wasting soil when planting regular seeds

[biggerbud420]

ok so when planting regular seeds how do you keep from wasting so much soil with male plants ? if you planted 10 seed all of the germinated and 5 were males if using fox farm soil that 50 dollars a bag you would need 2 or 3 bags if going with 3 gallon pots

 

[beluga]

I'd look into recycling and amending it.

I've personally never thought of soil as disposable, just rich or poor. It comes out the bag rich, as the plant uses what's in it, it becomes poor.
Just a matter of figuring out what to put back in it.

 

[paradoxlsot]

Yea you should realistically be able to use a soil media in definitely. You know how old the soil is under your feet. In some areas hundreds of thousands of years old, the younger soils, hundreds and thousands of years old. No one fertilizes nature.

 

[MIMedGrower]

Bagged “potting soil” is not like the dirt outside. It is usually peat and perlite and amendments. Peat compacts with use and loses its drainage properties.


the answer to the threads question is keep the plants until maturity in a 1 gallon pot or take and label cuttings and put them in 12/12 lighting for a couple weeks and see if they are male or female and then transplant the moms only.


maybe some regular seed growers will chime in with more ideas.

 

[growsince79]

ok so when planting regular seeds how do you keep from wasting so much soil with male plants ? if you planted 10 seed all of the germinated and 5 were males if using fox farm soil that 50 dollars a bag you would need 2 or 3 bags if going with 3 gallon pots

$50 where do you live. Its $20 here in Oklahoma. Heres a cool tip from TCC seeds. Grow the plants in small containers say half gallon. When they get to the 7 node top them back to the fourth, tag them for i.d. and place the tops in a vase make sure they get 12 hours daylight and 12 hours dark. Don't up pot until the males are gone.

 

[beluga]

Bagged “potting soil” is not like the dirt outside. It is usually peat and perlite and amendments. Peat compacts with use and loses its drainage properties.


the answer to the threads question is keep the plants until maturity in a 1 gallon pot or take and label cuttings and put them in 12/12 lighting for a couple weeks and see if they are male or female and then transplant the moms only.


maybe some regular seed growers will chime in with more ideas.

What's your take on adding more to reconstitute it like you would other amendments?
My only experience with this is the massive heap of potting soil I've transferred now from 3 houses over 15 years, but it has served me well and I treasure it like an old sourdough starter.

 

[MIMedGrower]

What's your take on adding more to reconstitute it like you would other amendments?
My only experience with this is the massive heap of potting soil I've transferred now from 3 houses over 15 years, but it has served me well and I treasure it like an old sourdough starter.

i guess once it has enough organic matter with cycling micro life it can work. Many say so. Although i have not seen many pics of good plants grown that way. I just see a compacted soil packed with roots when i harvest. So i want new potting soil.

I have no personal experience doing it. I just think drainage is the main thing our plants like in a grow medium.

 

[biggerbud420]

$50 where do you live. Its $20 here in Oklahoma. Heres a cool tip from TCC seeds. Grow the plants in small containers say half gallon. When they get to the 7 node top them back to the fourth, tag them for i.d. and place the tops in a vase make sure they get 12 hours daylight and 12 hours dark. Don't up pot until the males are gone.

i live in georgia but i could not find any near me so i been getting it off ebay

 

[biggerbud420]

Bagged “potting soil” is not like the dirt outside. It is usually peat and perlite and amendments. Peat compacts with use and loses its drainage properties.


the answer to the threads question is keep the plants until maturity in a 1 gallon pot or take and label cuttings and put them in 12/12 lighting for a couple weeks and see if they are male or female and then transplant the moms only.


maybe some regular seed growers will chime in with more ideas.

when u say maturity do you mean until there ready to harvest and if u keep them into 1 gallon pot wouldnt the plants be small or they start to show sex then transplant

 

[growsince79]

i live in georgia but i could not find any near me so i been getting it off ebay

I'd buy something from walmart, mix perlite and use nutes before I pay $50.

 

[MIMedGrower]

i live in georgia but i could not find any near me so i been getting it off ebay

check local greenhouses, feed stores and garden centers for local mixes or even ocean forest. Just avoid ones that say feeds 3 or 6 months and get extra perlite to mix in.

 

[biggerbud420]

I'd buy something from walmart, mix perlite and use nutes before I pay $50.

like what ? lol miracle grow i will pass on

 

[biggerbud420]

check local greenhouses, feed stores and garden centers for local mixes or even ocean forest. Just avoid ones that say feeds 3 or 6 months and get extra perlite to mix in.

ocean forest is what i have now lol

 

[MIMedGrower]

when u say maturity do you mean until there ready to harvest and if u keep them into 1 gallon pot wouldnt the plants be small or they start to show sex then transplant

No. Maturity in veg. Some strains show little pistils. You can go ahead and transplant up those.


you can also put them in 12/12 and reveg the females.

 

[MIMedGrower]

like what ? lol miracle grow i will pass on

miracle grow organic is ok. So is the home depot brand. All need more large perlite for good drainage.

 

[biggerbud420]

No. Maturity in veg. Some strains show little pistils. You can go ahead and transplant up those.


you can also put them in 12/12 and reveg the females.

does reveg hurt the plants in anyway ?

 

[MIMedGrower]

does reveg hurt the plants in anyway ?

no just takes time.

 

[Aqua Man]

I agree keep in as small of containers possible. You may need to feed em something but atleast your not wasting the soil. I did this on my soil grow and wasted a shit ton. Its something you can't really avoid running regs.

I guess you could reclaim but I didn't.

 

[THC.Tribble]

ok so when planting regular seeds how do you keep from wasting so much soil with male plants ? if you planted 10 seed all of the germinated and 5 were males if using fox farm soil that 50 dollars a bag you would need 2 or 3 bags if going with 3 gallon pots

Add back the nutrients to the soil (bone meal -blood meal- castings-epson salt) I grow with salt based nutes and reuse my soil 3-4 times and flush / wash it between runs . Soil is only a medium to be depleted and recharged . If you were feeding ur plants you didnt know where male , chances are there are nutes in that soil unless you flushed it.

If your growing sticktly organic i recomend looking into casting tea

i have red wiggler worms i feed table scraps and grow room thinning , the casting tea cuts my nutrient use in half...$$$

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

I use small pots and then keep a sharp eye out for even the slightest signs of a white pistol hair. A lot of strains will show slight signs of sex before you flip to 12/12. Even if one ends up being a male after transplanting to a bigger pot I just break up the soil and sift out as much of the root fibers as possible before amending it with home made compost. Black gold that comes right out of my composter in my back yard. I reuse all of my soil and recharge it with either homemade compost or store bought items such as clean manure. Once the microbes get going they help break down everything. Sometimes I even add live worms to speed everything up. Hope this helps.