Soilless mix for first grow

M

majordon

420 Member
Hello, planning to embark on my first grow. I have 4x4 tent, lights, exhaust, circulation. Will be adding intake fan and humidifier.
Grow will be from seed. Question on the growing media ... I have on hand Pro Mix HP, perlite, prilled dolomite lime. Is this enough? and at what percent ingredient mix? Any other recommended additions?
If it matters, I will be using Advanced Nutrients fertilizers.
Prosperous New Year and bountiful harvests!
 
Welcome @majordon !

Pro Mix Hp right out the bag is all you need !

It contains roughly 30% perlite already, I have tried increasing that amount to 50% and found it didn't make a difference.

One thing I do recommend is a ppm meter, AN feeding recommendations are a bit high.

What size and kind of containers are you thinking about using ?

Cheers
 
majordon said:
Hello, planning to embark on my first grow. I have 4x4 tent, lights, exhaust, circulation. Will be adding intake fan and humidifier.
Grow will be from seed. Question on the growing media ... I have on hand Pro Mix HP, perlite, prilled dolomite lime. Is this enough? and at what percent ingredient mix? Any other recommended additions?
If it matters, I will be using Advanced Nutrients fertilizers.
Prosperous New Year and bountiful harvests!
Click to expand...
Welcome to 420Magazine Amigo :ciao: :welcome:
I've used promix before it's not bad.
I added perlite in layers to retain air.
It does increase root growth.
Glad you have a meter as ph is critical in promix.
I found 5.8 to be good for soilless grows.
Hope all your beans pop.:high-five:
If you want to start a journal so we can follow along and help here is a link.
420

Thread 'How to Make a Grow Journal'

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With enough setup information in the beginning, your grow journal will be seen and supported by growers from all over the world. The more pride and effort you put into your journal, the more response, interaction and support you will receive from everyone.

1. Click on the header text link (desktop) or the hamburger menu/three white bars (mobile)
2. Click "Grow Journals" and then click "Journals in Progress"
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Happy Growing. :thumb:



Stay safe
Bill284 😎
 
majordon said:
I was planning on 3-gal fabric pots. I just got the RooTrimmer 3-gal Air Trimmer pots
Click to expand...

do yourself a favour and go with 5 gallon. plants in 5 gallon will be much more stable and will encounter fewer issues. 5 gallon are much better for a new grower. a lot of new growers will kill a few grows off using 3 gallon before a successful harvest.

3 gallon is a typical auto size, but even autos do better in a 5 gallon.

don't grow autos if this is a first grow. photos are much easier to grow and will produce more with greater potency for a first timer.



majordon said:
I have a TDS 4-in-1 digital water tester;
Click to expand...

the multi-function meters can be pricey if you need to replace the ends. dedicated tds/ppm meters and ph meters are best from a cost perspective.

you will need a ph meter for testing ph in liquid.


majordon said:
8.5" soil temperature probe; 3-in-1 soil moisture, light, ph meter; assorted thermo/hygrometer.
Click to expand...

the meters are good. the probes you stick into the soil are useless. it's your inputs that matter, get those correct and you'll be fine. the probes don't really measure what you need to know. they are after the fact.

the meters are what you need.

majordon said:
Using 16" saucers gives me 9 plants in the 4x4 tent. Thinking this is enough to keep me "entertained" and busy!
Click to expand...


each plant will require about 2 square feet around it to grow. plan accordingly. 9 plants is gonna be close to double your capacity.
 
9 plants in a 4X4? I ran 4 last grow in 5G pots and it was quite a bit of work, especially if hand feeding/watering. One thing I noticed is no mention of a light, what are you using for your 4X4? Your going to need a bare minimum of 650 watts, to cover that area of foilage. If you're still looking at LEDs, look at the Medic Grow Fold 6 as a decent light and will cover that 4X4 area or you can go to the Fold 8 commercial (what I am running in my (4X4) for super coverage, but the Fold 8 does generate some added warmth, for me during the winter and later fall months when I grow this is ideal, summer and late spring not so good.
 
I've grown in 3, 4 and then 5 gallon fabric bags and found the only real difference is watering/feeding frequency.

The RooTrimmer 3-gal Air Trimmer pots should do just fine, 5 gallon would give you a little more time between watering ;)

Pay attention to the weight of the pot when deciding when to water instead of relying on a schedule !

Four plants in that space is plenty even if you mainline or quadline and flip to flower early !

Squeezing in five is pushing it and without Good ventilation is asking for trouble, ie., bud rot.

Now this is where I go off track. I'm blessed with good well water and do not ph my water in or add Cal/Mag.

And never measure run off.

"Good" is a relative term, my ppm's are ~500, my ph is ~7.5 before adding nutrients o_O

ProMix HP already has limestone in it and that buffers the ph. And AN is "ph perfect" 😆

Having said that, the only way you are going to be able to tell if you can get away without phing your water is to try it.

I would start by measure your ppm/ph of your water before and then after adding your nutrients then you can decide whether or not to take the chance. Phing won't hurt anything, I didn't care to be messing with acid..

