Soil for growing autoflowers outdoors in a 4x2x1 garden bed

[ReaperCrew8]

Hello. I am brand new to growing cannabis and have autoflower seeds that I want to try to grow outdoor this year but I'm having a difficult time finding a good answer for soil. I have a 4x2x1 garden bed to fill. I was originally going to get Ocean Forest but am reading it's too hot for early stages. Then I switched to the idea of Coco Coir w/ Perlite and read that's too much maintenance with nutrients. I'm lost here. I really just want to know exactly what to put in/mix in so I can plant my seeds and watch them thrive. Also every post I see saying compost, can you be more specific as to exactly what product that's pertaining to.

Appreciate any help

 

[HerbalEdu]

ocean forest should be perfectly fine. it's exagerated saying it's too hot for seedlings.

i think many people add some perlite to it.

 

[jimbochicago]

Hello. I am brand new to growing cannabis and have autoflower seeds that I want to try to grow outdoor this year but I'm having a difficult time finding a good answer for soil. I have a 4x2x1 garden bed to fill. I was originally going to get Ocean Forest but am reading it's too hot for early stages. Then I switched to the idea of Coco Coir w/ Perlite and read that's too much maintenance with nutrients. I'm lost here. I really just want to know exactly what to put in/mix in so I can plant my seeds and watch them thrive. Also every post I see saying compost, can you be more specific as to exactly what product that's pertaining to.

Appreciate any help

all my seedlings (well, ok, that's a grand total of three this season) did super well going from the paper towel sprouts right into Ocean Forrest in Solo cups. 2 and 1/2 months later, they are 24 inches tall in patio pots full of OF and vermiculite+compost.

 

[ReaperCrew8]

Thanks for the replies. Should I do 70/30 OF/Perlite? I was going to put the autoflower seeds directly into the soil outside. Do you think I'll need to use nutrients at any point? How do we feel about adding any coco coir, happy frog, or worm castings?

Appreciate all the help with my first grow

 

[ohigrow]

ocean forest should be perfectly fine. it's exagerated saying it's too hot for seedlings.

i think many people add some perlite to it.

For the most part I agree. But when I started growing I was growing autos and I can say from experience that OF was a little on the hot side for roughly half of them. For photos it doesn’t seem to matter although now and then I have ran into an issue. Good news is regardless they all grew out of it just fine. To be cautious though I normally start in happy frog. The myco in the happy frog also helps with initial rooting/development. Once they outgrow the solos though it’s right into the big blend of OF/perlite with whatever leftover happy frog I may have lol

 

[ohigrow]

Thanks for the replies. Should I do 70/30 OF/Perlite? I was going to put the autoflower seeds directly into the soil outside. Do you think I'll need to use nutrients at any point? How do we feel about adding any coco coir, happy frog, or worm castings?

Appreciate all the help with my first grow

Unless you’re using a living soil blend of some kind you’re going to have to use nutrients at some point. And even with living soils you’re going to need to amend them throughout the grow to supply them properly. I have yet to see a soil mix that didn’t require something additional at some point. The ones I’ve seen that were “water only” weren’t very happy looking plants after a while either. I did living soils when I grew before and there were multiple times throughout the grow I would have to feed them something to keep up with their demands. Ocean forest will feed for roughly the first month depending on the plant but that’s it. Even then you can begin feeding small amounts of nutrients earlier than that. Whatever nutrient line you go with though follow the schedule and dial in your feed(check your ec/ppm/ensure ph is correct etc) I recently didn’t follow a feed schedule and it bit me in the ass. Just make sure you’re not giving maximum dosages of the nutrients right off the bat. You need to start on the low end and work up and see the plants response. And DO NOT mix soil and coco. Can it work? Sure? But usually when you mix them…

 

[ReaperCrew8]

Thanks again for the replies. Of all the research I've done so far, nutrients are what I know the least right now. If I plant 8-10 week autoflowers outside in Ohio in 70/30 OF/Perlite, any recommends for what to feed and when? I've seen the Fox Farm liquid ones. Do we like those or recommend others for my specific situation? When/What to fees?

Thanks!

 

[JIMKSI64]

You are basically running an organic grow. Look into organic nutrients like Dr Earth grow big and flower girl or the Gia green line of Organics. For autos in pots I ran 75-25 happy frog and Ocean forest with 3 cups perlite. I did top dress at week 3 and over did it on one plant. The autos will have enough nutes to pistle development and I use a fish poop based organic.
pH the nutrient mix if the label says to do so. Staying organic makes it easy as long as you can control the dry cycles. Pot like dry cycles.
Good luck.