zovoel
Active Member
The Miracle of Miracle Grow
Many seasoned growers out there tend to favor organic and soil-less mediums for the presumed benefits in yield, THC content, and overall flavor. It is widely recognized that hydroponic set-ups can be very successful when done correctly, as can chemical-free mixtures using all natural nutrients to sustain a growing plant. However, from what I have read so far, it is when people begin to use popular store-bought gardening soils like Scott's and Miracle Grow as their sole growing medium that many more problems begin to occur.
After reading countless posts and opinions on the matter, I decided to give one of these store bought potting soils a try. I currently have a 500 watt closet CFL grow underway, complete with homemade light fixture and soil mix in seven 5-gallon buckets. To achieve my perfect soil, I used a multi-layer mix to create a medium that not only helps nourish growth from seedling through flowering stage, but holds maximum moisture while draining effectively as well.
The first of these three ingredients I used was Miracle Grow Potting Soil, cheap and basic. Starting my dozen seeds in red solo cups, I soon realized this soil was very compact when dry, and allowed for minimal root growth. Because of this my plants stayed small, and had extreme difficulty sprouting their first fan leaves. After almost a week at the same height and size, I realized I needed to create something much better if these plants had any chance of not just growing, but surviving.
After hours of research both online and at local home supply stores, I bought the components needed to make a tasty recipe for my struggling young seedlings. Since I put this mix together I have seen fantastic growth including new sets of fan leaves and new nodes visible almost daily.
Starting from the ground up: Newspaper acts as a strong support and helps hold the contents of any bucket or pot from shifting during watering. As such, I used several pages, placing them at the bottom of each of my 5-gallon buckets.
Next: On top of tje newspaper I added a generous amount of perlite for drainage, combined with another essential component, peatmoss. Peatmoss has been extremely helpful with my grow so far for its ability to retain moisture up to a certain point. More importantly, peatmoss can retain that moisture long after the majority of water has drained or used by the plant. The third layer of this mix is the villian of so many stories, the clumpy and acidic miracle grow. After nutrient burning my babies leave tips while in red solo cups, I used about half as much miracle grow as I did peatmoss and perlite. While most of the miracle grow used came from the brown organic bags, I was still able to find percentages on the bags showing higher levels of chemicals than I would have expected. After adding my miracle grow, I mixed these three ingredients together, having now filled up a third of the 5-gallon bucket. I did this same layering mix several more times in each bucket to fill them an inch from the top and planted my struggling seedlings in their new home. While it's obvious the roots needed more space to expand, what I didn't expect was how bushy each plant became in just two weeks of vegating under 24 hours of light. In the first two weeks they were there, each plant gained an incredible height and width, the smallest towering over 8 inches tall and 16 inches wide.
Because I am using a dozen 42 watt CFLs, I believe their growth has been aided significantly from my homemade growing medium more than anything else. They've gotten so tall that I've topped four of them, and now have four times as many colas growing strong. Each of the three ingredients I used are Miracle Grow products, and with such great growth and no nutrient problems to date, I believe I've found a combination that anyone can have success with. When ph testing with a cheap test, I found the soil I was using to be slightly more acidic, between 5.7 and 6.1. However as it turns out, I found a great solution almost by accident. While shopping at Food Lion and Wal-Mart, I've discovered that store brand distilled water is almost perfectly 7.4. When combining my acidic soil mix with my base room temperature water, the result is a closet forest and a smell that knocks you back a step. (In a good way of course)
Good luck to anyone with their own garden endeavors and please feel free to check out my own progress in my grow journal on my profile page.
After reading countless posts and opinions on the matter, I decided to give one of these store bought potting soils a try. I currently have a 500 watt closet CFL grow underway, complete with homemade light fixture and soil mix in seven 5-gallon buckets. To achieve my perfect soil, I used a multi-layer mix to create a medium that not only helps nourish growth from seedling through flowering stage, but holds maximum moisture while draining effectively as well.
