I wouldn’t say I had time to be picky, just adjust any known variables, I grow organic with compost teas and wasn’t a big deal to dilute 50/50 with my soils cuz it wasn’t a big deal to bubble up a tea when they get hungry, for other growers that it’s important for the ff to carry their plants for a month I could see it being a bigger deal. I’m down in a small town area and we really are very limited in what we can get mostly having to rely on Walmart, home Depot, Lowes, and tractor supply and only thing we can get at the nursery is ffof, really pays off knowing how to build your own soil in my area and what I’ve been doing lately and been working out great
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I’ve always reused my soil and in Cali on those farms they kept reusing theirs for well over a decade, I can honestly attest that each year it got better and had the results to match it the more runs it got on it. Even if I cant get the fresh soil thrown in with pot plants I’ll grow veggies or anything in it just to get it running. I just couldn’t afford to replace 500 gallons after each grow and crazy to think some do
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Well we’re crazy then lol I was talking about outside I would dump and till that crap dude reuses inside always and big yields so works
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Dammit! Got a husky over here trying to get beat like the red headed step child she is, decided she wanted a midnight snack on my starters last night apparently, one of which was an auto, may as well just pluck that one, no time for recovery
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Oh ok, I was gonna say if ur just tossing the old stuff out I’ll have to send my trailer up there as a soil catch haha
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Here’s what we had going up in Cali, I think that was like the 8th or 9th year running with that soil
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So in your pots you have straight FFOF, no other amendments to it?
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One thing to consider with autos is generally a larger root zone pays big dividends in yield. I’m planning to mix FFOF or FFHF half and half with Promix for my next run. I have limited space so they’ll be in 3g fabric pots, without space constraints I would go with 5-10g.
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Okay. When researching the promix, which one are you referring to. And if your soil is half and half, how is the promix used?
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Ya, Bruce banner #3 I grew really enjoyed the 10gallon I had it in! Def some truth right there
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Most people around here use the HP or BX. I use the cheap stuff (moisture control blend). I did contact promix directly to verify what was in the moisture control and they assured me that there are no fertilizers or nutrients in the moisture control. Mixing with an inert media like Coco or promix helps with drainage and aeration, but having the soil in there lets you be a little bit lazier on feedings.
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Ahh I see. I read your post wrong, I thought you meant half FFHF ANDDD FFOF plus the promix lol. This makes more sense. At any point are you fertilizing? And do you add any perlite or nah?
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I usually add perlite, but if I can find them, I think I’m going to try rice husks this run. They help with aeration like perlite and as they break down they provide plant available silica. The mix of soil and promix will feed them for a little while, but they’ll still need added nutrients at some point. I’m basically adding the soil as a buffer. Things get busy around my place and I have a terrible memory. Between the 2, I’ve been known to miss feedings. That’s no bueno with an inert media, as my newest babies could demonstrate. 
Mixing means, if I only have time to ph some water, they won’t be completely starved, but I’ll still have more control over inputs than with straight soil.
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10-4! You’re connecting a lot of dots for me and I appreciate it big time! I understand water needs to be at a certain pH… but I’ve also heard some don’t test it. When you say “only pH-ing water” what do you mean. What’s your process to do this? Super newb questions 
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Def wanna add extra perlite or even better add lava rock and smash it up before adding to the soil, doesn’t have as much waste as perlite over the years. Fox farms soils will usually carry plants for about a month, I personally am an organic grower and my feedings consist of AACT(Actively aerated compost teas). I personally don’t have experience with the rice hulls but when brewing my teas I throw in 2-3 fresh aloe leaves split open to bubble and is where my silica comes from in my recipes and is soluable right away with my feedings. In the years I’ve been growing I’ve never had to pH test anything but for beginners it’s highly recommended until being able to understand soil composition and getting to a point of building your own or trusting what comes bagged, can get a decent soil pH tester for about 20 bucks most places 6.5 in soil is the sweet spot
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Only ph-ing water means I’m not feeding any nutrients in that watering. As far as water ph… The ph of your water/nutrient solution affects the way your plants uptake nutrients. For soil most people water/feed between 6.3 and 6.8ph. Inert media likes it between 5.8 and 6.3ph.
You’ll want a ph pen and a tds (total dissolved solids) meter to test your water/solution (it’s easier than it sounds). They also come in handy for testing runoff, if you run into issues you’re having trouble figuring out.
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Heard that. Test pH of soil? And water prior to watering? Or test run off? Both?
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Got it. So without nutrients you test your water… add nutrients to that same water and it changes… test that combo. Sounds decently simple. And if problems are there, test runoff to see what’s inside
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Ph of soil is most important and gonna directly relate to how your plant uptakes nutrients, knowing ur pH of your water can be helpful too as it can fluctuate you soil, and pH the run off gives u an idea what the mix of water and soil equates to during waterings, here’s a chart that shows u what nutrients can or cannot be picked up at the different pH values And can visibly see why 6.2-6.5 is the sweet spot for nutrient uptake
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Right on!! Can’t thank you all enough for the explanation! Really helpful and connecting some dots.
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