Greenhouse Grow - Pots vs In-Ground / Soil Question

[JDAsc]

To begin, my name is Jay. I'm currently preparing for my first greenhouse grow at scale, and I'm trying to figure out what would be more cost effective in the long run. Since I run organic my costs are already relatively low but right now I'm debating whether I should run pots or put down new soil and maybe a layer of compost on the ground and plant it directly into the soil that way. Alongside this I'm also wondering what would be the best soil that I can buy in bulk without breaking the bank. I will be growing approximately 300 plants. I do have experience in maintaining a large-scale operation though I was employee at the time and they had purchased thousands of dollars of Pro-Mix HP which I personally believe to be too expensive to do on my budget. I'm open to suggestions, and I appreciate the time that you guys take in answering these types of questions.

 

[SofaKingHigh]

To begin, my name is Jay. I'm currently preparing for my first greenhouse grow at scale, and I'm trying to figure out what would be more cost effective in the long run. Since I run organic my costs are already relatively low but right now I'm debating whether I should run pots or put down new soil and maybe a layer of compost on the ground and plant it directly into the soil that way. Alongside this I'm also wondering what would be the best soil that I can buy in bulk without breaking the bank. I will be growing approximately 300 plants. I do have experience in maintaining a large-scale operation though I was employee at the time and they had purchased thousands of dollars of Pro-Mix HP which I personally believe to be too expensive to do on my budget. I'm open to suggestions, and I appreciate the time that you guys take in answering these types of questions.

Hard to say without knowing what your soil is like in your region. I always used really big buckets outdoors but never done a green house grow.

 

[Backwoods70]

Im thinking soil beds would be your best bet. Large raised beds basically

 

[TSD]

Just remember they can go crazy in the ground and get huge because thier roots are unrestricted... I don't know what the soil you're starting with is like, but I just amend what is already there, last year I tilled in a load of manure, and amended with a bunch of stuff, blood meal, bonemeal, bit of Epsom salt, bit of Lyme, worm castings, some peat, a bunch of pearlite, beneficial critters... but I'm small scale, for 300 plants that would probably get pricey, I'd say till in a few loads of nicely aged manure and make sure your drainage is good. Maybe the big boxes like they do out in Cali would be the way to go.

 

[jim59]

To begin, my name is Jay. I'm currently preparing for my first greenhouse grow at scale, and I'm trying to figure out what would be more cost effective in the long run. Since I run organic my costs are already relatively low but right now I'm debating whether I should run pots or put down new soil and maybe a layer of compost on the ground and plant it directly into the soil that way. Alongside this I'm also wondering what would be the best soil that I can buy in bulk without breaking the bank. I will be growing approximately 300 plants. I do have experience in maintaining a large-scale operation though I was employee at the time and they had purchased thousands of dollars of Pro-Mix HP which I personally believe to be too expensive to do on my budget. I'm open to suggestions, and I appreciate the time that you guys take in answering these types of questions.

hey jay im new here and have found a company called build a soil.com who specialize in soil building you might check them out to see what they offer.

 

[E9noxis]

Build a soil isn't exactly cost effective. No super expensive, but not cheap. I paid 325 for 70 gallons of living soil.

 

[Garbage_bear]

I grow organically for myself, medical. I can only have ten budded plants but I like to go directly into the ground (big hole) with about 30-40 gallons of living soil per plant. Plants get huge in ground. That’s how I would do it. You don’t need pots or bags if you are just using living soil IMO. Earth dust is awesome. I don’t know about using it with scale though. But the end product is so much better and tastier.