Need help with soil.. to filler or not to filler.

I have One bag of ff ocean forest that fills my 3 five gallon buckets 3/4 of the way. Should i buy more ff ocean forest or should i add a compost filler of some sort. Any suggestions? Its outdoor. Also i was going to put a thin layer of gravel at the bottom for drainage, is this ok or will the holes suffice?

singlemost said:

I have One bag of ff ocean forest that fills my 3 five gallon buckets 3/4 of the way. Should i buy more ff ocean forest or should i add a compost filler of some sort. Any suggestions? Its outdoor. Also i was going to put a thin layer of gravel at the bottom for drainage, is this ok or will the holes suffice?

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If your going to be watering with ph and nutrient you might want to leave a little room so it will hold the water and not run out everywhere. I wouldnt put worm casting or bat shit attracts bugs. why 5 gallons? if your starting this month I would wait and use 10 gallons. a bag of Oceans forest is what like 14.00. way worth the extra couple bags. buy a bag of perlite and mix it in your soil

I'd go with a good compost mixture. I mean if you have access to old compost, like at least 10 years, USE IT

but if you don't, you could get some happy frog or black gold soil to mix in

Why not make a tea of some kind?

Id just mix with some perlite, and gravel in the bottom helps with drainage

compost is a nice organic additive to the soil and it feeds the plants naturally. as far as the gravel in the bottom thats really only if you have really soggy soil or if your planting in the ground and want to make sure theres a place for the water to "run off"

stay high

The reason i am using 5 gallons is a space issue. when these get big i want them to be able to spread out and get enough sun. believe me.. 10 gallon would be my choice if not. Plus id be happy with getting around 4 oz a plant which is what i hear you get with the 5 gallons and proper nutes + strain( 2x blue dream, cotton candy kush).

I think im going with the perlite idea. Im going to have a thin layer at the bottom and do 20% mix leaving a inch between the soil and the rim. does miracle grows perlite have anything additional to it i should be concerned about?

Weedoozie said:

I'd go with a good compost mixture. I mean if you have access to old compost, like at least 10 years, USE IT

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10 year old compost what the hell are you talking about its not wine

fill them as much as you can. dont worry about it overflowing. use worm casting,compost and guanos to your hearts content they will not attract anything non beneficial. worm castings is one of the best things to add to your soil. sorry mr stickyfingers your wrong on that one. it will make your soil healthier and able to resist attacks from many diseases. the same with guanos dont worry about them attracting bugs. but he is right go with something over 5 to get full potential out of your plants. compost is a very good choice. if you can do it add 20% good compost,cup or two castings and a few dashes of high n bat guano and you soil will rock. im not to familliar with ocean forest but it probly contains guanos and castings anyhow.

i always add extra pearlight to keep my soil nice and loose

the ff ocean forest soil has prefect ph.. do castings mess with the ph?

not a bit. im betting if its a complete grow soil it already contains them. if not use them they are super beneficial. look them up on a site that explaind the benefits of them. attracting bugs is not one of them they attract beneficial microorganizms in the soil that help fight disease. and they contain many micronutrients. good luck.

It does in fact have all that good stuff in the soil already but couldn't hurt to put more right?