New Grower Soil and Ph - new grower seeking advice

[zombiedeath]

I will start my first stealth grow under CFLs soon. I am going soil based and would appreciate some advice on what potting soil to buy as well as advice on maintaining a healthy ph balance (I live in the UK in an area with 'hard' water which has a a high calcium content). The hard water raises ph levels (I think!).

 

[Red eyed c]

Hey mate,I'm uk too and there's lots of good soils to choose from.you can buy soil from b&q that's quite cheap or buy from a hydro shop.i use biobizz and found it to be ok,the ph run off has always stayed in the 6.2-6.5 range.they do a light mix which you can use for seeds as well as the whole grow or all mix which has nutes,i wouldnt start seeds in this one mate..there's also plant magic,canna and a few other good soils too choose from.some come heavily ferted too.with plant magic you could also run there nutes.there a uk based company and make nutes for hard and soft water :smokebuds:

 

[zombiedeath]

Thanks - are airpots that superior?

Thanks for your advice. I see you are using airpots in your latest grow. Do they make that much diference? I am taking care planning the grow so want to take advantage of all ideas to maximise yield and quality as well as minimising the flowering odour.

A bit more info - I have a chest of drawers being modified for me (94cm tall x 75cm wide x 40cm deep). It is having 2 cfls installed (6500 lumens each) with timers and yo-yo hangers, a small carbon filter, 2 permanent fans and 2 temperature controlled fans. I am going to grow using soil. The chest of drawers will have a circuit breaker installed for electrical safety.

Cheers

 

[Red eyed c]

I wouldn't say they are far superior to reg pots,but they do offer a lot more air flow to the root zone which is very beneficial.be sure to let the pots dry out between waterings as this increases the air flow to the roots and prevents over watering.for you tho there maybe not the best choice as they are quite tall pots and with you only having 96cm of hight a 3L airpot would eat nearly a 1/3 of that space up.and with your lights it wouldnt leave much space for the plant.some autos can grow very big mate

 

[zombiedeath]

Thanks - you comments have been taken on-board.