Soil Ammendments
Most pro soil mix has a few of these in but often I find a lot of bark and moss and generally fillers. Some filler is good but to much filler never makes me feel good and so I am going to write about additives. A additive or ammendment are materials(organic for me please) that you can put into your soil to give your plants that extra kick it needs for faster growth. If this gets to lengthy I will again break it down into smaller posts.
Perlite is probably the most common amendment as it is very cheap for a large quantity. It isnt a amendment in the way that a plant can draw nutrients from it but it is needed because it helps airate the soil and with drainage and you will always find this to help the rootball form. Perlite is ph neutral is small pieces of pumice which is volcanic rock. In hydroponics perlite can be used 100% to hold the growing plants but it is easily movable so those plants should be held in place. I use a layer in the bottom of my buckets to help the drainage even more.
Vermiculite
Vermiculite are pieces of mica that have expanded in a oven. It helps loosen up the soil and it improves water retention. It hold oxygen and water just like a sponge holds and can be used by itself like the perlite could to sprout seeds and clones.
Compost
Compost comes in many varieties since you can make it out of pretty much anything such as lawn clippings, vegetables,food scraps, last years crop and even coffee grinds which if I remember right are high in nitrogen. All of this is put into a pile to decompose throughly. There are things to do with specifics like temps the pile needs to maintain and what not but you can research that if you like. Unfortunately I cant compost where I am at but perhaps you can. A lot of people use red wriggler worms to eat up the old scraps and poop out the composted rich nutrient. The compost you can buy at stores and such are usually nowhere near the quality that you can make because it is usually just decomposed vegetable matter like cornstalks and so it is very low in nutrients and will need further additives to the soil.
Topsoil
Topsoil is the layer of soil just under the grass in your yard. I personally would never use topsoil for a few reasons. The main reason is it contributes heavily to soil erosion and is harmful to the earth and your property. Topsoil is composed of many things like sand,decomposed leaf matter,clay and wood. Using topsoil by itself is a poor medium to grow weed because once it is dry it will harden up and the roots wont be able to penetrate. If you do want to use topsoil as a filler then thats ok as long as you add higher quality soil in conjunction.
Peat moss or Spagnum moss
These are mosses composed of sterilized by using steam. They are excellent water retainers as they hold about 30% of their weight in water. I feel that marijuana likes water but doesnt want to be sitting in a pool of water and I feel the cheaper soils use this as a filler along with large chunks of bark but thats just my opinion. It has a ph between 3.5 and 4.5
Sand
Sand loosens the soil and is superior for drainage. It has zero nutrients and is neutral in ph. Some hydro growers use sand only mediums but the drawbacks are its weight and it is usually messy to use. You should purchase the sand as beach sand is full of pollutants and debris and salt. The ideal kind is the kind used in childrens sandboxes and can be purchased at a home depot or stores of the same kind
Rock wool
Rock wool looks like fiberglass but its made from granite ,limestone or coke that has been heated and spun just like thread is. Soil gardeners use rockwool to start the plant and then can transfer it later to the soil. If you use rockwool you will always want to wet it because the dust will aggravate your lungs and is harmful to breath.
Organic tea
Teas are made of nutrients dissolved into the water and fed directly to the plants. Tea helps maintain the taste of the smoke. Teas are simple to use and usually made from things like kelp,seaweed,worm castings different bat guanos and even pecans. I will explain how to make tea as well but Ive been sick the last few days so as im writing this my nose is all runny and im coughing up a lung but Im almost done I think but I may include more later. Oh before I forget homemade teas are always always always better then store bought . You can make yours more beneficial and the ingredients will still be active when you use it.
Manure
Manure is animal crap. The best manures are from herbivores. Dont use your own poop ever! Use horse chiken and cows. My preference is bat but I dont think guano and manure are the same although it comes out the same end.
Most pro soil mix has a few of these in but often I find a lot of bark and moss and generally fillers. Some filler is good but to much filler never makes me feel good and so I am going to write about additives. A additive or ammendment are materials(organic for me please) that you can put into your soil to give your plants that extra kick it needs for faster growth. If this gets to lengthy I will again break it down into smaller posts.
Perlite is probably the most common amendment as it is very cheap for a large quantity. It isnt a amendment in the way that a plant can draw nutrients from it but it is needed because it helps airate the soil and with drainage and you will always find this to help the rootball form. Perlite is ph neutral is small pieces of pumice which is volcanic rock. In hydroponics perlite can be used 100% to hold the growing plants but it is easily movable so those plants should be held in place. I use a layer in the bottom of my buckets to help the drainage even more.
Vermiculite
Vermiculite are pieces of mica that have expanded in a oven. It helps loosen up the soil and it improves water retention. It hold oxygen and water just like a sponge holds and can be used by itself like the perlite could to sprout seeds and clones.
Compost
Compost comes in many varieties since you can make it out of pretty much anything such as lawn clippings, vegetables,food scraps, last years crop and even coffee grinds which if I remember right are high in nitrogen. All of this is put into a pile to decompose throughly. There are things to do with specifics like temps the pile needs to maintain and what not but you can research that if you like. Unfortunately I cant compost where I am at but perhaps you can. A lot of people use red wriggler worms to eat up the old scraps and poop out the composted rich nutrient. The compost you can buy at stores and such are usually nowhere near the quality that you can make because it is usually just decomposed vegetable matter like cornstalks and so it is very low in nutrients and will need further additives to the soil.
Topsoil
Topsoil is the layer of soil just under the grass in your yard. I personally would never use topsoil for a few reasons. The main reason is it contributes heavily to soil erosion and is harmful to the earth and your property. Topsoil is composed of many things like sand,decomposed leaf matter,clay and wood. Using topsoil by itself is a poor medium to grow weed because once it is dry it will harden up and the roots wont be able to penetrate. If you do want to use topsoil as a filler then thats ok as long as you add higher quality soil in conjunction.
Peat moss or Spagnum moss
These are mosses composed of sterilized by using steam. They are excellent water retainers as they hold about 30% of their weight in water. I feel that marijuana likes water but doesnt want to be sitting in a pool of water and I feel the cheaper soils use this as a filler along with large chunks of bark but thats just my opinion. It has a ph between 3.5 and 4.5
Sand
Sand loosens the soil and is superior for drainage. It has zero nutrients and is neutral in ph. Some hydro growers use sand only mediums but the drawbacks are its weight and it is usually messy to use. You should purchase the sand as beach sand is full of pollutants and debris and salt. The ideal kind is the kind used in childrens sandboxes and can be purchased at a home depot or stores of the same kind
Rock wool
Rock wool looks like fiberglass but its made from granite ,limestone or coke that has been heated and spun just like thread is. Soil gardeners use rockwool to start the plant and then can transfer it later to the soil. If you use rockwool you will always want to wet it because the dust will aggravate your lungs and is harmful to breath.
Organic tea
Teas are made of nutrients dissolved into the water and fed directly to the plants. Tea helps maintain the taste of the smoke. Teas are simple to use and usually made from things like kelp,seaweed,worm castings different bat guanos and even pecans. I will explain how to make tea as well but Ive been sick the last few days so as im writing this my nose is all runny and im coughing up a lung but Im almost done I think but I may include more later. Oh before I forget homemade teas are always always always better then store bought . You can make yours more beneficial and the ingredients will still be active when you use it.
Manure
Manure is animal crap. The best manures are from herbivores. Dont use your own poop ever! Use horse chiken and cows. My preference is bat but I dont think guano and manure are the same although it comes out the same end.
