So you just bought some super awesome soil, and are wondering how best to use it?
Below are some tips we've compiled to help get you up and growing asap!
Before you water - some notes on water/watering:
Our soils work best with as pure a water as you can provide (we like to use Rainwater), if this is not available to you, Reverse Osmosis/Deionised water are a solid second option.
At the very least filtering town water (or rainwater) is recommended to remove contaminants, using a Carbon filter and preferably a couple of stages of prefiltering. Town water contains many additives, including Calcium/Magnesium/Sodium and Chlorine/Chloromine, its best for your grow if these aren't being watered into the soil all the time, the trace minerals can upset soil cation balance and the sterilants can be damaging to microbe populations.
Water is the most important input for your crop, making sure its as good as possible produces the best results.
We don't generally recommend people PH adjust their water, instead we find cleaning the water up and making it free from contaminants results in water that doesn't need adjusting. There are times when this isn't sufficient, and if you are going to adjust your PH we recommend using natural and less abrasive acid sources like Citric, White vinegar or Lactic acid rather than commercially available ones based on Sulphuric/Phosphoric acid or Potassium Hydroxide. These will have a weaker effect on soil chemistry than the more potent PH Up/Down products you may find.
We recommend most of your watering events be in the range of 5 to 10% of your container volume. We have found this is a general rule of thumb that works well for most people (and is featured visually in our guides).
For example:
40L pot - 5% irrigation event = 2L
40L pot - 10% irrigation event = 4L
This may seem a lot less than in other systems, you are not aiming to "flush" or for run off.
In soil you are aiming to keep even soil moisture (the Goldylocks zone of not too wet or dry), we've found that alternating between 5 and 10% waterings every other day, suits most gardens most times. Failing that there are some quality digital moisture meters good for getting a feel for it.
Our mixes are designed to drain well, but any amended soil will by its nature hold significant moisture, Composts, Peat, Minerals and even dry amendments themselves hold moisture. Which is why we recommend a little more care.
Applying your water with a spray pack, or a soft output rain style applicator, are recommended over simply pouring the water on. Gradually wetting soil simulates rainfall, and helps it soak in best.
Getting started:
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We recommend filling your pots, leaving about an inch or 2 of gap at the top to allow for watering, mulching and top dressing.
- We then recommend watering your soil thoroughly to ensure its wet through, and so it settles into the pot reducing air spaces (tip: GREEN-SUPREME can be used to aid in soil wetting) You don't have to get runoff, but a little at this stage is not detrimental.
- If possible do this 24hrs before you intend to plant out the garden, this allows time for the soil to absorb and drain off any excess.
- Prep your hole for your plant, or seed, and carefully backfill before watering the plant in to settle. (tip: GREEN-SUPREME can be used to reduce transplant shock - DARK-MATTER can be root dusted at this stage for a fresh microbe charge/stress relief).
Calculating soil amount:
Growing in soil means you need to leave more space for roots than in Salt based inert growing systems. This is because Microbes need space, as do roots to allow for organics to work correctly and feed the plant to a high level.
Think of your soil as a battery, a fully charged battery of the right size will provide all the power needed for the right length of time. If too small a pot is chosen it will not have enough reserves for a nice healthy crop, even with supplementation because the microbes and roots do not have enough space for a good functioning eco system.
We recommend the following amounts as a guide to soil volume, this is for any blend you choose to go full term in.
Minimum requirements for a 12 week indoor crop as recommended in the guides
- 20L with supplementation (CROP-DRESSINGS/POWR-BOOSTERS like HERB-SUPERB, STONE-AGE, AQUA-MARINE, OCEAN-POTION)
- 40L minimal supplementation, to water only
- 60L to 100L per plant, water only
(tip: Using the GRO-BIOTICs RHIZO-MOJO, DARK-MATTER and ANTI-MATTER will aid in using the fertiliser already in your soil, rather than applying more food - and are of great value even in a Water Only style program. These products are designed to be stacked with your CROP-DRESSINGS and POWR-BOOSTERS, and work in ANY organic soil, including and especially our GRO-DIRT soils and ISLAND-BLEND)
Outdoors, we often advise people (especially those planting early) to try and use the biggest pots they can.
Most typical Outdoor grows run for between 3 and 6 months, and so selecting a decent sized container is very important to achieving maximal outdoor harvests.
We recommend:
Up to 3 Month grows shoot for.
- 20L with supplementation (CROP-DRESSINGS/POWR-BOOSTERS like HERB-SUPERB, STONE-AGE, AQUA-MARINE, OCEAN-POTION)
- 40L minimal supplementation, to water only
- 60L to 100L per plant, water only
6 to 9 month grows shoot for.
- 60L with supplementation (CROP-DRESSINGS/POWR-BOOSTERS like HERB-SUPERB, STONE-AGE, AQUA-MARINE, OCEAN-POTION)
- 100L minimal supplementation, to water only
- 150 and up water only
(tip: The GRO-BIOTICs RHIZO-MOJO, DARK-MATTER and ANTI-MATTER are equally effective for outdoor use).
