Soils ain't soils - Bunnings, supermarkets, specialty stores, compost?

[Jaz]

Hi all,

What Aus. acquired soils are you using?

Is there anything decent from Bunnings and chain stores?

Apparently soils for tomatoes will work for cannabis.

The last tomato soil I bought from Bunnings was full of woodchips which I hear will toxify the soil for cannabis.

Tips, techniques, ratios - compost/soil to perlite to coco, etc.

Is there an 'all in one' mix you can pot up and good to go?

Which soil for seedlings vs soil to transplant into.

I remember back in my day, you just bought potting mix and it worked fine but a year or so ago I haven't had much luck. The seedling gets to a certain size then slows right down/stops growing (could be shonky seeds) and I'm willing to give this another crack indoors and then outdoors when the weather fines up.

All advice welcome.

j

 

[Unknown User]

This is what I use:
Perlite from bunnings is ok. Like oldFox says, punch some holes in the bag and wash it . Get rid of the dust.
canna terra professional soil. I get it from my local guy. This soil is very good and worth the $$. i swapped to it after failing with bunnings soils and my crap attempt at watering……i overwatered. Set me back weeks, and caused all sorts of problems.
im sure you can grow it using soil for tomatoes. But as I am a beginner. Good soil make up for all my other mistakes.
you can use it from seedling, all the way through to harvest.
just add nutes during veg and flower.
canna terra professional soil 50kg bag = win.

 

[Billygoat]

Depends on your definition of soil I guess.

I would not class Canna Terra as soil, it is basically an inert medium with a small amount of nutes to get young plants started.

If you want proper soil, check out Easy as organics @Donothing-garden

 

[Jaz]

I would not class Canna Terra as soil, it is basically an inert medium with a small amount of nutes to get young plants started.

If you want proper soil, check out Easy As Organics

Which would you recommend as the best 'no mess, no fuss' application?

j

 

[Billygoat]

Depends on the size of your set up and in or out doors.

 

[Jaz]

Depends on the size of your set up and in or out doors.

I plan a small grow in a 0.6 x 0.6 area; pot(s) outdoors to capture the full sun during the morning/day and indoors under lights at late afternoon/evening during short days.

j

 

[Billygoat]

ahh thats right... you really need to keep it all in one thread. lol.

Water only soil would be nice and easy, but you will need a reasonable pot size (30-50L), making it difficult to move in/outdoors.

 

[Jaz]

ahh thats right... you really need to keep it all in one thread. lol.

I thought it would get too cluttered, of course I may start a grow diary later but my logic for segregating each topic would be for noobs (such as myself, lol) doing a search, if they type in 'soils' say, they can find all the info they need in one thread without having to read about my lights, etc.

I couldn't find a thread on what I was looking for so I started one.



j

 

[Porky]

I thought it would get too cluttered, of course I may start a grow diary later but my logic for segregating each topic would be for noobs (such as myself, lol) doing a search, if they type in 'soils' say, they can find all the info they need in one thread without having to read about my lights, etc.

I couldn't find a thread on what I was looking for so I started one.



j

You can quiet easily make ya own soil from ya local landscape supply place!!
It won't be a living soil like DNG sells but is cheap and easy.

 

[Unknown User]

Depends on your definition of soil I guess.

I would not class Canna Terra as soil, it is basically an inert medium with a small amount of nutes to get young plants started.

If you want proper soil, check out Easy as organics @Donothing-garden

I guess your right. Noob question: as I have to add loads of nutes to canna terra prof. What’s your thoughts on the easy as. do You need to add nutes through a grow or will it produce decent yield without nutes?

 

[Pikey]

Just google "Coots Mix"

 

[Unknown User]

Just google "Coots Mix"

Thanks. Just checked it out. Have you put something like that together? if so did it work out?

 

[Porky]

I guess your right. Noob question: as I have to add loads of nutes to canna terra prof. What’s your thoughts on the easy as. do You need to add nutes through a grow or will it produce decent yield without nutes?

The idea of water only soil is no nutrients are needed for the grow just water.
I've seen some that need additional amendments towards the end of the grow.

 

[Jaz]

You can quiet easily make ya own soil from ya local landscape supply place!!
It won't be a living soil like DNG sells but is cheap and easy.

What do I ask for?

I'm sure if I asked for soil, it's be like walking into a tyre store and asking for a tyre without giving them any specs.

j

 

[Billygoat]

Ask for Bark and turf starter, that is all they will give ya

 

[Pikey]

Thanks. Just checked it out. Have you put something like that together? if so did it work out?

