are water only soils any good for autoflowers?

[Larry Live]

Hello everyone, hope you all are good.
I plan on growing some autoflowers later in the year indoors.
I was just curious on what you think about water only soils.
I see the most popular seems to be kind soil and kiss soil.
I know you can mix your own soil, but I rather just buy soil thats already in a bag.
Are these any good for autoflowers?

 

[derek420colorado]

Hello everyone, hope you all are good.
I plan on growing some autoflowers later in the year indoors.
I was just curious on what you think about water only soils.
I see the most popular seems to be kind soil and kiss soil.
I know you can mix your own soil, but I rather just buy soil thats already in a bag.
Are these any good for autoflowers?

I used kind soil and loved it, both kiss and kind soils work great for autos!

 

[LittleMT]

All soil should be water only. We have to define what soil is. Soil is full of biology, tiny microbes and fungi, if a soil whether it is a personal mix or anything in a bag, doesn't have biology, then it is simply dirt. In soil grows one should feed the soil, and not the plant..... Feeding the soil means inoculating with fungi, microbes, giving them occasional molasses. It is the microbes that will colonize the root zone that will feed the plants... This is what happens in nature, and has since life began. The microbes form a symbiotic relationship with the plant. The plant sends sugars to feed the microbes whom in turn eat, poop, die, while living in the rhizosphere and making nutrient available to the plant, such as Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Iron....... The microbes if kept in a aerobic state also ward of diseases, virus's, and pest...and they regulate soil PH. These wonderful creatures do it all. If you grow in a soil and insist on feeding with synthetic nutes you cause harm in several ways. One if the plant has synthetic nutes always available it will quit sending sugars to the microbes, causing colonies to die, two the salts from synthetics are very harmful to the microbes and biology in the soil. This salt build up that folks post about on these forums, KILLS your soil biology. I could spend hours on this subject, as there is vast learning and information on the Soil web food chain but will get to your original question. The soil from KIS will work for a autoflower though I would still add some microbes and fungi, although KIS does as well. If one prefers to feed with synthetics and use some feeding sched, they would be better of growing in coco as opposed to a soil that is full of biology.

I personally do water only grows with a mixture of Fox Farm Happy Frog, Ocean Forrest, Coco Loco and some Vermiculite (great source of silica). What makes my mixture good, is the biology in the soil and not any name on a bag. It works on both Autos and Photoperiods. What I find over and over and over, is somebody burning a plant trying to grow in soil, using synthetic nutes and then blaming the soil. In nature where these plants grow, nobody is running around watering in synthetics, rather the soil web food chain is doing the work, as it has since life began.

 

[420Forever]

All soil should be water only. We have to define what soil is. Soil is full of biology, tiny microbes and fungi, if a soil whether it is a personal mix or anything in a bag, doesn't have biology, then it is simply dirt. In soil grows one should feed the soil, and not the plant..... Feeding the soil means inoculating with fungi, microbes, giving them occasional molasses. It is the microbes that will colonize the root zone that will feed the plants... This is what happens in nature, and has since life began. The microbes form a symbiotic relationship with the plant. The plant sends sugars to feed the microbes whom in turn eat, poop, die, while living in the rhizosphere and making nutrient available to the plant, such as Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Iron....... The microbes if kept in a aerobic state also ward of diseases, virus's, and pest...and they regulate soil PH. These wonderful creatures do it all. If you grow in a soil and insist on feeding with synthetic nutes you cause harm in several ways. One if the plant has synthetic nutes always available it will quit sending sugars to the microbes, causing colonies to die, two the salts from synthetics are very harmful to the microbes and biology in the soil. This salt build up that folks post about on these forums, KILLS your soil biology. I could spend hours on this subject, as there is vast learning and information on the Soil web food chain but will get to your original question. The soil from KIS will work for a autoflower though I would still add some microbes and fungi, although KIS does as well. If one prefers to feed with synthetics and use some feeding sched, they would be better of growing in coco as opposed to a soil that is full of biology.

