planning to put some effort into growin for next year to maybe see some proper results this time.

i have the option to buy some bags of soil an dig it into my grow spots either now or to do it in the spring, will be doing it in start of may if i do dig it in then. i will put the plants in at a month old and they will be planted at end of may.

is it best for me to dig in soil now and let it sit till i plant out next year? or to mix in the store bought soil closer to the grow time? how much soil would you put in each hole? depth width, mixed with exhisting soil or pure bag soil?

thanks for your help



seeds i am gonna sow are 8 swiss miss, 10 tnr, 10 spontica, 10 danky doodle. and for some earlyer buds, 8 auto mix plants and 24 ak47 autos from lowlife. so as i said this tiem i might actually get some buds by the end of the year, my aim is to get enought to last till the next year.

I listen to a gardening program on the local radio-
they are saying over winter do a rough dig 2 spades deep (approx 2 feet)
and keep turning it over every two weeks esp when the frosts are
around as this will kill all the bugs and weeds etc.

Dig in your soil/compost after the danger of frost has gone in spring
and you are good to go for planting.

regs
vangraffe

umm that sounds all well an good but the reason i said i can dig it in now or in six or seven months is cos soon im havin a major operation on my foot so cant be out at my grow location and defo cant be diggin. so the option is to dig it in an let it sit, urn it ove ragain in spring an plant up or to dig the holes in spring an dig in the new compost then

my only plant protection will be wire cage for deer an rabbits and slug pellets. possibly copper wire...

come on when an how big do u all dig ur holes?

can be at any time. my 06 grow the holes were dug just before planting and 07 the holes dug well before, like january time. the earlier the better as the soil will be more stable. but it can be done either way. for a decent sized plant i'd say turn over a metre square to around 18 inches in depth use local soil or your own but if your using local soil it may need some improvers adding.

good luck with your foot.

I'd go with the above reply about area of digging - for me
depth is important as you want the water to drain away easy.

You might think about collecting a pile of fallen leaves this autumn
if your foot condition is okay and use that as a mulch and to hide
the fact that the ground has been recently dug.

vangraffe

im gonna buy the soil in the spring when im walking again then. i am gonna dig one an half foot wide an foot deep holes is this big enough to get a plan to flower? the plants will be a meter an half away from each other. got too many seeds to plant, am i better off planting them all n keepin small or havin six or seven big plants?

I'd say having more is the best option (if you have the space and grow spots needed), I only planted a few plants outside this year and all of them died through 1 way or the other.
So the more plants you have the more chance you have of getting healthy plants at the end of the grow.

I wont make the same mistakes next year

8+10+10+10+8+24= 70! wow!

thats a lot of digging and a lot of soil!! If I was doing that many I'd want 7 sites with 10 plants in each.



Ive read in a gardening book that frost and drying winds are good for breaking up soil and improving nurtrient breakdown. If you are adding anything like manure you want to do it many months in advance of planting so it "composts" before you add your plants or it will burn your roots. Allthough it is generally better to prepare your sites the autumn before people like magoo have grown massive plants and only prepared their sites one month in advance.

If I was in your situation i'd use a mattock. Like a pickaxe but used for digging. This uses your arm muscles more and goes easier on your foot. No good for digging deep holes but with canna its better to cultivate wide areas than dig deep holes.

Hope this helps

wake n bake

wow seventy i hadnt counted seems like too many now . i just been pissed off cos i keep buyin one pack a year an have failed BADLY at growin three years in a row, mainly down to me being a stupid moron. so i thought id prepare.

ive been thinkin of doin five of each pack so fifteen plus my autos at my one patch, i have already got the soil an dirt dug an refreshed for the autos patch an so they will be fine, i just gotta dig for the fifteen plants then, will four 80 litre sacks of compost soil dirty stuff from the garden centre be enough if its mixed with the exhistin soil? i will save the other fifteen for the next year an grow my swiss miss along the train track where i plan to extend my grow too.

cheers for replies dudes

i wish i had a dog, might just get myself a lead and wonder about with it looking for a grow sight.

More maths coming up.

4 x 80litre = 320litrers

320 / 15 plants = 21litres per plant

The thing about adding compost is that its a soil improver so how much you need depends on the quality of the existing soil. Some growers dont bother adding any compost and others add compost, manure, guanno, perlite etc. I rekon 2o litres per plant will do you fine especially with your bad foot.

ahh good old maths eh. well ive seen plenty of people on here flower in 6litre pots so twenty litres does sound like a good amount to me too.

as for the exhistin soil the grass growing on it grew to about mid thigh height, the stingers were a bit shorted, plenty of brambles an stingers an varied weeds type plants so pretty good contion but a bit clayey an a bit solid...

cheers chaps

From what I've read you need to turn over your soil at least 1 month before you use it.

