Starting an outdoor soil grow transplant from indoor dwc, need help.

[Mathimus]

This week I'll be transplanting my larger dwc Wedding Pie and Pie Hoe to an outdoor 5 x 8 raised garden bed. Also a smaller Golden Goat and Lemon Haze that are both taking off fast - I may put the goat and Lemon Haze in separate large pots or bed so they're not fighting the two big girls for root space - not sure yet. The one on the back left is Pie Hoe, the front right is Wedding Pie and the front left is a Bazillionaire that I'm going to keep in hydro and upgrade to a 27 gallon tote in one of my 4x4s for a scrog grow.

Here is my raised bed so far. Just got the section tilled up about a foot down and tilled up about 8" of dirt under that real good. It is very rich soil so I've decided I am going to use that also in my mix.

I have decided to just bury the net pots with the roots because no way I can fish the roots out without hurting the plants.

It will be 2 cross ties high on the outer perimeter so roughly 2 vertical feet of grow media not including the loosened dirt. My question is for experienced outdoor growers that get huge plants - what is a cost effective mix or recipe that you recommend for a living soil? My end goal is to have to fertilize as little as possible.

I have already 2 60 lb bundles of Pro Mix HP and I plan on dusting the roots with Great White before planting. If my math is correct, I will need to fill roughly 70 cubic feet of root zone to leave a little space below the top of the ties. Is two bags of pro mix too much for aeration and extra microhyzae? Also, what would you recommend to amend with as far as a good brand of organic soil with all the fixings? Trying to keep costs down as much as possible and I don't have much compost made up. Would you recommend buying compost and mixing it in and/or chicken poop? I'm so lost as I've never done an outdoor soil grow so sorry if these questions seem redundant. Just excited as I've never had the opportunity. It's been all indoor hydro. I'll keep pictures and progress posted as it moves along. In the meantime, all feedback, suggestions and input is welcome.

Here is a finished Wedding Pie snippet that is about to get pluckered and hung that's been growing in these ridiculous temu 5 gallon drip ring systems. They are not going to yield much because they have been thru a non climate controlled nuclear winter here in Colorado - very stunted but dam if that didn't bring out all the purple stanky sweet grapey cheese aroma.

 

[Mathimus]

June 1 update - Finally finished the bed. It ended up being a 5x9 about 18" deep with a few inches loosened soil beneath that. Amended the tilled soil with about 150 pounds of promix hp and oyster shell flower mixing in several 4" deep increments. I lined the sides with hefty lawn and leaf bags to keep the muck out of the cross ties and hold moisture better.

The one on the right is Wedding Pie and left is Pie Hoe. I dusted the roots generously with Great White and put about 2 gallons each hole a 420 ppm mix of my gh nutes I let set on the bubblers several hours. I am still deciding exactly what nutrient route I should take. Any and all feedback is welcome.

 

[Mathimus]

June 9 update --- It has rained pretty hardily almost every day since I transplanted them on June 2. I put 3 red cups worth of each magical soil mix on each plant that I purchased on June 7. Im postíng a pick of this guy because funny. Very very funny doctor Jones.

It has hailed here in the Springs the last three days. I had trimmed the roots back on the Wedding Pie a week before transplant. It has a closer internodal spacing than the Pie Hoe - which I didnt trim the roots back on. I pushed the Pie Hoe down a bit more violently on transplant instead of digging the hole out more to acomódate the roots. It is slow snapping back but this thing is going to be its own monster.

Yesterday, we got to top dress with straw so as to lock in the moisture better. I amended the top very light with bio live transplant mix and let the hail and rain do its thing. The new young top shoots are coming out on both ladies so I know the roots are doing their thing now. The green has deepened and these ladies are coming out on their tops.

 

[Mathimus]

I have also amended 2 20 gallon pro mix pots with a bit stronger ammendment ratio than the raised bed - each for the Golden Goat and the Limoncello. There is also a Chocolope which 3 were popped. I will pick out the best two and put them in the ten gallon pot. They are a bit slow in growth and root development.. I will be around to posting those pics and updated progress on the raised bed in another week.

 

[Mathimus]

June 19 update -- It has been an interesting time. It has rained, hailed twice - once golf ball size on these ladies and with a few 95ish degree days. But I have been adamant about using my GH nutes with silica until roots are further established. As well as using a silica foliar and cal mag foliar spray every other night. I really don't like how the Pie Hoe looks but as I said before, it is slower bouncing back from the hydro transfer. So I am babying these bytches until I'm happy that they are suited to what mother nature can throw at them. Oh, and the straw was a bit seedy I reckon so grass has started to grow which is a plus in my book.

Here is the lemon Haze. It took a bit of a beating in the hail but has doubled in size.

The Chocolope has took off a bit but I personally think it's not a good genetic - or at least the batch of seeds that were got from DNA. It was awful in hydro and that was with it receiving the same nutrient ratios as the rest of the ladies you see here. The seeds were popped the same time as the ones in the raised bed (lol). It definitely does not seem to tolerate the heat as well as the others - despite being sativa leaning. Regardless, I think they do grow better in soil and the two will have to be separated sooner than later to put in separate pots.

But this guy - the Golden Goat. This thing has been praying up the whole time. It is by far a very resilient genetic and the foliage seems to be a lot more healthy and thick green. It has doubled in size as well and she seems ready to take off like a rocket. There has been no weather hiccups with her whatsoever. Very stoked to see what she's gonna do.