Auto flower and soil help???

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ozzyfullnewbie

Member
Hey guys, I'm in south Australia and am trynna grow for the first time.

I chose auto flowering to get a quick result, so I'd like some opinions on that?

But my main question here is soil..... I only have one local landscape supplier and they have either loam and chicken manure or loam and mushroom compost, wondering which is best and what I should add to it? All these American and British products are confusing me to be honest :/

If anyone could help with anything to do with this would be greatly appreciated :)


Cheers guys n gals
 
Zspy1985

Zspy1985

Well-Known Member
ozzyfullnewbie said:
Will do

Is fox farm available in Aus?
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I ordered my entire grow from Amazon but the seeds. But I highly suggest you try local first ...I made a $70 mistake of buying both Fox Farm soils at almost double the price on Amazon while local hydro store had it for $20 a bag!!! :wall:
 
Zspy1985

Zspy1985

Well-Known Member
As for autos I was in the same boat. First time growing and I'm on week 7 this Saturday and I'm loving it!

I started with 9 seeds and down to 7 plants. 1 didn't flip in the Rapid Rooter and the 2nd was a dude....had to go LOL.

They are pretty much filling up my entire 4x4 and could fit a couple more but I feel its already crowded.

Another thing with Autos is that they work on a different time schedule. Unlike a photosensitive plant that flowers when you switch the light to a 12 on 12 off schedule while a Auto will flower on its own. I chose a 24 hour non stop schedule during veg and when like 5 of the 7 plants started to flower I swapped my bulb and used a timer for a 18/6 schedule.

Also you can grow an entire tent of veggies and flowers under one light with autos... Aka perpetual growing ..FTW!
 
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ozzyfullnewbie

Member
Haha yeah I had a geez at your journal, they look hell nice man! I'd be proud


I'm going for a FULL outdoor grow in the veggie patch with mine tho, get in much much more trouble if under lights over here :(

So it's just a big experiment at the moment, got 3 lowryders seeds only a week in, all went "leggy" so I repotted, covering most of the stem but one burnt so I had to cover right up to cotyledons and just praying she lives!!!

Got some different seeds on the way though, autoflower still but all different strains as an experiment.... I JUST WANT "FREE" WEEEEED haha plus tho rather stressful it is also a heap of fun so far :)
 
Zspy1985

Zspy1985

Well-Known Member
The most stressful was the first few days waiting for the sprouts!! I was freaking that they didnt germ right!

As for an outdoor auto I can only dream till I build an outdoor micro green house or something. I'm renting my home and we have a rather small back yard. Plus dealing with the cold in a garage is enough of a hassle...outdoors right now is way too cold for me in Cali.

Plus living in Cali ...growing outside and someone is likely to pluck my plant ..regardless of my security system.
 
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ozzyfullnewbie

Member
Yeh, I chucked mine in water til the tap roots came out (no more then 32 hrs) so I knew they were germed then into jiffy pots

Yeah, we rent too, but pretty good landlords with bugger all inspections n stuff and there in pots in the veggie garden so there easy to move

Haha yeah, I don't know anyone where I live so I'd be surprised if they got pinched
 
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Nookies

Well-Known Member
Ordering big bags of soil will absolutely ass plow you via shipping costs, especially to AUS. Even though Fox Farms is good and highly praised it honestly isn't needed. Any decent quality local soil that can grow tomatoes good can grow cannabis.

However there's a few things you could do.

Order compacted coco coir bricks online. They are light weight which means shipping won't hurt too much.

Go hydro

Or just go to your local garden supply and see what they have. They'll most likely have big bags of compost, worm castings,etc. See what all they have and make a note of it. Then look up how to make your own soil on this site. Hopefully the items that weigh the most can be purchased locally. The smaller things like 5lb bags of bat guano can then be purchased online. They should carry the most common things (worm castings,etc) which fortunately is what'd you need most of and just hit up Amazon or other online hydro stores for the rest.

