Dr. Earth Pot of Gold and coco coir?

LemonLily

LemonLily

Member
This is my first grow and I was looking for cheaper soil than fox farm. One that caught my eye was Dr. Earth Pot of Gold soil. I was considering mixing it with coco coir, as I can find that relatively cheap as well. I was going to shy away from perlite because it floats, but is that a big deal? Maybe you have another suggestion.

I was also going to use general hydroponics flora series at 1/4 building to 1/2 strength doses.
 
J

Jbone77

Well-Known Member
LemonLily said:
This is my first grow and I was looking for cheaper soil than fox farm. One that caught my eye was Dr. Earth Pot of Gold soil. I was considering mixing it with coco coir, as I can find that relatively cheap as well. I was going to shy away from perlite because it floats, but is that a big deal? Maybe you have another suggestion.

I was also going to use general hydroponics flora series at 1/4 building to 1/2 strength doses.
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that black bag of Dr Earth is fantastic, its what I use. I use a bunch of perlite because it needs it, dunno why everyone keeps saying it floats. I would suggest mixing in just a bit of lime because it needs it and skip the GH, the dr Earth organic ammendments work pretty damn good and are cheap, or else use Jacks classic
 
BenFranklin

BenFranklin

Well-Known Member
Jbone77 said:
that black bag of Dr Earth is fantastic, its what I use. I use a bunch of perlite because it needs it, dunno why everyone keeps saying it floats. I would suggest mixing in just a bit of lime because it needs it and skip the GH, the dr Earth organic ammendments work pretty damn good and are cheap, or else use Jacks classic
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Perlite is expanded volcanic rock, it floats because it is porous, before moisture can enter into every hole and crevice, perlite, will float.

Personally, I wouldn't use Coco-coir, just use the Pot of Gold and the Perlite.

Figure you want a rate of 60/40 - 70/30 soil/Perlite, to ensure that drainage will occur.

You may want to throw in just a bit of lime to counter the Acididitty(Radar O'Reilly, MASH) that is created by the soil.

Just water with PH adjusted water at about 6.5-7.0 ph for soil. (the best thing to do is get a Hanna ph meter stick, they work like a charm and completely remove guess work, though they are expensive, they are worth EVERY penny.. In my garden, my PH meter is as important as my light..)

Figure in a month to a month and a half, you'll probably want to start fertilizing, if you plant in big buckets right off.(which is what I would do, as I hate screwing around with transplanting, as there is a chance of something going wrong if something bad happens).
 
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BenFranklin

BenFranklin

Well-Known Member
Jbone77 said:
Yeah, I know, dont flood the bucket, problem solved
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It doesn't float that bad, I've often wondered if you could alleviate floating by drenching the bag that the perlite comes in.... Put holes in one side with a small pin or what have you, and then make a hole on the other side to pour water into.. fill up the bag. let drain, do this a couple times to remove air pockets in Perlite... I figure this way the perlite won't get all over the place. while trying to get it to stop floating. OR even pour it into a bucket, and just mist it with a spray bottle and mix it around.

Just an idea, i've not tried yet.
 
LemonLily

LemonLily

Member
BenFranklin said:
Perlite is expanded volcanic rock, it floats because it is porous, before moisture can enter into every hole and crevice, perlite, will float.

Personally, I wouldn't use Coco-coir, just use the Pot of Gold and the Perlite.

Figure you want a rate of 60/40 - 70/30 soil/Perlite, to ensure that drainage will occur.

You may want to throw in just a bit of lime to counter the Acididitty(Radar O'Reilly, MASH) that is created by the soil.

Just water with PH adjusted water at about 6.5-7.0 ph for soil. (the best thing to do is get a Hanna ph meter stick, they work like a charm and completely remove guess work, though they are expensive, they are worth EVERY penny.. In my garden, my PH meter is as important as my light..)

Figure in a month to a month and a half, you'll probably want to start fertilizing, if you plant in big buckets right off.(which is what I would do, as I hate screwing around with transplanting, as there is a chance of something going wrong if something bad happens).
Click to expand...
As much as I really, really want to use coco coir, this seems like the most sound mix for me. I have no idea why I want to use the coco, maybe when I am a little more experienced I'll try an all coco/perlite mix.

I'm using bag seed so I think I'm going to transplant at least once from 1 gallon to 3 gallon containers. I thought about starting in party cups as well. I don't have a lot of weed growing experience, but I have a lot of gardening experience. So I am not too worried about transplanting/cloning as I've dealt with the infamous problematic gerbera daisy for years.
 
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