I personally do water only grows with a mixture of Fox Farm Happy Frog, Ocean Forrest, Coco Loco and some Vermiculite (great source of silica). What makes my mixture good, is the biology in the soil and not any name on a bag. It works on both Autos and Photoperiods. What I find over and over and over, is somebody burning a plant trying to grow in soil, using synthetic nutes and then blaming the soil. In nature where these plants grow, nobody is running around watering in synthetics, rather the soil web food chain is doing the work, as it has since life began.

nature for the win! ppp

 

[cubfaninmo]

All soil should be water only. We have to define what soil is. Soil is full of biology, tiny microbes and fungi, if a soil whether it is a personal mix or anything in a bag, doesn't have biology, then it is simply dirt. In soil grows one should feed the soil, and not the plant..... Feeding the soil means inoculating with fungi, microbes, giving them occasional molasses. It is the microbes that will colonize the root zone that will feed the plants... This is what happens in nature, and has since life began. The microbes form a symbiotic relationship with the plant. The plant sends sugars to feed the microbes whom in turn eat, poop, die, while living in the rhizosphere and making nutrient available to the plant, such as Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Iron....... The microbes if kept in a aerobic state also ward of diseases, virus's, and pest...and they regulate soil PH. These wonderful creatures do it all. If you grow in a soil and insist on feeding with synthetic nutes you cause harm in several ways. One if the plant has synthetic nutes always available it will quit sending sugars to the microbes, causing colonies to die, two the salts from synthetics are very harmful to the microbes and biology in the soil. This salt build up that folks post about on these forums, KILLS your soil biology. I could spend hours on this subject, as there is vast learning and information on the Soil web food chain but will get to your original question. The soil from KIS will work for a autoflower though I would still add some microbes and fungi, although KIS does as well. If one prefers to feed with synthetics and use some feeding sched, they would be better of growing in coco as opposed to a soil that is full of biology.

I personally do water only grows with a mixture of Fox Farm Happy Frog, Ocean Forrest, Coco Loco and some Vermiculite (great source of silica). What makes my mixture good, is the biology in the soil and not any name on a bag. It works on both Autos and Photoperiods. What I find over and over and over, is somebody burning a plant trying to grow in soil, using synthetic nutes and then blaming the soil. In nature where these plants grow, nobody is running around watering in synthetics, rather the soil web food chain is doing the work, as it has since life began.

Thanks for that explanation! Do you mind letting me know what ratios of those you use for your mixture?

 

[LittleMT]

3 cups of OF, 3 of HF, and 1 of Coco...and handfuls of Vermiculite and I mix in a bag till full whether it be a 3 gallon or 20 gallon, sprinkling in some additional Mycorrhiza inoculants... It can be time consuming but playing with the soil is therapeutic to me.... I use FOX Farm products because they are available locally to me for a rather decent price..... But under stand this, any soil bag you buy, even the water only soil from KIS, when you get the bag mix it up, as contents shift and move in the bag when its made and during shipping, ect....and you could maybe scooping out a hot part of the mix......So even if you get a pre mixed bag, make sure you mix it prior to use to ensure a even distribution of all its ingredients...do this with any soil......

 

[cubfaninmo]

3 cups of OF, 3 of HF, and 1 of Coco...and handfuls of Vermiculite and I mix in a bag till full whether it be a 3 gallon or 20 gallon, sprinkling in some additional Mycorrhiza inoculants... It can be time consuming but playing with the soil is therapeutic to me.... I use FOX Farm products because they are available locally to me for a rather decent price..... But under stand this, any soil bag you buy, even the water only soil from KIS, when you get the bag mix it up, as contents shift and move in the bag when its made and during shipping, ect....and you could maybe scooping out a hot part of the mix......So even if you get a pre mixed bag, make sure you mix it prior to use to ensure a even distribution of all its ingredients...do this with any soil......