Of course if money or shipping costs doesn't mean much then just go with Fox Farms ocean forest and cut it with a bit of happy frog. I've seen people go from seed to harvest without ever needing to fertilizer using that soil.
 
Zspy1985

Zspy1985

Well-Known Member
Super soil! Yeah I basically got a bag called Recipe 420 that has everything you need to feed your plants. Making it easy to not have to mess with nutes.

If I could make the stuff for under $40 and cover 6 plants I would switch and learn on my own. Till then I am going to have my local store order it for me.

See if your local place can order on the cheap.
 
O

ozzyfullnewbie

Member
Nookies said:
Ordering big bags of soil will absolutely ass plow you via shipping costs, especially to AUS. Even though Fox Farms is good and highly praised it honestly isn't needed. Any decent quality local soil that can grow tomatoes good can grow cannabis.

However there's a few things you could do.

Order compacted coco coir bricks online. They are light weight which means shipping won't hurt too much.

Go hydro

Or just go to your local garden supply and see what they have. They'll most likely have big bags of compost, worm castings,etc. See what all they have and make a note of it. Then look up how to make your own soil on this site. Hopefully the items that weigh the most can be purchased locally. The smaller things like 5lb bags of bat guano can then be purchased online. They should carry the most common things (worm castings,etc) which fortunately is what'd you need most of and just hit up Amazon or other online hydro stores for the rest.

Of course if money or shipping costs doesn't mean much then just go with Fox Farms ocean forest and cut it with a bit of happy frog. I've seen people go from seed to harvest without ever needing to fertilizer using that soil.
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So basically, just look up the nute values of fox farm and look for the something with somewhat the same values here in Aus?

id love to go hydro but it's not worth it here, one Hydge plant can land you in jail whereas you have to have up to five outdoors before your really lookin at jail.... So, that's why I decided outdoor autoflower might be the go, the weathers pretty good here all year round, gets a lil frost and cool in winter but I figure having them inside on the windowsill with central heating they might be alright?!?



P.S what's your opinions on chicken shit and loam or mushroom compost and loam as a hbase soil and then adding a lil something something?
 
Zspy1985

Zspy1985

Well-Known Member
chicken manure contains 1.8 percent nitrogen, 2.7 percent phosphorus, and 1.5 percent potassium.

Source: http://www.offthegridnews.com/survival-gardening-2/what-can-poop-do-for-your-garden/
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What is loam? Its basically good soil.
Soil is composed of many particles of varying sizes. Soil scientists have classified soil particles into three major groups: sand, silt and clay. Sand particles are the largest and tend to hold little water but allow good aeration. Clay particles are very small in size and tend to pack down so that water does not drain well and little or no air can penetrate. Silt particles are medium sized and have properties in between those of sand and clay.

A loamy soil, then, is one that combines all three of these types of particles in relatively equal amounts. Loamy soil is ideal for most garden plants because it holds plenty of moisture but also drains well so that sufficient air can reach the roots.

Source: https://hort.purdue.edu/ext/loam.html
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It terms of bringing them inside to a window ..that would not be an ideal condition for what MJ really likes.

Veg and flower are also in need of certain humidity and temps with little fluctuations. Like day and night temps by 10 degrees and such.
 
O

ozzyfullnewbie

Member
Zspy1985 said:
What is loam? Its basically good soil.


It terms of bringing them inside to a window ..that would not be an ideal condition for what MJ really likes.

Veg and flower are also in need of certain humidity and temps with little fluctuations. Like day and night temps by 10 degrees and such.
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That is exactly the kind of basic info ibe been trying to find, thank you soo much!

I'll just go with loam n chicken shit and water in nutes I gues....
 
Zspy1985

Zspy1985

Well-Known Member
ozzyfullnewbie said:
That is exactly the kind of basic info ibe been trying to find, thank you soo much!

I'll just go with loam n chicken shit and water in nutes I gues....
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I have dyslexia ..and with certain things my brain goes nuts over on understanding. Thus why I'm having a blast growing and soaking tons of info like a sponge. You taught me something new by looking it up! (another thing I'm good at is finding info online & computers)
 
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