This what I do:

Use a spade to dig a 2 foot square 1 foot deep hole in the ground and put that soil to one side, then take a fork and turn over the soil [as deep as you can] that's inside the hole. Take a good handful of Polymer water retaining crystals and sprinkle them in and then dig them in. Over the months these crystals will expand with the rainfall and the existing moisture so in the Summer, when the soil gets dryer, they'll release that water/moisture back in to the soil. Plus, when periods of rain occur they'll continue to retain and release time and time again .. Clever things! Don't underestimate these Polymer mofo's.

Refill the hole and leave a marker to identify when the centre of your holes are cus you're guaranteed when you return in 3/4 weeks you won't have a clue where your prepped holes are .. I use shortened bamboo sticks! Around your hole use your fork again to loosen the surrounding soil to allow the root system to spread horizontally easily and efficiently.

You now have at least a 2'x2' pre-prepared hole.

NB: if the soil is poor throw in a few Coco-Coir blocks and loosely cover with soil. When you return in a few weeks these will have expanded greatly enhancing the poor native soil.

On your next visit go through the same procedure without adding any more Polymer crystals and instead of adding a bamboo stick as a marker use the exact same sized planting pot that you are using to pre-veg your ganja indoors with so when you come to plant outdoors you simply remove your 'pot marker' [no pun intended hehehe] and replace it with your indoor pre-vegged plant. Same sizes, no messing about and your hands and knees digging out little holes you see .. in and out .. your gone.

Turn the soil over now, add goodies in the spring.

Sorry im a bit late just saw this discussion, believe it or not the best thing to do at the moment is to plant on the site.
No im not crazy and i don't mean with our precious seeds, but with some sort legume(pea) or clover works very well.the reason for this is that these plants are known as nitrogen fixers,that is they take nitrogen from the atmosphere and deposited to the soil through nitrogen fixing bacteria in nodules on their roots, this stops leeching of nitrates already in the soil and will deposit new nitrogen in organic form for next years crop. About a month before planting dig these green manures into the soil, if its colder than normal allow 6-7 weeks for breakdown. Along with the nitrogen enriching benefits this method over time also vastly improves the texture of the soil adding much needed organic matter; actually raising the level above the 4" per foot recommended. So to sum up, if you want to grow like a pro, plant now, dig later

that sounds like a shit load of effort as well as the fact i need to plant my ganja in spring not peas, im gonna just hope that 20 litres of stuff from the garden centre per plant will cover it an be ok. i will only add stuff thats walready there for use no compost thats not rotted yet or anythin like that...

Yup, turn the soil before xmas. I went for a wide area and only at a spades depth or less. Then sprinkled some lime over, to level the alkalinity. I'll add some manure in the spring, while the bags of poo are currently at the site, rotting in the bag. Plants go in 5-6 weeks later. Water retaining crystals are the way forward, but go easy. Also a few bags of sharp sand to improve drainage.

right then i think i will get most of the diggin done soonish but bcos im v busy these days it seems some holes may have to be dug the month before theyre planted in next spring...

im feeling paranoid about the garden centre now should i be? i have written a lits down of four huge bags of soil, some pots, some snailanslug killer an some clone gel.... does this look too obvius to be buying.... should i say buy two bags of 80 litres of soil an then come back another time for slug killer an clonex an pots..? is a huge buy of dirt that bad at a garden centre, its cos im twenty an look young most people look me down at garden centres an shops which r for old people....

No mate its fine to be buying that stuff at a garden centre. Plenty of young people are into growing vegetables with the price of food rising. Think about it even if a garden centre clerk is marginaly suspicious are they really going to be convinced enough to ring to police and report what?? you bought lots of soil? Its when people get tons of soil delivered to an innercitty house with condensation on the windows and a Vietnamese man who visits once a night carryin a watering can that people get busted.

wise man cheers dude that does make sense maybe that was over safe of me... better than under safe i spsoe... will prob go this week an ge tthe stuff. if they ask about the clonex gel what should i say ive bought it for?

