promix vs soil

Was using Kellogg soil.

pro-mix is kool kool but ive grown to adore sunshine mix #4.

infdjedi said:

I am in the midst of trying a 40% promix HP-CC 60% fox farms ocean forest and the results are fantastic so far. I did add quite a bit of perlite though because I like my pots to dry out rather quickly. Heres the entire recipe:

40% pro mix
50% ocean forest
10% perlite
+ 1 tbl soil sweetner (dolomite lime) for every gallon of finished soil.

Reasoning is I love ocean forest but at times it can be to hot, low ph, and doesnt dry out fast enough. With the amendments things seem to be perfect right now. lush green veg after about a month of 18/6.

Obviously I will have to feed them sooner but I don't have a problem with that at all.

Click to expand...

IMHO its chunky p or nothing at all for these base soils and pro mix's, i'd also rec a cover crop or a nitrogen fixer to companion plant with in pro-mix, like a clover

@VTMi'kmaq Interesting. How much biologically unavailable nitrogen do you think is in promix? Are you planting clover, let it run its life cycle, then planting your clones/seeds? Why wouldn't you just supplement with organic N?

I use a 50/50 mix of Pro-Mix and soil. Went there after trying organic indoor which was a pain in the ass, mess and full of bugs. Haven't seen a bug in my grow rooms since I switched to this mix. I supplement feeds as the soil nutes don't last long. But it's a great medium, no packing, good water retention, builds a great root system, particularly in fabric pots.

So what everyone is saying useing nutrients out of a bottle on soil has zero positive impact on your yield?

Some folks do have issue's with bugs, ive been blessed so far. To awenser your question as well as i can jedi, I assume pro-mix has shit for nitrogen, also the strains i grow as of late LOVE NITROGEN! I have used flax, and clover in an attempt to see which works best to have as a fixer of nitrogen, i figure not only will they fix the soil at the end of life but during there life cycle the symbiotic realtionship between clover,chamomile, nettels etc i have found for myself to be HELPING during the plant lifecycle, i dont fully understand the whole process though, i go in with a plan to experiment with, tis how i learn.

I Have used promix lots before ,all types of promix , its a great starter soil and a perfect base soil
Bit like anything else commercially available its not sterile so issues can and will arrise gnats etc
when i used promix HP as a base i would also use Sheep manure , sand , sea compost it worked really well for beginning of veg and half way where i started adding chem nutes
down fall of promix is 99 percent of the time you will encounter PH fluctuations and massivee salt build up and this usually occurs 2nd - 4th week of flower hence the threads whats wrong with my plants 3rd week of flower lol
To combat this and only way is last week of veg transplant into bigger pot with new soil
then your golden
As for using soil its user preference to say your going to yield more is utter Bull shit if that was the case then study after study would say organic grown is out yielding conventional ..
Truth is its not nor never will beat conventional ..
But i would say this its much easier buying couple yards of screened top soil
and put a yard into a wooden box and start throwing in all your veggie table scraps fall leaf fall etc, grass clippings , and coffee grinds , even ashes and charcoal from it within couple months your going to have a soil that will take you from start to finish
I Experimented this year
instead of purchasing all the amendment crazes you here on mj sites i went with and used the KISS approach

40 percent top soil
40 percent compost
10 percent grass clippings
5 percent live worms
5 percent chipped cardboard
And let me tell you folks no feedings only rain water plant is 5 months old mofo did she grow presently 5- 6th week of flower and fadding started but still not one fucking drop of nutrients ..
only thing i did was add 2 times grass clippings as a mulch on top of soil
this my friends is the bomb plant and walk away
will be using exact same soil for my 3 monster cropped clones indoor which will veg indoor until next spring where they go out side

Darth Vapour said:

