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Your medium is the foundation of your grow. Start with kak, and it will end with kak. I use Freedom Farms Formula One. I've also used their Classic before, but switched because I prefer using salts. The guys at FF put a lot of pride into their work and it shows. Rather pay that little bit extra.

'Olla Bromigos! Getting started a little later this year than last, rain around this time in my neck of the woods played havoc with seedlings last year. For this Season I am firmly in the Local is Lekker corner, and will be running a bunch of @Totemicand some @Bay Seeds sourced a while ago from the Legends at @Cannabist. Thank you all for the great deal and freebies! Very grateful and super keen So here we go! Up first 2 each of: Totemic - Green Gelato. Reg Totemic -Strawberry Deluxe. Fem Totemic - Strawberry Sugar Cookies. Fem Bay Seeds - AK Royal x Lemon Jedi X Choc Gelato. Reg Totemic - Gelato x Cherry CBD. Reg All seeds soaking since 4PMish, dechlorinated water with a spritz of Biodyne and BioBizz Root juice. Some king sized seeds, some so big they got stuck in the container and needed prying out. Very keen to get started! Some will go straight into pots from here, others via ziploc and paper towel route. Don't have enough side plates to separate 5 diff strains in paper towels etc. Will give the Fems the special treatment and let the Regs go au natural.

This my biggest expense now between grows is the medium I choose to buy. One thing to note in general though, if a bag says 30L it's probably closer to like 25L. So if you're looking to fill 4 x 15L pots you would realistically need 3 x 30L and not 2 bags. So I voted to get same amount in the bag for cheaper, because I also don't want to lug around anything bigger than the 30L bags anyways!

Good day Family, Out of curiosity, when buying soil, which would you prefer... 1. Enough soil in the bag to fill a 30L fabric pot 2. The same amount in the bag, as everyone, but for cheaper Thank you taking the time, and think I know the outcome, but still curious.

I would use a RAM 6' for a 1.2x1.2 and an appropriate 6' filter if required.

Yea, most certainly. Watering after putting soil in the pot helps to compact it a bit. Lots of reasons not to use weight for soil. Therefore liters makes a bit more sense.

I saw that Vtronic fan and own a RAM fan too and some AC Infinity fans. The Vtronic fan is priced nicely, but I do not believe it has any speed setting, where the RAM fan has a low speed and high speed. AC Infinity has 10 speed settings. I decided to rather wait and get another RAM fan later on to replace my 6" with an 8"

I guess as a soil absorbs water, it expands in size and therefore in liters. Like coco, you can purchase a 5KG brick and it is small in size but then expands to 50L+ when added to water. I think it is fine to keep the size the same but reduce the price. People are use to 30L bags for soil. Coco typically comes in different sizes, typically 45L to 60L so no standard there really. Makes sense to state that the bag is x L when at a specific moisture percentage though. Also how compact the soil is plays a role too, I always fill up my pots, shake them and bang them on the floor and then top them up again.

sjoe, an 8" extractor for a 1.2x1.2 - it has the power, but you will need to run it slow or get some passive air intakes from secret Jardin maybe. the sucking pressure it creates can damage your tent and wear the zips out more.

I usually buy soil bags in quantity 5 and up ^^ one pot does not compute, Sir

The bag size has to be manageable weight wise for me. Anything over 30kg becomes a back problem. Sent from my S40 using Tapatalk

each blend of soil will have an average weight per ton/kg. water is 1kg per 1l , and soil is nowhere that heavy.... so for soils with a coco blend, i would say less than 500g per l isnt too far off

Correct, then if I may out understand, how much, weight does 30L soil total? This is the question, as a 25L bucket is knee high, and a 30L pot is half the bucket, and a 30L soil of anywhere, doesn't reach the top of most bags,

like most things that are "Dry packaged", it is more on weight than it is on volume

I've been toying with the idea of buying a ''premium'' brand bag of soil, something light for a nice auto I want to grow. My first idea is wanting something like freedom farms classic, and then building up the nutrients with topdressing as I go along the way, I like this idea and it will be easy enough to have a nice vigorous plant without having the plant flower early with some caution. Then I realized their are many different quality autos and this specific one is the Pluto Cut from Ethos. They got these genetics quite right in that department, one breeder explained they were able to introduce hardier sativas less prone to these types of stresses, So I'm back in the I want more overall nutrients. I'm kinda undecided for now, but I am probably purchasing a bag of soil soon. Maybe the less is more approach is the Sexiest. @Prom Cheers boeti

