Outdoor grow 2017 !!

Hey all !! May 1st and seeds are at customs in NYC !! I've already began digging holes and collecting my nutrients and compost! I went to the grow shop yesterday and priced out how much subcools super soil would cost me to create 500 dollars! But that does include 40cuft of soil. I would like a half a pound per plant or more... I'm planing on digging 3x3 holes about 20-24 inches deep. I was able to have a buddy bring me a truck load of compost from his local farm but I still don't think that will be enough soil... We Are doing 15 plants this summer
5 white widow
5 blueberry
5 critical kush.
I would like to maximize my quality and Also yield because we have a baby on the way And having a good supply when the baby is here is gonna be a real life saver ! Lol
So my question is would it be easier to use compost and then add a few bags of organic soil and also a bag or so of cow manure ? What if I went and got dirt from a corn field? I really don't want to spend 500 dollars on my soil but ik money has to be spent to get a pound per plant... any help would be appreciated! Thank you !

So I guess my options are
A. I buy the super soil mix from my local grow store for 547 dollars
B. I buy the fertilizers for 250-300 not including the soil then use soil from corn field with added nutrients and perlite and also cow manure also would add compost!
C. Use fresh compost from organic fruit farm and add nutrients but would have to add extra soil from ground.

Cant wait to see those things.

It would be much cheaper to use like a 50/50 mix of manure and peat moss bails are super cheap along with a big bag of manure. Throw in a box of bone meal blood meal, and some others like alfalfa meal, worm castings etc. and still would be half the cost or less then the super soil

Corn field dirt will get compact and hard which isn't good for root growth. They will still grow in it but certainly not the best to grow in. I'd run with what DankBudzzz said.

So today I was able to get another truck load of compost ! The compost is very dark and earthy I will get some pics tomorrow ! But I crossed the corn field dirt off my list and now am thinking of getting a few bales of peat moss and coco then mixing in composted cow manure then the compost worm castings blood meal bone meal and a few other essentials! I would like to keep this cheap but ik you gotta spend money to make money ! And man would I love to get a pound or two a plant ! I am willing to put in the work just wish I had the money to back it

Aim for a half pound, it's not easy to get a pound or two without everything dialed in

DankBudzzz said:

Aim for a half pound, it's not easy to get a pound or two without everything dialed in

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Yep thats for sure

Zbud94 said:

Hey all !! May 1st and seeds are at customs in NYC !! I've already began digging holes and collecting my nutrients and compost! I went to the grow shop yesterday and priced out how much subcools super soil would cost me to create 500 dollars! But that does include 40cuft of soil. I would like a half a pound per plant or more... I'm planing on digging 3x3 holes about 20-24 inches deep. I was able to have a buddy bring me a truck load of compost from his local farm but I still don't think that will be enough soil... We Are doing 15 plants this summer
5 white widow
5 blueberry
5 critical kush.
I would like to maximize my quality and Also yield because we have a baby on the way And having a good supply when the baby is here is gonna be a real life saver ! Lol
So my question is would it be easier to use compost and then add a few bags of organic soil and also a bag or so of cow manure ? What if I went and got dirt from a corn field? I really don't want to spend 500 dollars on my soil but ik money has to be spent to get a pound per plant... any help would be appreciated! Thank you !

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Those are big holes. And assuming you take care of your stuff right and most of those survive to maturity, a half pound would be easy... At the same time stuff can go wrong. Huge rainstorms or rippers, hail, mold and drought could all reduce your crop

15 plants in a 3x3x2 hole? That's a lot of dirt. If I were you I'd mix up native soil (test pH) and supplement with your compost and cheap granular fertilizer.

For example I was looking at pulling about 2-4 lbs from 13 plants last year before I got ripped late in the season. So out of 15 original plants I had 13 females (2 were male) and all were in good shape. Just 5 gallon buckets too yours would get a lot bigger in the 3x3 holes.

Got my seeds in today !! Super happy about that ! I changed my mind a bit and germinated all of the seeds I bought... 36 seeds!!!! Now I doubt all 36 seeds will germinate and 6 of them are AutoFlowering. But still 30 plants!! Went and bought 4 bags of sunshine advanced mix #4 3.0 cubic feet so 12 cubic feet of that and now two rick loads of compost ! Will be adding another bag or two of perlite as well ! Planning on using vermicrop top dressing fertilizers throughout the grow this year and also top dress with other key nutrients.

Do you have gophers? Be careful putting girls straight in the ground without any protection. If you want to pull the most weight possible smart pots are the way to go; I see you're on a strict budget but it's worth it in the end.

oldwatershoes said:

Do you have gophers? Be careful putting girls straight in the ground without any protection. If you want to pull the most weight possible smart pots are the way to go; I see you're on a strict budget but it's worth it in the end.

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That's currently my biggest concern. The area I had planned to put my girls, backyard garden, has a gopher that's been eating my veggies. If I can't get the gopher issue under control, I'm going above ground in smart pots...even if it costs more in the long run, I'm not going to lose all the time and effort to a little bastard rodent.

socaljoe said:

That's currently my biggest concern. The area I had planned to put my girls, backyard garden, has a gopher that's been eating my veggies. If I can't get the gopher issue under control, I'm going above ground in smart pots...even if it costs more in the long run, I'm not going to lose all the time and effort to a little bastard rodent.

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Can still use mesh at the bottom of your hole and sides if u have to grow in the ground

oldwatershoes said:

Do you have gophers? Be careful putting girls straight in the ground without any protection. If you want to pull the most weight possible smart pots are the way to go; I see you're on a strict budget but it's worth it in the end.

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How big of smart pots would I have to go ?

I can take care of any rodent problem lol

ruby fruit said:

Can still use mesh at the bottom of your hole and sides if u have to grow in the ground

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Yessir, that's one of a handful of plans. Fortunately, I have plenty of time to get it figured out. I dug back the tunnel network and placed spring traps, so I'm hoping to have good results tonight.

So I have an issue !! The weather is going to be very poor the next week or so ! What should I do ? I was planning on building a small greenhouse say 4 feet long by 2 feet wide ! Then I have a heating mat. Would that be warm enough for the plants to grow without being stressed to much ?

Zbud94 said:

I can take care of any rodent problem lol

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Caught this guy in a trap tonight and my dog finished it off.

This morning I took the seeds out of the paper towels covered by paper plates to act as a humidity dome. All but two of the 31 seeds germinated in less than 48 hours ! I placed them in the xl seedling trays with seedling medium I made myself using coco and perlite as my base! I place all the seeds A little deeper than a 1/4 of an inch. I then built a 2x4 foot hoop style greenhouse with my 2x4 foot heating mat inside ! I waited almost an hour to se how warm it would get in there and it's easily 20 degrees warmer ! Perfect cause it's only 49 out right now... gonna check on them Sunday hopefully all have sprouted !