anyone use roots organics? or other soiless or soil mixes?

heya, this is my second run in soil.
growing from seed, 400 watt mh/hps. 40x40x70 grow tent.
promix potting soil

my question is, i want to get better soil. i am thinking about getting roots organic bag

everything i find about these products, and the cocoa fiber mediums i am also interested in, i cant find anything about feedings. they all mention composts and teas.
i want to know if i can either mix the cocoa fiber with the promix, or should i use the roots organics? and if i do use the roots, do i use my regular nutrients? getting the fox farms 3 pack
can i use the roots organics, just like regular potting soil? meaning, split the bag between my 3 gallon grow bags, transplant my sexed females into them, then after about 2 weeks start the normal feeding shcedule. 3 ml grow, 3 ml bloom, 2 ml tiger, whatever. or do the roots/ cocoa stuff require dry nutrients ie compost?

cocoa peat
also as this is a block i am assuming i would have to tear it up and mix it with, soil? roots organics?

Roots is great with the Fox farm line just make sure you mix in about 2tbsp of dolomite as it has a relatively low PH

2 tsp per what? gallon? 1.5 cfoot bag? and since i dont have any nor have the moolah for it, will they do ok without the lime?

I did 2 tbsp per 7 gallon pot but you could do more if you wanted. They will most likely be OK without but will show a little PH stress as runoff was 5.1 PH for the first few waterings when I tried without dolomite

what are the benefits of using the roots organic, opposed to normal potting soil?

I switched from FF and the only real advantages are the absence of fungus gnats(why i switched) and WAY lower price, other than that pretty similar growth and nute requirements

harrycarey said:

i switched from ff and the only real advantages are the absence of fungus gnats(why i switched) and way lower price, other than that pretty similar growth and nute requirements

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.... Yep!!......

so if i liked the way things worked out with the pro mix, no gnats/bugs/fungus. just needed to mix in something for drainage. considering this im thinkin i should save the 40 bucks. and just use the same medium. also this will give me another chance to learn more about soil

playsand is good if you're looking for drainage. promix also makes a product called promix hp (high porosity) that is higher drainage than their regular product.

if you're mixing coco into soilless, wet the coco block down by itself and then add the soilless - better mixage that way. (although i *am wondering why you would want to add a water retention product when you're talking about needing better drainage?)

feed-wise, go with what you're comfortable with for now. if you want to start adding 'dry' amendments to your mix, my personal advice is to start one at a time - that way you can get a feel for what sort of effect that particular additive has on your final product.

or just add some perlite for extra drainage. or some coco. both are lighter than peat.

if you're mixing coco into soilless, wet the coco block down by itself and then add the soilless - better mixage that way. (although i *am wondering why you would want to add a water retention product when you're talking about needing better drainage?)

ah now im gertting answers i need. i wasnt sure what the benefits of the cocopeatr were. if it is soley for watewr retetion thne that is useless to me. i was under the impression it was a growth medium itself. like i soak the block then mash rip whatever, then plant a seedling into the cocopeat. i didnt realise it was more of a supplement. thanks mellokitty.

well, in a word, it can be used on its own as a medium, but i think you'd be better off asking someone that knows about that, i'm married to dirt and have only experimented with it as an amendment. coco definitely has *better drainage than peat (which would lend itself better as a stand-alone medium than sphagnum), but it wouldn't be my first choice as a drainage amendment.

when you say you want "better" soil, what specific qualities do you have in mind?

justr quality soil. im using the pro mix above, no real problems, i just thought i would see if there were any out there that were reasonably priced, but also better for growing herb. think im just gonna run what i have, and get 1 bag of roots, just to do a side by side.

well, i've never used fox farm, so i can't speak about that, but i really never noticed a difference between sphagnum-based potting mixes (except $$). unless you're using a potting mix with an added nutrient booster, the difference is going to be in your liquid ferts, feeding schedule/habits, etc. etc.
that said, a cautionary note about using nute-boosted potting mixes (and i have heard this about ff specifically as well): if you don't have a solid understanding of both the nute-boost AND your liquid ferts, they can interact badly and cause problems like overfeeding and lockout. which is why a lot of growers i know opt for the inert potting mix over the boosted ones. BUT there's also a difference between having added nutrients and added beneficials (some promix products have added mycorrhizae, for instance). nutes may or may not interact with your liquid ferts, beneficial fungi like myco encourage nutrient uptake in the roots.

i loooove side-by-side experiments. so much fun.

so theoretically, if i bought the el cheapo soil, added vemeculite/perlite whatever, it would support healthy plant growth? i am using nutes, so i just need the soil to keep them going for about 2 weeks right, regular bag soil would work, and i would then be starting with a blank slate as far as nutes go. since the others already had nutes or something, i started the regular nute feeding, but they got over fed, had to wait untill week 4 of veg to safely add nutes without thenm getting burt/
i digress, so cheapo soil+ my nutes+ perlite= good soil?

mellokitty said:

well, in a word, it can be used on its own as a medium, but i think you'd be better off asking someone that knows about that, i'm married to dirt and have only experimented with it as an amendment. coco definitely has *better drainage than peat (which would lend itself better as a stand-alone medium than sphagnum), but it wouldn't be my first choice as a drainage amendment.

when you say you want "better" soil, what specific qualities do you have in mind?

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The coco croutons work very similar to perlite, with some extra moisture retention and it also holds onto nutrients a bit better as well.

convict156326 said:

so theoretically, if i bought the el cheapo soil, added vemeculite/perlite whatever, it would support healthy plant growth? i am using nutes, so i just need the soil to keep them going for about 2 weeks right, regular bag soil would work, and i would then be starting with a blank slate as far as nutes go. since the others already had nutes or something, i started the regular nute feeding, but they got over fed, had to wait untill week 4 of veg to safely add nutes without thenm getting burt/
i digress, so cheapo soil+ my nutes+ perlite= good soil?

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Cheapo soil+nutes+perlite=potential for all kinds of problems(PH, bugs, nute burn, pathogens,shitty moisture characteristics) and the odds are NOT a very good end product.

Roots is good

Pro mix is good

Some easy things you can add to make them better is perlite, worm castings, dolomite, bat guano's. It is pretty hard to mess up a good soil with those too unlike liquid ferts where you can throw your whole soil ecosystem out of balance.

I do not think there is a optimal "soil" for growing cannabis that comes straight out of a bag. They all need some tweaking IMO. And that either comes from ammending the soil or adding nutrients or both (which is really the tricky part and so many run into trouble)

http://www.everwoodfarm.com/Prodview.asp?idProduct=587

This is what I have been using as my base have been very pleased so far. Nice clean consistent product with no bug and lots of beneficials. All of the root growth I've seen has been very impressive(I am using it for a variety of plant species)

Wolverine97 said:

The coco croutons work very similar to perlite, with some extra moisture retention and it also holds onto nutrients a bit better as well.

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it comes in croutons? the only coco i've ever encountered looked like really light coloured coffee grounds...

convict156326 said:

2 tsp per what? gallon? 1.5 cfoot bag? and since i dont have any nor have the moolah for it, will they do ok without the lime?

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You will probably have pH and cal/mag issues without the lime, especially pH.

2TBL/gallon of mix, or 1cup/CuFt of mix.

Cost is ~$5/40#bag at Lowes. How much cheaper can you get?

It needs to be added to any peat based mix, Roots or ProMix, just about any of them.

Wet