Day 1 update. Soaked for 24hrs. Fems into paper towel Regs direct to soil as promised. Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

yeah like a 30L bag is our "general measurement" and is more accurate than saying 30kg bag like Psy said. ok ok lets see, so I wouldn't mind if they just filled up the 30L bag but kept the price the same, seems like that would be the easier thing to do. I agree about not wanting a bigger bag though, so just that little bit at the top, I don't know if thats gona be enough to fill the 30L material pot. if I had a old plastic FF bag laying around I would've checked as I have a couple bins of it recycled, can fill a bag to the brim then throw it all in a pot and see how much it will be. although, as you already know it will compact in the pot over time after many waterings.

I had a Ram 6inch for my 1.2mx1.2m I just found it very noisy. Switched to AC infinity S6 with Controller 67,best investment I've made, very quiet on low settings and can monitor conditions on a graph.

Yeah, exactly, like your favorite, FF telling you, we can give you the same amount, for less at X, or a little more for the same price?

Agreed, but you can call a Litre a size, just the same as a cube, wet or dry.

watering also causes compaction, like our pots always seem to have less and less soil in the longer you been watering it down, so it can just aswell shrink the medium in size

I like the taste of the same size bag for cheaper flavour ...the bag I use now happens to be ff and I think important to note I am not moving to another brand because it will be cheaper only, it has to be the same quality too so the answer isn't just one or the other for me and I don't think for most of us, sorry we went off topic brother!

what about cubes? I don't mean we must measure the soil in cubic cm, I think in general a certain amount of soil is easier to guage by "the size" of it. like a certain size bag filled to the top will only be able to have that amount in, if you put wet soil dry soil heavy soil light soil, you fill it up and call it "a full bag of soil". because of the fact that we're dealing with soil we can't really call it Liter or Kilograms, because it's not always gona weigh the same.

there is no standard man there are hundreds of parts to a soil mix. What you seem to be understanding is a ford and a porche both have four wheels so why call it is different things...they are both cars right? they are obviously not in the slightest the same thing, other than similarities. same with soil. if you have 1 part perlite (VERY light stuff) 1 part coco (very light material) 1 part compost (dense heavy material) thats one way to mix a SOIL but what if you have 2 parts perlite, 2 parts coco and 1 part compost? the weight per liter will differ from brand to brand and if the soil is not mixed properly, then even from bag to bag

I'm trying to make sense if you will, of how a Litre can be anything less than a Litre, Like saying a Kg of Sand is different to feathers, when the only thing that changes is the size, not weight. But soil, can be less than a Litre, but still be a L, and weight less than 1 L What standard does one use?

no sweat man! the more coco blends have the light coco in them, where the less coco blends with more grainy sand and compost with it, will be heavier because of the ratio of the blend. even from bag to bag it may differ (they should have had a better mixing method to ensure a more even packaging process) but it does happen

i think im starting to get your question you are in the process of maybe building your own product and are just asking the questions perhaps? maybe different options? 20l at a set price, 30l, 40l and then eventually the market research will show you that the 30l option is the best seller, and then you can scrap the other options

Some bags have more weight and yet they the same volume out, which is why ask, to understand and not be funny or with intent

I'm trying to understand if people would prefer more in a bag, to not have to purchase 3x bags of soil to comfortably fill up x2 of some branded 30L fabric pots. Or happy to have the same size, and then obviously the cost wouldnt be as much as the 40L version as it's less.

personally, i go where its cheapest and deal with the results. i started with 5 or so bricks of coco, cost me practically nothing, and slowly started adding Additives to it, and now i have a sweet blend of coco that shines every time. @The_StonedTrooper i understand your question, but fail to see its practicality if there is no brand or product to apply it to. i personally dont use fabric pots, but 30l is not standard size pot for most people. so if you asked me about a 20l fabric pot, i would tell you that i would much rather buy a 20l bag over a 30l bag, and id go for a 40l bag over 2x 30l bags still not sure about price question if there is no product to link it to tho.

