Backpacker420

Soon I will be transplanting my plants into the ground. I've found the perfect spot, it offers good security, privacy, and gets a lot of good sun. I will rip out all the vegetation, cultivate the earth, and mix in a bag of Fox Farm Ocean Forest.

1) What else can I add in to the site to help promote maximum health, growth, and yield?
2) Anything else that is important?
3) How do I feed plants that are planted directly in the ground?

BCgrower

A mistake i made this year was planting the plants to close to each other in the ground, make sure there at least 1/2 to 2 feet apart because the plants roots will tangle and they wont grow as big and healthy also throw some perlite in with your fox farms for extra drainage.

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Clone

Add some peat moss, perlite, some composted manure, and maybe a pinch of lime. If you can afford it, worm castings are wonderful to add aswell.

You can mess around with adding stuff like blood and bone meal, kelp meal etc. for food, but these can lead to animal problems. Just use a basic liquid fert and use it when you water.

Ur biggest worry is probably animals. put up a perimeter of fishing line to keep out deer, and sprinkle some chopped up hot peppers around the base of the plants. other things work aswell so do some experimenting.

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growing outdoors all the time
I throw stones

Backpacker420

Do I want to add worm castings when it is already included in the FF Ocean Forest?

tripps

I'd advise no closer than 10', you really don't want to have them stand out like a patch, those are the ones that get spotted, bare earth is a dead give away. I have 25 spread out in a ragged line prob 200' long, in a hedgerow. Just clear enough around them that they don't get shaded, maybe 3' or so. I scrimped this year and only cleared around 2' diameter, and didn't visit for 3 weeks, and they almost got choked out!

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I may very well be laughing at you, not with you.

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance-it is the illusion of knowledge"-Daniel Boorstin

"Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand." John Gay

Hi! It's me... the girl from the bus...Remember? The last tour? Well...Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST...Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct).

"If I cannot laugh in Heaven, I do not wish to go there."- Martin Luther

First journal Soil
Second journal Hempy
Third Journal Ebb and Flow

outdoors

You can get as complicated as you like with soil amendments and fertilizers.
Depends on time and money....

If I were going to mix in just one amendment it would be compost. A big bag of compost in each hole will make your plants happy for a long time.
Once flowering time hits you can water in some guano's or other water soluble flowering ferts.

Peace- OD

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tripps

Forgot to mention, only soil amendment I used myself was a teaspoon of polymer crystals mixed in with the native soil in the bottom of the hole, but my area is muckland, known for rich topsoil. Plus I'm too old and tired to be hoofing bags of soil into the field.

__________________
I may very well be laughing at you, not with you.

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance-it is the illusion of knowledge"-Daniel Boorstin

"Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand." John Gay

Hi! It's me... the girl from the bus...Remember? The last tour? Well...Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST...Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct).

"If I cannot laugh in Heaven, I do not wish to go there."- Martin Luther

First journal Soil
Second journal Hempy
Third Journal Ebb and Flow

outdoors

you make it sound so bad tripps... I know you are not that old.... tired maybe...

Peace- OD

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ILLEGAL-SEED

how many plants? oceanforest gets expensive. it will only give you 2 nice, or one big holes. you should make your own mix, or buy promix or sunshine mix soils. atleast 3 huge, or 5-7 nice holes, for about 5 bucks less. i like to use grow bags and put them into the ground, to avoid other plants roots in my soil, and to make sure all my water stays with that plant. also, if theres a lot of bugs, you may not want leaves on the ground or touching other plants.

Clone

they dont sell foxfarm stuff where i am, and if they do i've never seen it.. but by looking online it is pretty expensive stuff! Seems to work pretty good because i've heard alot of people using it with good results.

My concern with it is first the cost, and second the weight. With outdoor plants, you want to make big holes. the bigger the better. I'd want at bare minimum a 5 gallon hole, 20 gallon prefered. That much foxfarm ocean would cost a pretty penny, and hauling it there would take a trip per plant, maybe 2 plants per trip if ur strong. Another thing is that ocean mix has crab and shrimp meal in it. Like i said i've never used it but my experience with animal based meal is that animals will dig like crazy to investigate the smell. I'd suggest leaving a bag of ocean mix out in ur plot for a couple weeks to see if anything rips the bag to shreds.

What I do is use promix, or peat moss bales. They come in compressed 3.8 cubic foot bales. If you can handle it, 1 bale will fit in a hockey bag and you can haul it on ur back. The promix bales are usually dry and stored inside, which makes it possible to haul a whole bale on ur back. The peat is more often left outside and can get heavy, so try to find the dry stuff.

1 bale will fill about 5 holes at 10 gallons each, more if you mix it with the existing soil. Then all I add is about half a bag of worm castings per hole and stir it into the top 12 inches. (about 5 litres per hole) you can also bring in some perlite which is super light to carry. Promix doesnt need any, but you can add some for extra drainage. ur holes will dry out sooner if you do. if you use just peatmoss (way cheaper) you want to add more perlite, around 20%, and a pinch of lime to balance the ph.

If you have the cash, you can add more castings. If not, like me, you can add an equal amount of composted cattle or sheep manure. The castings and manure will keep your plants happy with no need to feed for atleast the first month. After that you can start feeding with whatever fertilizer you choose to mix with ur water. Start with a half strenght dose, and a week later if everything looks strong and green, feed again at full strength.

Outdoor plants get pretty big, and when you feed them, alot of the nutes run off or get used by surrounding plants. Because of this, i tend to work my way up to 2 x strength feedings and sometimes greater. It all depends on the plants, just be careful and work up!

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growing outdoors all the time
I throw stones