Planning a soil grow: Need advice

[HigherTheHigh]

Hello all.

Im planning on growing a few strong fruity strains and iv been told to get the absolute best taste to grow in soil, i will be growing 2 plants scrogged in a 90x60x90cm tent, so a very small tent but ill make sure i use every bit of room i can, 2 low profile fabric pots, i will either be using a 250-400w HPS in a cool tube or try with a new LED light which im on speaking with a rep about buying one.

I want to use as little nutrients as possible, iv got a 5L drum of BioBizz Bio-Grow and i can get some bloom for flowering, i will also be using a root enzyme.

My canopy should be around 30-40cm leaving me 50-60cm remaining height to top of the tent so i may buy a 600w LED if that will be cool enough.

My questions are:

How often do i water them?

What deficiencies do i need to be aware of?

What organic nutrients apart from the BioBizz base nutrients would you recommend that will benefit the plant itself and not increase the yield.

Do i need to check the excess run of every time or just ever so often?

I have been told the veg time is 2x as long but flower time can be 20% faster, how true or isnt this?

Finally what light would you recommend for that size area? Iv been told LED is the best for quality but not yield, as i will be scrogging i think i will be getting as much for my yield anyway, or maybe 2 small cob lights? or should i just stick with HPS at 400w?

A lot of you may see my posts a lot asking questions, as a high level anxiety sufferer i feel the need to ask as much as possible because if anything goes wrong and i never asked i feel like iv let myself down, just in case anyone noticed .

 

[MrSauga]

check my signature for great tips on watering. Also, the last link will set you up on pretty much everything or get you heading the right direction.


edit: removed welcome message

 

[HigherTheHigh]

Been here for nearly 2 years lol yeah ill check that watering link out, whats your opinions on using canna soil?

 

[MrSauga]

lol, wow, 1700 posts, you don't need my advice, lol. Sorry to offend you if I did.

 

[MrSauga]

ya I just saw that before you posted...if you are talking the Canna Terra I have not used it, but have read others using it quite often. I'll see if I can find you some links

 

[HigherTheHigh]

No you never offended me your fine bud.

What soil would you recommend?

 

[MrSauga]

OK I'll send a tag out to @Calvados as I seen he has experience with Canna Terra...lots of knowledge as well.

Everyone recommends FFOF Fox Farm's Ocean Forest. Lots of nutes and works well.

 

[MrSauga]

Well, let me correct that, not everyone, lol. Many people use FFOF, including myself, and have great results.

 

[TheFertilizer]

How often do i water them?

Depends on many factors, the biggest being your soil's water-holding capability, relative humidity, pot size, temperature, strain. But a good rule of thumb is that your pots should be drying out fully ever 3-5 days. Longer than that and your roots won't like it. Shorter than that and you're just watering more often than you need to and the plant will have less access to water.

What deficiencies do i need to be aware of?

Indoors, in soil, the one most people run into very often are calcium and magnesium problems. You'll probably want to grab a bag of epsom salts, which is magnesium sulfate, since it's usually magnesium that ends up lacking due to improper calcium balance. But you may want to ensure that your base nutrients have Calcium as well, and if not you'll want to pick up something like Cal-Mag for supplement.

What organic nutrients apart from the BioBizz base nutrients would you recommend that will benefit the plant itself and not increase the yield.

Otherwise find a good base nutrient, and some Phposporous and Potassium (P and K) booster supplements. There's more than a few out there, they're simply high in P and K with no N. I'm not really aware of any organic ones.

A silica supplement is also very beneficial inside. Something like ArmorSi or ProTekt will harden your stems and allow them to support more weight and also be more resistant to pests as they will be harder to bite into. Organically, steep some horsetail-fern in water to make a tea that has the same benefits.

Also check out things like Great White or other brands of mycorhizal microbes. These are microbes that will infect your plant roots ( but in a good way ) and then will help them up take phosphorous better. I like to use Xtreme Gardening's Mykos and also Azos, which is a similar bacteria which helps the plant take up nitrogen better.

If you want to go with organic options, check out Aerated Compost Teas. These don't really feed your plant as much as they feed your soil. Soil has bacterial organisms in it which break down the organic matter and excude the macro and micro nutrients that your plant actually eats. Feed the bacteria and they'll in turn feed your plant.

