How much growing medium will I need ?

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
Hi I have 18 autoflowering plants. I have them germinating in rooting plugs at the moment(day 2) I was intending on planting them all outside and was going to dig holes 2feet by 2 feet then fill with a mix of perlite. coco fiber and worm castings ( and anything else you guys recommend!) I'm trying to figure out how much perlite coco and castings I will need for 18 2x2 holes thanks ! Any help is appreciated
 

drekoushranada

Well-Known Member
It should be around 8 gallons of soil per hole. Which is a bit over a cubic foot of soil per hole. That gives you around 144 gallons of soil or 19.2 cubic feet. I would just mix up a cubic yard and call it a day just to be safe. Hope my math is correct and I helped you a bit.
 

drekoushranada

Well-Known Member
Will you be amending your base with anything and also is there any particular reason you chose coco coir over sphagnum peat moss? I'm new to organics but I have learned a ton over time.
 

TerpCylia

Member
Planting directly in the ground can be tricky when trying to added mixed soil/soil-less media to it....

The key is to match the water absorbency/density/consistency of the soil you are planting in...

That being said there are a lot of right ways to do it. I would suggest raised beds first to give you a little better retention and isolation for your root/nute zone... but either way don't add too much perlite(<25%)

2 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft = 8 ft cubed

8 cubic feet x 7.5 gal/1cf = 60 gal per hole.

Mix Recipe: per cubic ft

3/4 cf organic SOIL(not peatmoss or coco)
1/4 cf organic earthworm casting(sometimes you can find this mixed in your bought soil^)
1 cup DTE BIO-LIVE (also dust the transplant hole with this for direct contact with roots)
1/2 cup DTE bat guano 9-3-1
1/2 cup DTE seabird guano 0-11-0


feed with fresh brewed compost tea every week and towards the end of flower use DTE Liquid Kelp&Potash 0-0-8 to boost flower production.
 

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
I choose coco because of the nutrual ph balance 5.8-6.8 ( I believe). On amazon I found 100L of perlite for 38 dollars and 11 pound bricks of coco fiber for I wanna 15 dollars. Then the 15 pound bag of worm castings for like 20 I was also thinking about throwing in some happy frog a few bags of that and some bat guano. Then use fox farm nutrients trio.
 

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
Do you think I could take a shortcut and use a cheaper organic soil with the right amount of nutrients ? Then add the coco worm castings and perlite ? It seems like I'm going to need alot of growing medium for this grow
 

personal lux

Well-Known Member
Hi I have 18 autoflowering plants. I have them germinating in rooting plugs at the moment(day 2) I was intending on planting them all outside and was going to dig holes 2feet by 2 feet then fill with a mix of perlite. coco fiber and worm castings ( and anything else you guys recommend!) I'm trying to figure out how much perlite coco and castings I will need for 18 2x2 holes thanks ! Any help is appreciated
A 2x2x2 ft hole is 8cubic ft exactly or about 60 gallons. to me thats a big ass plants hole. For autoflowers you should stay around the 5 gallon range id say. Save yourself cash for now and run something balanced like maxsea 20-20-20 with a good AACT tea once a week. sunshine advanced #4 is a great soilless mix with added myco and dolomite lime for PH stability.
 

Rev.thenatural

Well-Known Member
My brother, what area are you growing in or should I say: what type soil does the local ground your digging in contain? High clay, silt, sandy? Allot of times contrary to belief, if what your digging is even decent soil and has not had any or much chemical spraying, you can take a little time to mend it and use the very soil that your digging out of your holes. Takes a little time, but saves money and does a fine job as it doesn't sound like you have a compost pile right now. Simply take dirt you've dug out and remove any old roots or debris that is in it. Take then and mend it with 25% perilite and throw some worm poo in. Try to find worm poo that the worms have been fed something more than paper if possible but don't sweat it. Then if you have some places in town that will give you fruit scraps, throw some down in the the whole "banana peels apple cores, pears, even pumpkin seeds are wonderful " and feed with unsulfured molasses when you can. Helps save money and better all around if no compost pile. Will feed beautifully and produce wonderful healing meds, without emptying your pocket to buy someone else's ride. One love, rev.thenatural
 
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