That's the worst case of paranoia I ever heard mate

Mate, please .. you're killing me .. hehehe .. seriously the gimp on the checkout won't even have a clue what Clonex is!

clonex is commenly used for gerranium cuttings so dont worry about it. When you have dug and filled your holes cover the top of the hole with a bin bag (weed seeds wont germinate in your soil and saves the hassel of weeding in the spring) take bag of before you use holes.
Have fun and happy growing

cheers chaps. yea i have a problem of overthinkin things which led to bein paranoid(prpobably cozza all the bust stories i read on here...) about buyin thestuuff ill prob buy it all today an go for a dig.

i only got a hand shovel that folds up, how much is a normal sized fork or spade?

right then i just been an ive got 160litre of soil improver its called... gonna put ten litres in each hole.... gonna be ferting with miracle grow crystals an liquid tomato feed as well as that i got some pots to sow the seeds in an ive got some rabbit wire fence to protect the seedlings with.

next tiem i go i will get the pots for next size up plants like for when theyre two weeks old or so an need a bigger pot like a litre pot? should i buy a third size pot like three litre or summet? an also a spade... i forgot

gonna order some clonex from greens as well as proper canna nutes... but both depend on when i next get some spare cash...

gonna go to my grow show area an dig fifteen holes an divide the dirt between them. gonna dig about fifteen cm deep an two foot wide im thinking.... my plan is to grow fifteen plans or so an hope a few make it to harvest rather than concentratin on four or five huge plants an hopeing more than ones a girl an hopein it survives...

i just had a thought about a field where they grow a certain plant for medical research an they grow it early in spring then leave it growin till end of year, the plants are still in the fields now growing... they are gettin the roots from these plants for research into summet.... anyway i thought as they are growin it on a flood plain it will be very nutrienty as well as that the plants grow about 7.5 feet tall an so would hide the herby, im thinkin of mixin one 80litre abg o soil into five or so holes down on the flood plain in spring an lettin the weed grow inbetween these huge plants, anyone see any problems with this... its great cos theyr still growin now so my weed would have a chance to finish before they harvest the field....

Once youve added everything your going to this season wait a couple months then check your soil ph. You can buy cheap tester kits for about £5. Your soil will probably be on the acid side in which case you need lime. You want to get your soil ph around 6.5-7 (neutral) before your plants go in.



If your like me im and want to save some cash you could make your own rooting hormone. http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?auto...;showarticle=88
Not sure if it works but theres only one way to find out!!




Dont dig 15 holes and fill each with 10 litres of soil improver! This will act as a "sump" and your soil will go sour. Instead cultivate a larger area but only go down a spades depth. So your 15cm is okay but go at least 6ftX6ft per plant.Then spread your soil improver over the top. As johndoes says bigger is better but if you wanna cut down the heavy work go for width over depth.




So your going to grow your weed in amongst someone elses medical research weed????

Check out my thread which I really need to update soon,
http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?show...=139651&hl=

Wake n bake

im gonna be a cripple in about three weeks crutches an cast tillend of feb or march soem time.... plus i dont think i have the knowledge patients or equip to sort out ph an stuff...

whats a sump? im plannin to plant fifteen plants you want me to dig fifteen holes six by six, tryin to kill me?

an no its not medical weed its soem kind of plant they want the roots from like a really tall grassy type stuff... bit taller than corn, but the plants dont seem to flower or have fruits its just like a huge stick with grassy blades on it.

should the soil really be turned an then the soil improver on top, i was led to believe i was to mix it in the with all the natural dirt that was already there???

this is gettin so complicated .

Yeah its alot of hard work but thats to get the best results, its totaly up to you what you feel up to doing. Plants will still grow if you put them straigh into the ground if its reasonable soil anyway just not as big and healthy.

Why not dig one or two holes that are 6ftx6ft and put your best healthiest plants in there, and the rest straight into the ground or smaller areas?

A sump is a place where water and other liquids are allowed to collect. Also remember plants roots grow wide aswell as downwards so the sapce directly bellow the stem wont have that many roots in it. Yeah sure mix your compost in with your regular soil just dont dig a hole and fill it entirley with improved soil.

Soil ph is easy mate

1= Very Acid
7=Neutral
14=Very Alkaline

The breakdown of organic matter and rain gradually lower the ph of soil. To get it back up again add lime! simple
rule of thumb 2lbs per square metre to raises your ph by 1 full unit.

Them plants look like reeds mate, your not on a nature reserve are you? Cause your plants would get discovered if you are!

w+B

no its a farmers field its one of those conservative scheme things where they get government cash for growin the plant as well as gettin cash for selling the plants roots in wieght to some medical research company....thats all i have been told about it. no nature reserves... it looks like elephant grass or something... 100%sure its not reeds .

thats more of a reasonable thought two big dug patches an a few smaller digs too...

where do i get lime? isit powder or what?

