Greenhouse Grow - Pots vs In-Ground / Soil Question

JDAsc · Feb 23, 2022

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 · Mar 1, 2022

JDAsc said:
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 · Mar 21, 2022

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

TSD · Mar 21, 2022

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 · May 19, 2022

JDAsc said:
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 · May 19, 2022

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 · May 19, 2022

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.

Greenhouse Grow - Pots vs In-Ground / Soil Question

Greenhouse Grow - Pots vs In-Ground / Soil Question

JDAsc

SofaKingHigh

Backwoods70

TSD

jim59

E9noxis

Garbage_bear

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