How to Keep your Cannabis Soil Healthy

Marijuana growing is a long and fruitful process that literally starts from the ground up. To make the best out of a harvest you want to start with having the best soil. Quality soil means you are going to have a quality product so it's advisable to invest in the best soil possible to ensure your plants are absorbing the right nutrients along every step of the way. The only problem is soil can be expensive, and when you are working on a budget, keeping up with your soil quality can quickly become an uphill battle. With that in mind, we want to show you how to make the best out of your soil while not over exerting your budget.

Turn-over

As you know, a poor quality soil can be easy to spot. Unfortunately, harvesting nutrient rich soil is not as easy as going to your backyard and scooping up plots of your backyard. If you are growing outdoors you might have already noticed the difference between good quality soil and dirt. However, that doesn't mean nothing can be done about it. The soil in your outdoor garden can be compat and feel clay-like in texture, or depending on the climate, you might be at the mercy of working with sand. Whatever the case, you can use the simple "turn-over" method to cycle the soil in your outdoor garden. This is done simply by digging a few feet and turning over the top soil into the ground while moving the dug up soil to the top layer. This will provide your plants with more nutrient rich soil while allowing the lower quality soil to recuperate its nutrients underground. Breaking up compact soil will allow your plants to more easily access the soil. This is a great first step to take when looking to restore the soil in your outdoor garden. The only problem is this a more labor intensive way of restoring your soil. It does require time and effort so if you live a busy life, you will have to set time aside from your day to really do the turn-over right.

Composting

The outdoors is a gold mine of compostable materials that are beneficial to the quality of your soil. Leaves, or grass clippings are a nutrient rich resource perfect for composting with. Save money on garden waste bags by collecting your garden waste after an afternoon of landscaping. Grass clippings, roots, weeds, leaves and any other green waste is perfect for composting. You can spread these materials along the top layer of your soil. Moisture is the key to composting. You can recreate a humid climate in your indoor grow space, or if you live in a naturally humid climate, the work is done for you. As the compost breaks down, nutrients will seep down into the soil thus creating suitable conditions for essential bacteria and microbes to develop. This is a great way to rejuvenate your soil for almost nothing. It might even give you that push you need to mow the lawn. The only downside is, for composting to be effective, there needs to be a humid climate. If you live in a naturally dry area, you might find it more difficult to get the composting process going. To circumvent this problem, some people may choose to do their composting inside, where they can manage the climate, then move it to its new home once the majority of the composting has been achieved.

Mulch

Mulch is a top layer of added material to soil which promotes beneficial nutrients. Mulch is most commonly found in the form of woodchips. If you've walked around town during the spring you might have noticed new vegetation is often accompanied by a heap of mulch. This for keeping larger predators at bay and for providing soil with good nutrients. The soil around your cannabis plant can benefit from a pile of mulch. It will help the soil better retain water and create a suitable home for beneficial organisms. You can get mulch pretty much free from your local tree management company or you can source it from a landscaping/ gardening center around your location. The only con is you will need a mode of transportation to move the mulch. While it's not heavy, it is large. Depending on how far you live from any gardening center, you might be in for the long wheelbarrow home.

Smart Pots

Before beginning your next grow, you might want to look at using fabric pots as a way to easily manage your soil quality during your grow process. Smart pots are easy to handle and they allow for better airflow to the soil during the grow process. There are many advantages to using fabric pots but for our purposes, the biggest benefit is managing air flow. Smart pots allow for all levels of soil in the pot to make contact with air. As opposed to traditional pots, where only the top layer can be effectively managed. Consider rigging up fans to blow CO2 directly into the fabric container and watch how your plant growth increases exponentially. The only downside to fabric pots is they are marginally more expensive to traditional clay or plastic pots and they do not retain water very well. If you are going to opt into using fabric pots to better manage airflow for the soil, you should also consider some sort of partnering tray to rest the pot on and collect any excess water.

Perlite

Perlite is a store-bought supplement that does not cost a lot and can noticeably increase the quality of you soil. Perlite is a volcanic rock that is unusually high in water content. With that, perlite makes a great companion to the soil in your plant's pot.

Watering

Adopting good watering habits it's is an entirely free way of promoting good soil health. Not over or under watering your plants is fully under your control. When over-watering your plants you run the risk of drowning them. Not only that, but you also change the way the vegetation grows on your plant. Consistently over watering your plant may cause more energy to be directed to the vegetation and less to the budding sites. As a result this could lead to a waste in valuable nutrients and fertilizer. Alternatively, under watering your plants may cause nutrient deficiencies, stunted flowering, and dry and brittle soil. Of course, dried out soil doesn't help anyone. Luckily, with the proper watering schedule, and well-earned experience, you'll have no problem giving your soil the hydration it needs.

Free Soil

It's never a bad idea to turn down free soil where possible. As redundant a it seems to list "free soil" as a way to improve soil quality but it can be an untapped resource in keeping your pots fully supplied. Keeping an eye out online for excess soil is always a good start or networking with local farmers to take extra off their hands is a good way to build lasting connections. Again a downside to this method is transportation. It never hurts to have a friend with a truck.

To summarize, cannabis growing is working process that starts from the ground up. Maintaining good quality soil for cheap is a great way to stay ahead of the game. Never feel discouraged if the quality of your soil is not up to par because there is always ways to improve it without breaking the bank. Using some of these tips to maintain a good quality soil will hopefully give you the added boost you need and keep you on the right track to growing good quality bud.