Yeah, it's pretty much what I use in all my grows. I've recently made the switch to pumice + rice hull for aeration over perlite for a couple of reasons. I add some kelp meal, neem & some mixed rock dust. There's lot's of other shit people put in their mixes but I like to keep it pretty basic. If I need to add anything I can always top dress, but I find a dash of Fish&Kelp covers most things for my girls.

The most important part, if you're mixing your own, is the compost / vermicompost that you use. That's where all the nutrition/life will come from for your "soil". If you use shit compost then you'll have shit soil simples. If you don't have access to good quality compost / vermicompost then you're better off buying either it (the compost) or going with a commercial "water only soil". There are 3 or 4 commercially available soils which are basically all a similar modified coots mix, but IMO the better ones are Gro-Dirt and EasyAsOrganics Living Soil. Pretty sure there is a TSE forum discount code for EasyAsOrganics aswell

As @Porky mentioned, whichever option you go with, you will more than likely need to amend the soil in order to see the girls through to graduation day. I'm yet to see an indoor soil that is truely water only

I reuse my mix and just top her up with compost, worm castings and add a bit more aeration to offset.

Here's the mix I made the other day. It's used soil reamended with compost, worm castings, coco, pumice and rice hulls. I added some mycorrhizal powder aswell to give it a boost, as the used soil had dried out a bit more than I would have liked between use. This will sit for another week or so before I plant into it

 

[Porky]

What do I ask for?

I'm sure if I asked for soil, it's be like walking into a tyre store and asking for a tyre without giving them any specs.

j

Veggie mix or anything above that in quality that they have. I have a soilco close buy and I use their gold blend. Used to be good but quality has been down the last few times I've used it.
Put some white shark in for good microbes and it's not bad.

 

[Jaz]

The most important part, if you're mixing your own, is the compost / vermicompost that you use. That's where all the nutrition/life will come from for your "soil". If you use shit compost then you'll have shit soil simples.

I have access to compost but not sure how good it is, what's the rule of thumb, if there's slaters in it then it's healthy?

I have tried it previously and it wasn't that good but admittedly I didn't add in any perlite or coco, which I now have.

j

 

[Unknown User]

Yeah, it's pretty much what I use in all my grows. I've recently made the switch to pumice + rice hull for aeration over perlite for a couple of reasons. I add some kelp meal, neem & some mixed rock dust. There's lot's of other shit people put in their mixes but I like to keep it pretty basic. If I need to add anything I can always top dress, but I find a dash of Fish&Kelp covers most things for my girls.

The most important part, if you're mixing your own, is the compost / vermicompost that you use. That's where all the nutrition/life will come from for your "soil". If you use shit compost then you'll have shit soil simples. If you don't have access to good quality compost / vermicompost then you're better off buying either it (the compost) or going with a commercial "water only soil". There are 3 or 4 commercially available soils which are basically all a similar modified coots mix, but IMO the better ones are Gro-Dirt and EasyAsOrganics Living Soil. Pretty sure there is a TSE forum discount code for EasyAsOrganics aswell

As @Porky mentioned, whichever option you go with, you will more than likely need to amend the soil in order to see the girls through to graduation day. I'm yet to see an indoor soil that is truely water only

I reuse my mix and just top her up with compost, worm castings and add a bit more aeration to offset.

Here's the mix I made the other day. It's used soil reamended with compost, worm castings, coco, pumice and rice hulls. I added some mycorrhizal powder aswell to give it a boost, as the used soil had dried out a bit more than I would have liked between use. This will sit for another week or so before I plant into it

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That’s some good info. Thankyou for taking the time to explain it. It looks like a great mix. It is something I tried I initially, but I didn’t get it quite right. Will take my time next time and get the right ingredients. I am going to run both soil and a coco setup to see which one feels right for me.

 

[Pikey]

Veggie mix or anything above that in quality that they have. I have a soilco close buy and I use their gold blend. Used to be good but quality has been down the last few times I've used it.

I was talking to someone in the industry the other day and apparently a lot of "big soil" applied for (and got) exemptions during covid in relation to standards and certification.

Due to demand and bulk transport being effected, there was (I'm told) much more shit going into their soils/potting mixes. A lot more chipped pine (of some questionable sources to say the least) and "only just" composted garden waste. I noticed it myself in some of the Rocky Point gear and even some of the Searles (who apparently did not apply for exemptions) stuff was putrid shit that made me question the quality of their products