While gathering what I need for this next grow I took some inspiration from you,
@Terrapin Station , and decided I was going to run autos in store bought organic soil much like you did. I chose something a little more in line with weed soil mixes. Kelloggs Patio Plus Premium. It has aged recycled forest products, aged rice hulls, composted poultry manure, perlite, peat moss, hydrolyzed feather meal, dehydrated poultry manure, dolomite & oyster shell limes (as pH adjusters), bat guano, kelp meal, worm castings. I made sure it has no "time release" agents in it.
The "aged recycled forest products" are going to be mostly peat and ground up wood chips for higher water retention and faster drainage without having to use as much perlite as perlite is more expensive than wood chips. Using this product, I would normally add perlite to reduce the water retaining qualities of the soil, like you did with the MG soil, and increase the drainage and O² availability but I want to see how these "wood chips" perform. My only con would be in its reuse. After a grow I would imagine a lot of the wood chips will have broken down and the soil will be siltier make it compact more and reduce O² availability so it's kind of a one and done soil good for spreading into the outdoor garden to break down and release whatever salts are left in it into the ground. The Roots Organic soils are high coir based soils so you can reuse them as the coir doesn't break down readily like the wood chips will.
I also picked up bottles of both Alaska Fish Emulsion and Morbloom. Still need to order a bottle of cal/mag.
In any case, I'll start up a journal. I want to see what results come from someone that has a general idea of how to grow weed using budget everything in regard to media and nutrient. Can someone with adequate grow skills grow with the same abundance as they can with cannabis specific media and nutrition. Can I manipulate the shortcomings of both media and nutrition and still yield like I typically do?
The 2 x 2 I have is a no name cheap chinese tent much like most beginners would buy. I think I paid $30 for it. The light will also be a non major brand light, chinese made, again, like most beginners would pick up other than the ViparSpectra XS1500Pro that I won in a raffle. In other words, everything like a beginner would more than likely use.
It's a little unfair as I got to go through it with you so I know what's coming but maybe the journal can help some other beginners get around some of the issues they're going to encounter with this type of setup and be able to get to harvest on a shoestring.