You should be able to buy garden lime at your garden centre. If not google it.
Yeah its a white powder.

W&B

also check out tis vid on growing info if you havnt watched it, just remember hes in australia so ignore the planting october, harvesting in feb and having them catching the sun fom the north!!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=V-4pq853YwM

Thats elephant grass fella its grown for fuel it can be harvested any time of year i think so you might end up growing good weed for someone to burn! as for ph kits they are idiot proof i know cos i can use them.
Good luck

cool fuel for what? is it actually elephant grass? i was told they want roots from he plants?

well i will just thro a few seeds in there then an put most in the clearings in the woods i plant at,,,

right then lime powder, cloning stuff, soil, spade for an ph testin kit on the shopping list... gonna be a couple week b4 i can buy these.

oh and i am gonna have a good walk around the field an see wheres best to plant, i have watched it for three years an they always harvest it right at the end of the year when its startin to die...

p.s. waken baker feckin awesome youtube video cheers! i love how he strugles to climb thru his plants killin the males
oh i have just thought can the lime for cement mixing be used to fix the ground? cos i have access to the lime that comes powdered greyishwhite an is used in concreting or cementing walls?

still wonderin about this lime guys? how much to use? when do i add it? from garden shop again?

right then today has been a day of serious fuckin effort for me... i went out to my grow show arena, a circle of clearing in some woods...

i have done so much digging that ive shot my back out an can barely move , my hands have blisters, my clothes were drenched in sweat quite literally soaked, my foot is in absolute fucking agony, my legs hurt my hands hurt an my ass hurts... so here i am sat nearly crippled givin u an update before i pass out for three days....

i managed to dig a one foot deep hole that is about twelve foot long and about eight foot wide, i broke up all the soil and mixed in 80 litres of soil improver breaking all the lumps with fork, then i spread another eighty litres on top. i then placed ten black plastic sheets about 20cm x 20 cm on it at around thirty five cm appart in two rows of five... these plastic sheets will be what i remove next year when the wild weeds have grown all over again an i will then put ten seedlings into this patch.

i re-dug over my other hole which i grew some auto flowering lowlife ak47 plants in this year, i dug it over an added another five litres of soil improver, so that hole which is a square meter an a foot deep again now has the 25 itres of potting compost added last year an the natural soil plus some soil improver so that should be an even better grow than last year that patch.... i then covered the patch with two blag plastic binliners to stop the weeds invading the space before i plant my seedlings init next year...

then i also dug two seperate holes which are again almost a foot deep an and they are three spades with by three spades width, which is about a foot an a half or so ... an added about three or four litres of soil improover to each of these too an broke up some of the lumps... these two holes are an experiment to see if it is really neccessary to dig a hole 6ft by 6ft for each plant as i have been advised by some ppls... i recon a hole a foot an a half by foot an a half in good soil will be fine... but next year well find out...

so that was the most 'work' ive done since i broke my foot two years ago, i used to do buildin work an stuff at weekends an used to be pretty fit, i could of done everything i did today in an hour an half instead of three hours and i used to not sweat but today i was drenched in sweat an took ages an nearly killed me but at least its over an done with finally an so next year should be an awesome grow ive got a good feeling...

so i have thirty autoflowering seeds to sow as well as a pack of danky doodle, tnr, swiss miss an a pack of spontica... so thats forty normal seeds to plant... twelve normal seedlings will be grown in this area ive dug today... im gonna also plant about eight or ten seedlings in other locations singularly an spread out just incase i get some asshole discover my holy herb plants in my holy clearing in my holy woods. how do i properly store the extra twenty seeds till spring not comin up but the one after?

so now that ive done all that im gonna go an sleep for the next week.... wish i had some weed to help me sleep... but i spose im gonna have to go scrape out the bowls an downpipes on my pipes an bongs... used to ahte this but now used to it when i run out an have started to like smokin the black crap that collects in my smokin tools. its probably ne of the worst things to smoek tho what with it being mainly made up of tar....
.
.
.
.
got probably almost a gram of dirty black sticky resin now , gonna get me nice an stoned to cellebrate

thanks a lot for the help guys, you will have to watch my grow thread next year to see how it goes.


wehey five hundredth post

elephant grass is used as a carbon nuetrual fuel in power stations that normally use coal or for house boilers that use wood chip. As for the lime check the ph first if it is acid then lime dont use building lime get some from a garden center or b&q about a hand full per sqm (unless you have shovel hands) the sooner the better.
Good luck