need low maintenence soil formula pronto. First outdoor.

A care taker came over to my house with a bunch of stressed out plants and planted them in our clay soil in the backyard. I was under the impression that he was going to dig gigantic holes and fill them up with good soil. Instead he put a little pearlite and some potting mix into some rotertillered ground and planting 12 plants in this shit clay soil I got. He keeps saying that thier going to yield 3-6 lbs a piece but theyre small and look like shit. I donated some of my plants that werent stressed and put into the ground. I just dont see these plants growing in this clay dirt no matter how much potting soil or pearlite he adds. But he's been doing this for quite a while so if he is saying that then maby he knows more than me.
Anyway, the point of this thread is that I want to dig my own gigantic hole and find a good organic soil mixture that will feed my plant with little maintenence. The plant I want to put in is a 10" hogs breath and I would like to plant it right away without waiting 2 weeks to a month for the soil to be conditioned.
Ive never done this so everything is new. Ive been growing indoors since I started. But this year I'll learn alot about outdoor and hopefully I can plant my own orchard next year.

Hmm...let my brain buffer...

If I were you, and I could find FoxFarm products I'd probably try making some "moonshine mix" and filling your hole that.

The basic moonshine mix is a mix of typically 3 FF products + other goodies.
- 1 bag "Ocean Forest"
- 1 bag "Light Warrior"
- 1 bag "Planting mix" (made of worm castings, some guano)
- 8-10 quarts of perlite
- 1 cup "Peace of Mind" (in a box)

This way you won't have to cook your mix, and you'll pretty much only have to feed with water (unless something looks awry).

I agree with you. Ugh, Clay! Little bit of clay has minerals and other goodies in it, but a lot of clay = hard time on roots.

I live in northern cal too and have the exact same clay soil shit. when I bought my soil, the guy who helped me said (and I believe him as he is definitely an authority on the subject) I should mix half soil and half the native dirt to acclimate the roots to the dirt instead of just the soil, to promote a bigger root cluster outside of the hole you dig.

Yeah Im acctually thinking about doing it next year. Im too low on funds. But thats an interesting comment b It looks as though thats what this guy did to the soil. Just mixed an aerated soil with potting soil and pearlite and dolimite lime and roter tiller it into the shitty ground.

check the link in my sig and let me know if the red dirt is similar to yours

A friend of mine when I was in High School, did the same thing and the plants he produced were amazing! Six foot sativas when they went into flowering. It kinda makes sense. But using a "mix" exclusively should yield great results too.