I Have used promix lots before ,all types of promix , its a great starter soil and a perfect base soil
Bit like anything else commercially available its not sterile so issues can and will arrise gnats etc
when i used promix HP as a base i would also use Sheep manure , sand , sea compost it worked really well for beginning of veg and half way where i started adding chem nutes
down fall of promix is 99 percent of the time you will encounter PH fluctuations and massivee salt build up and this usually occurs 2nd - 4th week of flower hence the threads whats wrong with my plants 3rd week of flower lol
To combat this and only way is last week of veg transplant into bigger pot with new soil
then your golden
As for using soil its user preference to say your going to yield more is utter Bull shit if that was the case then study after study would say organic grown is out yielding conventional ..
Truth is its not nor never will beat conventional ..
But i would say this its much easier buying couple yards of screened top soil
and put a yard into a wooden box and start throwing in all your veggie table scraps fall leaf fall etc, grass clippings , and coffee grinds , even ashes and charcoal from it within couple months your going to have a soil that will take you from start to finish
I Experimented this year
instead of purchasing all the amendment crazes you here on mj sites i went with View attachment 3521225 View attachment 3521226 View attachment 3521227 View attachment 3521228 View attachment 3521232 and used the KISS approach

40 percent top soil
40 percent compost
10 percent grass clippings
5 percent live worms
5 percent chipped cardboard
And let me tell you folks no feedings only rain water plant is 5 months old mofo did she grow presently 5- 6th week of flower and fadding started but still not one fucking drop of nutrients ..
only thing i did was add 2 times grass clippings as a mulch on top of soil
this my friends is the bomb plant and walk away
will be using exact same soil for my 3 monster cropped clones indoor which will veg indoor until next spring where they go out side

Click to expand...

how long has that plant been flowering?

SOIL MIXING MUSIC....ENJOY

MrStickyScissors said:

how long has that plant been flowering?

Click to expand...

it started flowering 1st week of sept 8 - 9 week strain she is staying out to end of oct maybe week into NOV took a branch off lower plant to just give it a test and shes looking good mind you i am north of the 60th parallel and temps have been shit - 4 to18 degrees C

I use Promix as a base for super soil. I also use it in my worm bin and compost pile.

When promix dries out it becomes very hard to water. The water rolls across the top and down the sides of the container. Cloth pots help with this a little.

Mohican said:

I use Promix as a base for super soil. I also use it in my worm bin and compost pile.

When promix dries out it becomes very hard to water. The water rolls across the top and down the sides of the container. Cloth pots help with this a little.

Click to expand...

I'm going to stick with my soil. If I decide to go to hydro I will run flood and drain with hydroton rock

Darth Vapour said:

I Have used promix lots before ,all types of promix , its a great starter soil and a perfect base soil
Bit like anything else commercially available its not sterile so issues can and will arrise gnats etc
when i used promix HP as a base i would also use Sheep manure , sand , sea compost it worked really well for beginning of veg and half way where i started adding chem nutes
down fall of promix is 99 percent of the time you will encounter PH fluctuations and massivee salt build up and this usually occurs 2nd - 4th week of flower hence the threads whats wrong with my plants 3rd week of flower lol
To combat this and only way is last week of veg transplant into bigger pot with new soil
then your golden
As for using soil its user preference to say your going to yield more is utter Bull shit if that was the case then study after study would say organic grown is out yielding conventional ..
Truth is its not nor never will beat conventional ..
But i would say this its much easier buying couple yards of screened top soil
and put a yard into a wooden box and start throwing in all your veggie table scraps fall leaf fall etc, grass clippings , and coffee grinds , even ashes and charcoal from it within couple months your going to have a soil that will take you from start to finish
I Experimented this year
instead of purchasing all the amendment crazes you here on mj sites i went with View attachment 3521225 View attachment 3521226 View attachment 3521227 View attachment 3521228 View attachment 3521232 and used the KISS approach

40 percent top soil
40 percent compost
10 percent grass clippings
5 percent live worms
5 percent chipped cardboard
And let me tell you folks no feedings only rain water plant is 5 months old mofo did she grow presently 5- 6th week of flower and fadding started but still not one fucking drop of nutrients ..
only thing i did was add 2 times grass clippings as a mulch on top of soil
this my friends is the bomb plant and walk away
will be using exact same soil for my 3 monster cropped clones indoor which will veg indoor until next spring where they go out side

Click to expand...