I’ll give that a try.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

All soil should be water only. We have to define what soil is. Soil is full of biology, tiny microbes and fungi, if a soil whether it is a personal mix or anything in a bag, doesn't have biology, then it is simply dirt. In soil grows one should feed the soil, and not the plant..... Feeding the soil means inoculating with fungi, microbes, giving them occasional molasses. It is the microbes that will colonize the root zone that will feed the plants... This is what happens in nature, and has since life began. The microbes form a symbiotic relationship with the plant. The plant sends sugars to feed the microbes whom in turn eat, poop, die, while living in the rhizosphere and making nutrient available to the plant, such as Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Iron....... The microbes if kept in a aerobic state also ward of diseases, virus's, and pest...and they regulate soil PH. These wonderful creatures do it all. If you grow in a soil and insist on feeding with synthetic nutes you cause harm in several ways. One if the plant has synthetic nutes always available it will quit sending sugars to the microbes, causing colonies to die, two the salts from synthetics are very harmful to the microbes and biology in the soil. This salt build up that folks post about on these forums, KILLS your soil biology. I could spend hours on this subject, as there is vast learning and information on the Soil web food chain but will get to your original question. The soil from KIS will work for a autoflower though I would still add some microbes and fungi, although KIS does as well. If one prefers to feed with synthetics and use some feeding sched, they would be better of growing in coco as opposed to a soil that is full of biology.

I personally do water only grows with a mixture of Fox Farm Happy Frog, Ocean Forrest, Coco Loco and some Vermiculite (great source of silica). What makes my mixture good, is the biology in the soil and not any name on a bag. It works on both Autos and Photoperiods. What I find over and over and over, is somebody burning a plant trying to grow in soil, using synthetic nutes and then blaming the soil. In nature where these plants grow, nobody is running around watering in synthetics, rather the soil web food chain is doing the work, as it has since life began.

Does salt really kill microbes? I've seen otherwise and plant biology seems to think differently. If one can use a synthetic nutrient source like MC and add beneficial bacteria in a soiless medium how is the rhizosphere still being colonized? I don't see how or why a plant would withhold carbohydrates from the root zone just because a readily available ion was present. Just not seeing how soil would be damaged by salts unless you overdid it but that would be true for any method.

Salts Don't Kill Plants or Microbes - Garden Myths

Fertilizer salts don't kill plants. People fear synthetic fertilizers but they add the same nutrients to soil as organic fertilizers. Find out the truth.

www.gardenmyths.com

Friendly fungi benefit 80% of all plant species

Mycorrhizae are beneficial soil organisms used in all kinds of crops to help maximize plant performance. The company Mycorrhizal Applications produces and researches commercial mycorrhizae.…

www.hortidaily.com

 

[LittleMT]

Elaine Ingham in this video claims that salt does kill microbes. Go to 1920 of this video.. The entire video though address your other concern, this wonderful woman has many videos out there..... The world beneath our feet is absolutely incredible......

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Elaine Ingham in this video claims that salt does kill microbes. Go to 1920 of this video.. The entire video though address your other concern, this wonderful woman has many videos out there..... The world beneath our feet is absolutely incredible......

She claims it but that is all. She makes a few vague claims that a perusing of plant biology books would debunk. Mineral based fertilizers can be just as harmful as organic ones when not used in moderation.

So again I ask, if mineral based fertilizers kill microbial populations than how is it possible for there to be colonization in soiless mediums that predominantly use mineral fertilizers?

.
While we are on the topic of the effects of inputs on the soil, let’s look at synthetic fertilizers. They too are implicated in “killing the soil.” We are again fortunate to have a recent meta-analysis of 107 data sets from 64 long-term trials (duration of the trials ranged from 5 to 130 years, averaging 37 years) from around the world (Geisseler and Scow 2014). They concluded “that mineral fertilizer application led to a 15.1% increase in the microbial biomass above levels in unfertilized control treatments. Mineral fertilization also increased soil organic carbon content. From the Bunemann review, “There was little evidence for significant direct effects of mineral fertilisers on soil organisms, whereas the main indirect effects were shown to be an increase in biological activity with increasing plant productivity, crop residue inputs, and soil organic matter levels….” Nitrogen fertilizer, in particular, is often beneficial to soils because nitrogen supply often limits natural plant production. When we add nitrogen in agricultural systems, productivity increases, more plant material (biomass) is produced and so, in time, soil organic matter increases. This then increases microbial levels in the soil. This suggests that fertilizers, rather than “killing the soil” can sometimes enhance it.

Even where there is a toxic effect because of high concentration of fertilizer, such as with banding, these effects are both spatially limited, and “decrease within a few days or weeks in aerated soil due to nitrification and plant uptake.” Geisseler and Scow state, “[ammonia] concentrations at most times and in most locations, are likely far below levels toxic to microorganisms.”

Comparing effects of herbicides, fertilizers, and tillage on the soil | CSANR | Washington State University

csanr.wsu.edu