Growing a healthy plant and getting an excellent harvest from it is the dream of every grower. It is necessary to make efforts to this fascinating process and the result will not be long in coming.
Choosing the right marijuana potting soil is half the battle on the road to a bountiful harvest. Before you buy soil for hemp, you need to understand all its subtleties. The plant itself is one of the hardiest. Cannabis can withstand frost, drought, gusts of wind, downpours, and other weather challenges. But often they are accompanied by a significant loss of yield (from 10%). Therefore, the grower needs to take care of his plant and give him only the best: 12 hours of uninterrupted light during flowering, filtered water, moderate humidity, and most importantly quality cannabis soil.
How to choose the right soil for hemp
Properly selected soil composition for marijuana can play a major role not only in quantity, but also in the quality of the crop.
Ideal composition of the substrate:
- Chornozem - 50%;
- Garden soil - 20%;
- Coconut fiber - 20%;
- Vermiculite - 10%.
Chernozem is an excellent conductor of moisture and is rich in trace elements that are necessary for the bush during the growing season. The garden soil already contains the basic fertilizers, which are enough for a month of the full life of cannabis. Coconut fiber is an essential part of the ideal substrate for hemp. With its help, water circulates perfectly and does not stagnate, thereby reducing the risk of fungal diseases. Vermiculite plays the role of drainage, it can be replaced with perlite.
Whether marijuana grows indoors or outdoors, the soil needs to be checked.
Outdoors, cannabis is more likely to get sick or get attacked by insects. To prevent this from happening, you need to buy soil. Manufacturers make sure that the soil does not contain pests, bacteria, impurities that do not benefit and mycelium of fungi.
What soil to buy for marijuana
In order not to bother and spend a lot of time searching and mixing all types of soil, experienced growers recommend the best substrate for indoor cultivation (greenhouses, indoors, growboxes).
- Plagron LightMix soil mix;
- Plagron GrowMix soil mix.
This mixture contains:
Carefully selected fertilizers, which are enough for three weeks of active plant growth; peat admixture, it is necessary for the germination and vegetation of cannabis.
- pH (EN13037): 5.9 - 7.2;
- E.C. (1:1.5): 1.0 - 1.5 mS/cm;
- Mineral fertilizers 1.8 kg/m³;
- (NPK 12-14-24).
Basic requirements for a cannabis substrate
The soil can be a decisive link in the quantity and quality of the crop. Incorrectly selected soil can provoke plant stress, or cause the death of the root system and the bush as a whole.
In order to choose the right soil for hemp, you need to take into account some indicators.
- Acidity level pH (5.5 - 6.5);
- EC soil conductivity level;
- Soil composition;
- The presence and level of micro- and macronutrients.
The soil for growing hemp should have a neutral level of acidity. After all, if there is a lot of acid in the soil, then the plant will not be able to grow further and will simply “burn out”, thus the loss of the entire crop is inevitable. If the acidity is not enough, then the bush will develop very slowly and will not give the desired results. To measure the pH level in the soil you can use litmus papers or a pH meter.
The electrical conductivity of the soil is responsible for the amount of nutrients in the soil. Due to a deficiency, cannabis will lose crops and fail to grow and develop, and a large amount will stress the plant, and it will not be able to develop and take in nutrients normally.
The composition of the soil is the main indicator, whether water stagnates will depend on it. Most diseases are associated with stagnant water, and their treatment takes a long time. Any disease, even a minor one, can adversely affect the yield and its quality.
We remind you that the cultivation of marijuana seeds is prohibited in Ukraine. We do not encourage the cultivation of prohibited plants, where it is punishable by law.