When I tried AN I was still phing so I can't say for sure what that nutrient line will do but with Mega Crop one part or GH Maxi series I have found it is not necessary under my conditions.

YMMV

I should add, with AN anything over 900 ppm got me into trouble 😵

Cheers
 
trust me, 5 gallon pots will be much easier to grow in.

i'm also an advanced nutrients refugee. they are very expensive for what they are. they got into some trouble a few yrs back for making their formulas worse in order to sell more supplements. previous to that they were a solid company.

general rule of thumb is your base nutes should be able to get you to a decent finish without adding supplements beyond calmag. if they can't do that, then go with a different line.

if you go with AN pay attention to which line you use. some require ph and some do not. they can occasionally be difficult to run.

@majordon have read through this thread on how to water/feed correctly in the media you have chosen :

Emilya Green

Thread 'The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant'

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant
Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot


How to Water
Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion applies to at least 3 gallon containers and bigger. Please realize that this special plant of ours does not grow like anything else you have ever tried to grow, and no matter how good you are at growing peas, beans and tomatoes, you will have to change your methods to grow a...
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you're gonna get a lot of support so ask questions and have fun. :)

edit: i also use the mega crop 1 part now and can recommend it for ease of use and learning curve. there are piles of other good nutes too. mc can be good for new growers though.
 
bluter said:
trust me, 5 gallon pots will be much easier to grow in.

i'm also an advanced nutrients refugee. they are very expensive for what they are. they got into some trouble a few yrs back for making their formulas worse in order to sell more supplements. previous to that they were a solid company.

general rule of thumb is your base nutes should be able to get you to a decent finish without adding supplements beyond calmag. if they can't do that, then go with a different line.

if you go with AN pay attention to which line you use. some require ph and some do not. they can occasionally be difficult to run.

@majordon have read through this thread on how to water/feed correctly in the media you have chosen :

Emilya Green

Thread 'The Proper Way To Water A Potted Plant'

The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant
Also covered: the importance of pH and why we successively up-pot


How to Water
Over the last several years I have put a lot of study into this, and I feel that I can now define the proper way to water a potted plant. Keep in mind that this discussion applies to at least 3 gallon containers and bigger. Please realize that this special plant of ours does not grow like anything else you have ever tried to grow, and no matter how good you are at growing peas, beans and tomatoes, you will have to change your methods to grow a...
  • Like
  • Love
  • Thanks

you're gonna get a lot of support so ask questions and have fun. :)

edit: i also use the mega crop 1 part now and can recommend it for ease of use and learning curve. there are piles of other good nutes too. mc can be good for new growers though.
Click to expand...
That thread of Em’s is for soil.
I found it best to keep promix wet.
I believe it doesn’t require a dry period like soil :Namaste:
Just 2 cents, lots of good suggestions.



Stay safe
Bill284 😎
 
Bill284 said:
That thread of Em’s is for soil.
I found it best to keep promix wet.
Click to expand...

"soil" has been a synonymous misnomer for hp promix and sunshine #4 since the 80's. they run similar as they are buffered and meant to be run on soil ph rules.

in actual fact they are "soilless" much like coco, or straight perlite. coco and straight perlite are true soilless, and as such are hydro, running under different ph rules.

because of the difference it's easier to call hp promix and sunshine#4 "soil " in the industry. it's simply shorthand.

edit: the only real difference will be a shortened feeding interval. everything else in em's tutorial applies.
 
Welcome to 420 @majordon!

As you've already discovered, there is no shortage of good information available here! There are lots of knowledgeable growers who are more than willing to share what they know.

Your challenge is to make sense of all the info. you'll receive and putting it to use in a way that works for you!

Good luck and Happy Growing! :Rasta:
 
Bill284 said:
That thread of Em’s is for soil.
I found it best to keep promix wet.
I believe it doesn’t require a dry period like soil :Namaste:
Click to expand...
@Emilya Green's thread is for dirt, compost, worm-castings based soils judging by how often she included the micro-organisms in the soil and how important they are.

Peat moss is great for water retention so it can hold onto nutrient water where as in a dirt soil it is the micro-organisms that use the moisture in the soil to maintain the decomposition of the organic material. So, it is a continuous controlled supply of the various nutrients. In peat moss I figure that by the time the mix dries out to the level considered for Em's thread is has been awhile since the plant used all the available nutrients.

So probably best to treat peat more like a hydro style of growing with frequent water & nutrient feedings but maybe more control on the volume of liquid. Plus, the pH of the water going in and coming out is going to be important.
 
bluter said:
"soil" has been a synonymous misnomer for hp promix and sunshine #4 since the 80's. they run similar as they are buffered and meant to be run on soil ph rules.
Click to expand...
I don't know how well they are doing at it as far as the buffering goes. Some peat moss, if the grower is lucky, is close to a neutral pH. Peat moss, like "Canadian sphagnum peat moss" is naturally acidic which is why so many mixes that use it have some lime in them. I figure the idea is to get control of the pH of the mix before it leaves the plant (the place all the ingredients are mixed) and gets to the indoor grower.
 
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