Nice plant. Nice old-school method. That said...if YOU had PH issues 99% of the time when you used the Promix, it wasn't caused because of the Promix. I read FAR more PH complaints and worries from non-Promix users here. Which makes sense as most Promix users are not trying to balance 20 other additives.while they are starting with s consistantly neutral product.
YOU having a salt build-up problem also is not the fault of the medium. Not much to build up when you feed 1/2 tsp per gallon and water to run-off (dumping run-off) every water...while mixing in water-only waterings not to mention finishing the last 20-30 days with water only. In any case, salt build up has never been a problem for me.
As to the rest, you probably spent more time cutting up cardboard than I do adding my 1 fert the whole grow...so no...not easier either.

bravedave said:

Nice plant. Nice old-school method. That said...if YOU had PH issues 99% of the time when you used the Promix, it wasn't caused because of the Promix. I read FAR more PH complaints and worries from non-Promix users here. Which makes sense as most Promix users are not trying to balance 20 other additives.while they are starting with s consistantly neutral product.
YOU having a salt build-up problem also is not the fault of the medium. Not much to build up when you feed 1/2 tsp per gallon and water to run-off (dumping run-off) every water...while mixing in water-only waterings not to mention finishing the last 20-30 days with water only. In any case, salt build up has never been a problem for me.
As to the rest, you probably spent more time cutting up cardboard than I do adding my 1 fert the whole grow...so no...not easier either.

Click to expand...

I used to be a bat guano cowboy, and used pro-mix like it was freestuff, i was WAYYY too heavy handed with the tea's, kelp meal, high p guanos etc that i had lockout and salt build-up issue's, i find it finda funny how easily i stray from things i know work when i'm on a tangent or working in my garden with other things on my mind. Been using sunshine #4 and i'm happy.

Mohican said:

I use Promix as a base for super soil. I also use it in my worm bin and compost pile.

When promix dries out it becomes very hard to water. The water rolls across the top and down the sides of the container. Cloth pots help with this a little.

Click to expand...

I have a back scratcher tool that I use between waterings or before watering that I loosen the top with that eliminates the problem you describe. I also water with a sprayer most the time. That is slower but also eliminates pooling and "rolling". Of course, this is doable/feasible when you have a small number off plants.

• Dries out more frequently than general purpose, peat‑based mixes
• Well suited for low-light growing conditions and high humidity
• Less difficult to overwater crops
• Reduces incidence of water related problems (root diseases, algae and fungus gnats)
• Holds less water for improved leaching of fertilizer salts during crop cycle

this is from promix website, please notice the last one listed.
ALSO, you should never let your soil fully dry out, that solves the other issues. especially if organic, fungus and bacteria don't thrive in dry soil. how many people think they have an organic soil, then let it fully dry before watering, then wonder why it didn't work or faded to early?

Mohican said:

I use Promix as a base for super soil. I also use it in my worm bin and compost pile.

When promix dries out it becomes very hard to water. The water rolls across the top and down the sides of the container. Cloth pots help with this a little.

Click to expand...

Best way to water is slowly and small amounts. It gives time for the top to absorb the water. I created a small pool on top and wait a couple minutes before watering.

I keep doing that for about 1/3 of watering. It takes longer, but ensures more even moistness.

chuck estevez said:

• Dries out more frequently than general purpose, peat‑based mixes
• Well suited for low-light growing conditions and high humidity
• Less difficult to overwater crops
• Reduces incidence of water related problems (root diseases, algae and fungus gnats)
• Holds less water for improved leaching of fertilizer salts during crop cycle

this is from promix website, please notice the last one listed.
ALSO, you should never let your soil fully dry out, that solves the other issues. especially if organic, fungus and bacteria don't thrive in dry soil. how many people think they have an organic soil, then let it fully dry before watering, then wonder why it didn't work or faded to early?

Click to expand...

Bacteria and fungi can survive dry conditions. They create a film in the pockets of soil and can access the small molecules of water present in organic matter.