The first of these three ingredients I used was Miracle Grow Potting Soil, cheap and basic. Starting my dozen seeds in red solo cups, I soon realized this soil was very compact when dry, and allowed for minimal root growth. Because of this my plants stayed small, and had extreme difficulty sprouting their first fan leaves. After almost a week at the same height and size, I realized I needed to create something much better if these plants had any chance of not just growing, but surviving.
After hours of research both online and at local home supply stores, I bought the components needed to make a tasty recipe for my struggling young seedlings. Since I put this mix together I have seen fantastic growth including new sets of fan leaves and new nodes visible almost daily.
Starting from the ground up: Newspaper acts as a strong support and helps hold the contents of any bucket or pot from shifting during watering. As such, I used several pages, placing them at the bottom of each of my 5-gallon buckets.
Next: On top of tje newspaper I added a generous amount of perlite for drainage, combined with another essential component, peatmoss. Peatmoss has been extremely helpful with my grow so far for its ability to retain moisture up to a certain point. More importantly, peatmoss can retain that moisture long after the majority of water has drained or used by the plant. The third layer of this mix is the villian of so many stories, the clumpy and acidic miracle grow. After nutrient burning my babies leave tips while in red solo cups, I used about half as much miracle grow as I did peatmoss and perlite. While most of the miracle grow used came from the brown organic bags, I was still able to find percentages on the bags showing higher levels of chemicals than I would have expected. After adding my miracle grow, I mixed these three ingredients together, having now filled up a third of the 5-gallon bucket. I did this same layering mix several more times in each bucket to fill them an inch from the top and planted my struggling seedlings in their new home. While it's obvious the roots needed more space to expand, what I didn't expect was how bushy each plant became in just two weeks of vegating under 24 hours of light. In the first two weeks they were there, each plant gained an incredible height and width, the smallest towering over 8 inches tall and 16 inches wide.
Because I am using a dozen 42 watt CFLs, I believe their growth has been aided significantly from my homemade growing medium more than anything else. They've gotten so tall that I've topped four of them, and now have four times as many colas growing strong. Each of the three ingredients I used are Miracle Grow products, and with such great growth and no nutrient problems to date, I believe I've found a combination that anyone can have success with. When ph testing with a cheap test, I found the soil I was using to be slightly more acidic, between 5.7 and 6.1. However as it turns out, I found a great solution almost by accident. While shopping at Food Lion and Wal-Mart, I've discovered that store brand distilled water is almost perfectly 7.4. When combining my acidic soil mix with my base room temperature water, the result is a closet forest and a smell that knocks you back a step. (In a good way of course)
Good luck to anyone with their own garden endeavors and please feel free to check out my own progress in my grow journal on my profile page.
...... Well long story short..... Yes, you got it.... It was a disaster.... plants were stunted as hell, and i had no idea why they wouldnt grow, till i found out about SOIL PH.... Shh... I was 15.... I am 25 now...lol... well 26 in a few days..... But, yea... after that everything got better, and started growing monsters for years in my backyard using MG mixed in my soil, and Cow shit... Fish... Canal water...... Has the perfect ph, and alot of good shit in it for outdoor grows..... and when I say shit... I mean shit..... all that fish crap and turtles and whatever else is living in there..... Would use fish guts... fish heads, scales and bones at the bottom of the soil also, and those babies grew!..... I stopped for like 2 years after i met my girl, but started again after all my secrets were out, and she was good with it, and recently I moved to indoor and outdoor.... But i dont really go fishing anymore... dont ask.. -_-... anyways... I am gonna try this season to use advanced nutrients.... well, not ADVANCED NUTRIENTS THE BRAND,(besides Bud Candy) but Better nutes and additives to try and get a better more potent outdoor crop..... I've only been doing indoor for like 2 years... and a SMALL grow 7 years ago with a 150w, but only once since I only got like 80 grams of AMAZING stuff, but i didnt think it was worth the light and arguing with my parents at the time, so i stuck with outdoor..... Till NOW.... Dun Dun Dun....... Just got my 600w for this grow... last few grows I would use my 150w and an other 300 or so in CFL's Also.... Lets see what a 600w can do for me 
.... Still Love mixing it up with my outdoor though... Too much hydro back to back fucks me up, so outdoor is good to just relax, and roll fatties