Sorry lol, Yes I was thinking get a 30l bag to fill a 30L pot,

Thank you for you honest opinion

Thank you, great feedback on FF. I think its slightly off topic, and wasnt asking about soil brands, or types, or who's bag is best or bigger Was only wondering, if you would prefer more at the same cost in the bag, or the same amount for less, which ever your flavor or taste. Thank you family for the information so far, it already shows me that a market, would prefer to pay less, and keep the same size, than get more for the same price, even if the rand per Litre stayed the same.

hmmmm I have to say, I don't fully agree with that... I feel the importance of good soil trumps the importance of a good light, and we all know how heavy a kak light can impact a grow. now just imagine kak soil... last thing I wana save a few bucks on is soil. I would gladly rather cough up an extra R30 - R50 for something that'll completely flip my growing experience for the better. there are a lot of examples on this forum alone. such as the "promix" from builders warehouse in a recent thread. there has also been documented "420mix" soil grow that had to be exchanged for freedom farms because in fact a good price does not mean it's a good product. high pricing also doesn't equate to quality in the least, I had the "pleasure" of trying out some Just Cannabis soil when it was all the hype. Paid R200 a bag and it claims you can finish a whole grow with just water... A week in the soil and all I saw was toast. pricing is not a good guidance when looking at quality. and that's what you want, quality. It's gona be hard for a new brand to take my support away from Freedom Farms, because I feel the 3 most important things when buying soil is quality, reputability and consistency. Something I've only gotten true to form from Freefom Farms. For me to stop supporting FF and move over to something new, the new brand will have to provide a better grow experience than in FF for atleast 3 to 5 grows in a row. then they got my support. they can be a bit more expensive than FF too I'll still buy it, because it's an improvement over the already exsisting product. if you could get FF to just make their bags either bigger or cheaper that'll work too

Howzit bru. As much as i would like to support our fellow entrepreneurs, price will always be the deciding factor in determining which brand i would buy. Value for money is where it's at.

hi bud, hope all is well your side, sorry if I am not undersranding correctly, but you asking if we would like the current size bags we getting all over the show to be cheaper or to make bigger bags with more soil in that'll cost the same as the current bag size? I was under the impression that the freedom farm bags are enough to fill their 30L pots.

what's up devil boy @David666 if you really wana understand the science behind your situation you going to have to do some more research on the following 4 topics - genetics - phenotype - plant morphology - plant plasticity plants will never grow exactly the same anyway, though you do have some problems at hand aswell, so I agree with the guys, focus on something else for your next grow. my suggestions would be 1 - Get yourself some FreedomFarms green bag, the soil you have there is causing more questions and guessing games than it is helping you to grow weed. 2 - Get some photoperiod plants, I would suggest some fiminized seeds from a reliable source. Autos are for the seasoned growers, they are so full of kak I have not even attempted one at all. I feel if you don't do everything 100% you're at more of a loss than anything. 3. Ph and EC pens, for sure takes out a hell of a lot of guessing and playing around, but then again you can test a shitty soil 100 times and make changes, bit the overall composition of your soil could be shit and then testing wont help at all. e.g. just by the looks of it I can say there is way too much bark in that soil and no amount of testing will tell you that.

Missed the Auto part [emoji23] makes a lot of sense now! Ja nee. Agree, could be many many things, from Soil through to seeds and everything in between. I was personally super unimpressed with the Autos I have grown out, some of them stayed tiny tiny. I knocked one pot over while they were babies, the bloody thing sommer stunted, stopped growing, and flowered at around 10cms high with less than 12 leaves. [emoji1787][emoji1787] They can be very finicky. As Crex said, chalk this one up to experience and hope for better next round [emoji106] A good place to start would probably be some proper purpose made cannabis soil. Also a PH/EC pen if you dont have one (cant believe I'm writing this because I still dont have one yet -pricy!) This will help a lot seeing as you already have some very cool toys already [emoji106] Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

He’s running auto’s…. Are they really that affected by light cycle? I’m mean I see they are flowering… early…. I worry about that builders soil, and notice humidity at 10% (?!) on the hygrometer. My guess is stressed plants due to improper EC / PH, possible over watering or / and over feeding at seedling stage. Possibly that 450w light was too bright early on? So many variables, but this is how we learn. Myself I dig the tech side of growing but I’m still learning the plant man. It’s that green thumb which some people just have and others like myself have to learn. Honestly 2 years ago I couldn’t even grow mould on old bread without killing it. Good luck!