Do i need to check the excess run of every time or just ever so often?

I think most people might disagree, but I don't think checking run-off from soil is an accurate representation of the pH or nutrient content inside. It's just a different ball game than using inert mediums like perlite. Soil is full of all sorts of volatile organic matter that is going to throw the readings one way or the other. A soil with a pH of 7 could have run off that is as acidic as 4 simply due to what is and isn't soluble in water inside of the pot, what bacteria it washes out, etc. and so on.

Play around with it and see if you notice any consistency to go off. I never have so I don't mess with it.

I have been told the veg time is 2x as long but flower time can be 20% faster, how true or isnt this?

Eh no idea about faster flowering but I've definitely heard it's much slower than hydro. I'm not sure if it would really be twice as long though.

Finally what light would you recommend for that size area? Iv been told LED is the best for quality but not yield, as i will be scrogging i think i will be getting as much for my yield anyway, or maybe 2 small cob lights? or should i just stick with HPS at 400w?

30-50 watts per square foot. Pretty sure you measures are for a 4' x 2' so that would be perfect for a 400w. 250w would do okay for veg but you'd be on the bottom end of that w/sq-ft rule.

As for soil recommendations...

Do you wanna go with bagged soils or make your own? A lot of people would highly recommend making your own. If you look up a mix like Clackamas Coot's you can get a lot of the ingredients locally and then order the "nutrient" kit. It will make you some excellent soil that you should really only need to run ACTs on and probably wouldn't even need the BioBizz.

I like Happy Frog from Fox Farms. If you're trying to stay organic, you need to find something OMRI certified though. EarthJuice has something called "Amazon Bloom" I tried out that was doing well until I got a russet mite infestation, so I never saw how it finished because I just scrapped all of those girls. Otherwise, Black Gold "Natural and Organic" is pretty good.

 

[HigherTheHigh]

I was always wanting to try Fox Farm soils so i think im going to go with that, so with me choosing that and it having alot of nutrients in the soil do i need many nutrients? if i go fully organic i would be straight water and organic nutes so not many p and k thats organic like you say but, the light may be enough really, after all if the environment is perfect i wouldnt of thought it would have mattered much.

I have seen 2 lights im interested in and here they are:

GN Telos 0008 240W LED Grow Light - One Stop Grow Shop Hydroponics

Heliospectra E601C 630W LED Grow Light - One Stop Grow Shop Hydroponics

Im undecided but the first LED light is 15cm in depth so that would give me around 30-40cm roughly from light to canopy, the 2nd LED 20cm in depth.

 

[BobbyZ]

I use FFOceanSoil. I use their 3 main nutes. I use there feed schedule, but cut the nutes in half. CalMag is necessary with most my plants. It's a little hot with autos, so watch your leaf for indications and don't hesitate to flush. It works so well, I'm afraid to try anything new... It makes me look better at this than I am. A local store carries it here for about $16.50 usd + tax. I'll toss the rootballs in the yard and run over them with the mower.

 

[Liquidintel]

I was always wanting to try Fox Farm soils so i think im going to go with that, so with me choosing that and it having alot of nutrients in the soil do i need many nutrients? if i go fully organic i would be straight water and organic nutes so not many p and k thats organic like you say but, the light may be enough really, after all if the environment is perfect i wouldnt of thought it would have mattered much.

I have seen 2 lights im interested in and here they are:

GN Telos 0008 240W LED Grow Light - One Stop Grow Shop Hydroponics

Heliospectra E601C 630W LED Grow Light - One Stop Grow Shop Hydroponics

Im undecided but the first LED light is 15cm in depth so that would give me around 30-40cm roughly from light to canopy, the 2nd LED 20cm in depth.

I use ffof for our outdoor grow, and have zero complaints, it works great for us. I added nutes, roughly half strength of what the bottle reccomend 4 of our 5 strains showed no signs of nute burn/deficiency, but the 5th strain required more nitrogen. I feel the ph of the water run off and strain type play a large role in deciding how much and of which nutes are needed. Enjoy your grow! I hope this was helpful.