Do you always start with fresh soil? Do you recommend using old soil at all?
I wouldn't reuse ocean forest, I would also get some aeration like rice hulls to add and don't feed for a bit. Ocean forest is geared more towards flower IMO and has a good amount of nutes in it. I would use happy frog and then transplant into ocean forest for flower. Happy Frog has mostly mychorazae and not a lot of nutes so good for early on✌
Yeah I do always start fresh, but I have mixed it half and half when. I was tight or low on dirt with no issues.
This is the first time I haven't cut the whole bag with a small bag of pearlite , so far so good , however they do seem a little hot out of the gate this time !
I started with a mild dose of big bloom and then couple days later started the holy mackerel and they seem to be doing ok for now , I plan to add Coco coir at transplant and mix with the other bag of ocean Forest but in the past Its all I have used from start to finish.
Okay.
It depends on who is doing the recommendation. There are many ways to grow plants.
It depends on the plant. I don't use pure Ocean Forest, so I can't say for sure. I just try to figure out what the plant needs.
No. I reuse old soil and make a mixture that includes various amendments. I believe many growers mix their soil.
I wouldn't recommend it to a new grower.
Rice hulls are great
It can be used in soil, but it isn't a substitute for perlite. Charcoal briquettes can be broken into pieces. Biochar can also be used. Both can buffer pH and beneficial microorganisms can live on the surface of carbon and biochar. The main purpose of perlite, however, is to improve drainage and soil porosity. Charcoal doesn't do that, nor does it provide any nutrients or gas exchange in the soil. Rice hulls work well for those purposes.
I even mix it with the native soil and plant my plants in the yard , mixes great with yard soil here in Florida .
