no ferts required setup for the outdoors

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I have some friends who like to grow outside. They are completely ignorant of such things as ph, nutrients, soil quality etc. needless to say that even with the top notch cuttings I give them they usually end up with little more than stringy stalks with some fluff attached.

This year I thought I might make a suggestion but want to be sure that it will give good results. So let me know what you think.

Instead of the usual 5 gallon bucket with no drain holes filled with sandy clay soil from the back yard I was going to suggest that they dig a hole 2x as deep as the 5 gall bucket fill it 1/2 way with some extra clay pebbles i've got lying around. drill plenty of holes in the bucket for water and air exchange. fill with moonshinemix but add the peace of mind as a top dressing only after the days start to get shorter.

I'm thinking that the bucket sitting in the hole on top of the clay pebbles will act like a wick system as the roots grow down through the holes. the soil doesn't drain here so maybe the watering runnoff will stay beneath in the hole for a few days hopefully lessening the chance of overwatering and lessening the need to water overall. They will just wait for the leaves to droop slightly and water with 4-4.5 gallons per plant.

What do you guys think? Will it work? Is it cool to top dress with Peace of Mind fertilizer when using the moonshine mix?

Will be using Chronic, NLxBB, and Supreme HP - mostly indicas so maybe they can get some fully formed buds this year. Last year the f-13, fighting buddha and vanilluna were stringy and malformed but then again they did get top dressed with some straight unmixed fish emulsion

 

[guest2012y]

Do you know what type of native soil it is where you are going to plant them? If it's decent just dig a 20 - 30 gallon hole and amend it. Feed with teas all summer and fall. That's what I do and my flowers are adequate and marketable.

 

[NUG-JUG]

Maybe the bucket should be scrapped for a big hole with a plastic tarp that has holes in it? If the soil isn't decent like cheese said than you can have issues with too small of a hole. The bigger the better.

Check this link.. http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda Chalker-Scott/Horticultural Myths_files/Myths/Amendments.pdf

I know it's not pot plants, but I still think it applies.

 

[Lisdexik]

It would be wise to save yourself the effort and just dig a large hole the ground imho.

You can pick up a 4Lb box of balanced organic fert powder at most hardware stores this time of year for $6-8. Ammend the hole w/ that to keep it simple and cheap.

You can always pick up a couple boxes of the fert powder and top dress / make tea with what remains after ammending the hole.

Lisdexik

 

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hole size to limit growth?

hole size to limit growth?

Thanks for the help. the soil here is 1 inch of topsoil that covers sand which becomes clay 2 feet down. so pretty much useless except for whatever micro beasties it contains. I think I'll ditch the buckets and dig some big ass holes lined with clay pebbles for drainage peat coco vermic mixed with the sandy clay for filler with some flowering amendments and castings for veg.

The thing is that babylon is constantly overhead during the summer so I don't want my plants to grow too big.
Should I stick with my big ass hole plan and just put the plants out later in the season- end of june?
Or do I need to keep the hole small to limit growth?

 

[Lisdexik]

If you have the ability to veg larger plants indoor, and do some topping/training, it might be wise to plant later in the season.

One adavantage with this method would be that you could still prepare the large hole outside early in the season, amend it well w/ a high P fert mix, and let it cook for a longer period of time, making more nutes avialable late in the flowering season within the medium for your babies.

If you do not have that facilities/security to veg larger plants indoors then you prob don't have a choice but to plant early if you want any kind of yield

hope this helps at all

Lisdexik