Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible

manure.

Peat moss is available in bags or compressed bales.

Coco bricks are ideal for guerilla growers. They expand to nine times their original size when wet

Coconut peat is becoming very popular among growers.

Rent a commercial cement mixer to mix large quantities of soil.
    Rich, thoroughly composted organic matter amends texture and supplies nutrients. Leaf mold, garden compost (at least one year old), and many types of thoroughly composted manure usually contain enough nitrogen for their decomposition needs and release nitrogen rather than using it. Purchase quality organic amendments at a reputable nursery. Look carefully at the descriptive text on the bag to see if it is sterilized and is guaranteed to contain no harmful insects: larvae, eggs, and fungi or bad microorganisms. Contaminated soil causes many problems that are easily averted by using a clean mix.
    Garden compost and leaf mold are usually rich in organic nutrients and beneficial organisms that speed nutrient uptake, but they can be full of harmful pests and diseases, too. For example, compost piles are a favorite breeding ground for cutworms and beetle larvae. Just one cutworm in a container means certain death for the defenseless marijuana plant. Garden compost is best used in outdoor gardens and not indoors. See below for more information on garden compost.
    Manure: Barnyard manure, a great fertilizer for outdoor gardens, often contains toxic levels of salt and copious quantities of weed seeds and fungus spores that disrupt an indoor garden. If using manure, purchase it in bags that guarantee its contents. There are many kinds of manure: cow, horse, rabbit, and chicken, etc. See Chapter Eleven for a complete rundown on manures, all of which help retain water and improve soil texture when used as soil amendments. When mixing manures as amendments, do not add more than 10-15 percent, to avoid salt buildup and overfertilization. The nutrient content of manures varies, depending upon the animal’s diet and the decomposition factors.
    Peat is the term used to describe partially decomposed vegetation. The decay has been slowed by the wet and cold conditions of the northern United States and Canada where it is found in vast bogs. The most common types of peat are formed from sphagnum and hypnummosses. These peats are harvested and used to amend soil and can be used as a growing medium. Peat moss is very dry, and difficult to wet the first time, unless you bought it wet. Wet peat is heavy and awkward to transport. When adding peat moss as a soil amendment, cut your workload by dry-mixing all of the components before wetting. Use a wetting agent. Another trick to mixing peat moss is to kick the sack a few times to break up the bale before opening.
    Peat tends to break down and should be used for only one crop.
    Sphagnum peat moss is light brown and the most common peat found at commercial nurseries. This bulky peat gives soil body and retains water well, absorbing 15 to 30 times its own weight. It contains essentially no nutrients of its own, and the pH ranges from 3-5. After decomposing for several months, the pH could continue to drop and become very acidic. Counter this propensity for acidity and stabilize the pH by adding fine dolomite lime to the mix.
    Hypnum peat moss is more decomposed and darker in color with pH from 5.0 to 7.0. This peat moss is less common and contains some nutrients. Hypnum peat is a good soil amendment, even though it cannot hold as much water as sphagnum moss.
    Coconut fiber is also called palm peat, coco peat, cocos, kokos, and coir. Coir is coconut pith, the fibery part just under the heavy husk. Pith is soaked in water up to nine months to remove salts, natural resins, and gums in a process called retting. Next, they beat the straw-brown coir to extract the husk.
    Coir is biodegradable and a good medium for propagation through flowering and fruit growth. Coir holds lots of water while maintaining structure. It is durable, rot-resistant, and a good insulator, too. It is inexpensive, easy to control, and holds lots of air.
    Washed, pressed blocks or bricks of coir are virtually inert. Bricks weigh about 1.3-2.2 pounds (0.6-1 kg.) The pH is between 5.5 and 6.8. Some of the best coconut coir is from the interior of the Philippine Islands, where the environment is not packed with coastal salts. Quality coconut coir is guaranteed to have sodium content of less than 50 ppm.
    Growers use coir by itself or mixed 50/50 with