Beginner soil questions

[weedabix]

Hi,
I want to start my first grow in January and I want to start it in soil. I know coco is great but I want to grow in soil first. There are a few questions that I don't know the answer to or that I have heard conflicting information about. My plan is to start my seeds in biobizz light mix and transplant them into all mix later. I want to only use minimal amounts of nutes and I got a sample pack of biobizz nutes for that.

I'll go with the questions from easy to hard (imo):
1. How do you water? I understand you wait until top surface is almost dry but it stays moist up to around one knuckle deep - then water until there is a little bit of runoff?
2. Apparently you don't need to ph the water - is that right? Should check the pH the runoff?
3. Apparently I don't need calmag but then I see posts where people have deficiencies...
4. I guess it boils down to the question: Is there such a thing as a soil that only needs water and no additional nutes in an indoor grow?

Also if you have experiences with biobizz, let me know!
I want to stay as organic as possible, just because I want the best flavour possible and want to know what went into the plant.
thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience,
weedabix

[weedabix]

One more important question:
what are your favourite resources to learn more about growing organically indoors? Any websites, youtube channels or podcasts I should know about?
cheers,
weedabix

[Bulls]

Good morning buddy. As I am a coco grower I guess my answers will be different to some of the guys that use soil but I will share my opinion.
1. Watering

It's actually easy to understand when to water. When you first fill up your pot with soil it will be pretty dry. Lift it and feel the weight. That would be when your pot is dry. Once you fully saturate your soil the first time - lift it up again. Thats when it's very wet. You will also know that looking at your plants. They often appear unhappy/droopy when medium is dry or too wet.

2. PH in soil

Most people in USA do, but most in UK don't(mainly because they want a lazy way of growing) Idea is that soil buffers itself out so you don't really want to mess around with pH.

3. CalMag

That can be very hard to say if you will or will not. Depends on the soil, on the environment, on the light... :) I'd always prefer to give them a touch of calmag to prevent the deficiency.

4. I believe there is but you have to know the science behind it and how to cook your organic soil. Not sure which one available in the shop is such. I'd believe you won't know it's fully organic unless you mix it yourself.

I'd also like to say that I believe that it would be almost impossible for you to make a difference between weed grown in soil and in coco. I've tried it, and I couldn't. I've tried it also with an old friend of mine that claims to be "an expert" and he said both were grown in soil

We have plenty of information in the threads if you want to read buddy. Obviously the podcasts we're doing are very informative too. There are many different ways of growing cannabis but if you got the basic knowledge then you will find your own way of doing things. Just remember to make changes 1 at the time when you do :)

[weedabix]

Thanks so much for the elaborate answers Bulls!
I am also very keen to grow in coco, I think my next grow might be in coco - I thought sticking to premixed soil might keep it a tad more simple (not necessarily easy) at the beginning. To summarise:
1. No runoff needed when watering soil
2. pH would be good but a lot of people don't bother - If I would bother, could I adjust the ph using e.g. apple cider vinegar and baking soda?
3. I'll probably hope for the best and add CalMag only if needed. We'll see how the soil is doing without it first!
4. I'm not ready to cook my own soil - I feel like it's a bit of a commitment to get all the ingredients and it's probably way easier if you don't live in an inner city apartment!

I have been catching up on the threads in here - great stuff!
Thanks again for your answers!

[Nanook]

Hi Weedabix,

I agree with all bulls said tbh, tho I am not a soil man really :)

[The Aspie Toker]

Thanks so much for the elaborate answers Bulls!
I am also very keen to grow in coco, I think my next grow might be in coco - I thought sticking to premixed soil might keep it a tad more simple (not necessarily easy) at the beginning. To summarise:
1. No runoff needed when watering soil
2. pH would be good but a lot of people don't bother - If I would bother, could I adjust the ph using e.g. apple cider vinegar and baking soda?
3. I'll probably hope for the best and add CalMag only if needed. We'll see how the soil is doing without it first!
4. I'm not ready to cook my own soil - I feel like it's a bit of a commitment to get all the ingredients and it's probably way easier if you don't live in an inner city apartment!

I have been catching up on the threads in here - great stuff!
Thanks again for your answers!

Are you growing autos or photos?

If autos, they should be planted into their final pot from the start.
Runoff depends on the size of the plant and the size of the pot. If for example, you have a seedling in a 11 litre pot, then runoff isn't needed. Later on as the pot fills up with roots, you'll need to make sure there's runoff - esp if you've been feeding her nutes.

CalMag is better added in advance of using it. 1 tablespoon of Dolomite line per 5 litres, mixed into the soil, dampen, and leave for around 2 months for it to stabilise. If you can't do this, then adding calmag via foliar feeding.

HTH
Aspie.

[weedabix]

I'll be growing autos to start with.
Thanks for clarifying the runoff thing - totally makes sense now!
I don't have time for the lime for now, but I'll keep that in mind for the next round. I might get some calmag for a foliar feed later...
Thanks for your advice on all topics!

[The Aspie Toker]

I'll be growing autos to start with.

It's best not to pot up with autos. If there's no other way, then use rhizotonic and Mycorrhizal Fungi. The latter is for extra root growth and the former is for helping with root shock.

[Bulls]

If you have hard water, maybe you can consider Epsom Salts foliar feed. It's full of magnesium and helps with calcium uptake. It's as organic as you can get to prevent deficiency quickly.