQ Basic Topics.htm
has everything you need to know, very handy.

I've just read it all and still no answer.

Can someone PLEASE tell me how much i need to water them? Does the top of the soil need to be muddy or what? its the one question which no one seems to be able to answer

Anyone still there? :S

TheMightyS said:

Anyone still there? :S

Click to expand...

From the best of my gathered research, since i too am looking at starting a soil grow indoors, is that location, humidity, and other environmental variables change water cycles.

the soil should be moist to the touch but not "wet" and if your growing in say gallon size containers, you will notice a weight difference in properly watered plants and dry plants.

So the best thing you can do is experiment, and don't over water. (make sure you have proper drainage for your plants) Nutrients are usually applied every other watering, the soil will retain some nutrients between watering with plain water. pay attention to your plants, and feed them as much as they like, but careful to not over do it. The PH range in soil is alot more forgiving than in hydroponics, so nutrients have a wider uptake band, less chance for lockout.


Most people "flush" or otherwise cut off nutrients to the plants last few weeks of flowering. Some also use molasses at this time, it's worth looking into if you havn't read about it.

Good luck and keep growin

Ok if 100 people gave you an answer, yo would have 100 different answers, but I have always done soil for the last 7 years and over time here is what I have come up with:
Soil - I mix my own, which consists of 1.5 L (big bag) of Fox Farms OF soil, 1 10lb bag of worm castings, add +- 10% by volume perlite, 5 cups each of Bone Meal and Blood Meal, 2 Cups Epsom Salts, and 2 cups of Indonesian Bat Guano. I have also started adding Mycorrhizae to the mix. Mix it all up and let it "age" for at least 2 weeks, longer if possible.
As far as the size of the grow pots that I use, I start with the 16 oz plastic cups for seedlings, move to 1 gallon to start vegging, then to 3 gallon pots t finish out the veg. You let the plants tell you when they need to go to 3 gallon, I can't say that at 5 weeks or 6 weeks or whatever that you move to the 3 gallon size. Then when I am ready to swith the lights to flower, I move up to 5 gallon pots
Flushing: If you don't use chemical nutes then you will never have to flush. The reason people flush is to try and get rid of the chemical taste that the buds will have with chemical nutes