What's new
  • As of today ICMag has his own Discord server. In this Discord server you can chat, talk with eachother, listen to music, share stories and pictures...and much more. Join now and let's grow together! Join ICMag Discord here! More details in this thread here: here.

Hole size for OD grow

215MEDS

New member
About to put my lil healthy girls in today for some good meds come fall. With my hardpan i need to dig a hole and fill it with some good soil. My question is how big of a hole do i need to contain the roots through the grow? I want it to be big enough so that my roots dont start trying to grow into the bad soil. Any help would be greatly appreciated
 

gaiusmarius

me
Veteran
if you have a full season ahead of you you should put a minimum of 50 lt of good soil. if you have a strong summer you could even use 200lt of earth and the roots should be happy. i've seen guys in cali with 200 and 300 gallons of soil per plant. basically the more the better the plant will grow.
 

ghost of sage

Active member
not super big but still a job!!!

not super big but still a job!!!

Dig it about 2 foot deep and about 2 to 3 foot across and you will be very happy with the outcome.
 

Attachments

  • thursday july 22 .jpg
    thursday july 22 .jpg
    103.6 KB · Views: 67
S

stratmandu

I agree. 2 feet deep by 3 feet dia is @ 14 CF or 105 gallons. My soil is good so I went a little smaller; 2' x 2'.
 

ghost of sage

Active member
uh huh

uh huh

I agree. 2 feet deep by 3 feet dia is @ 14 CF or 105 gallons. My soil is good so I went a little smaller; 2' x 2'.


thats prolly what that hole is in the pic and that plant is 7 feet tall and a bush.You don't realize how much dirt will go in a small hole like that until you start carrying it in and its a bitch!!!
 

ghost of sage

Active member
YES!!

YES!!

I grow some big plants in holes that are 2' wide and 1' deep.

Excatly D.S. it doesnt take a grave to make a nice plant you can pull a pound or more off of and you will find like I said by the time you get thru digging and carrying soil that your holes will get smaller and smaller as you get to the end and they will have less and less soil that you have carried in and more of the native soil mixed in towards the last hole!!LMAO its just the way it is,unless you are crazy enough to let 4 or 5 of your friends help you dig your holes and carry your soil.If you do this,well come harvest time you will prolly have to go to their house to score some weed cause one of them will more3 than likely be smoking all of yours.
 
S

stratmandu

F'n funny, GOS - and true!

Hauling mix is a bitch indeed, that's why I just amend whats there if I can. A wheelbarrow is a must.
 

.clunk

Member
This year I dug 10-12 gallon holes and amended the native sandy soil with around 15% perlite and 25-35% peat moss then added a cup of lime per hole. Big holes are not necessarily better, it all depends on what you're trying to achieve!

Most of my plants are around 4ft tall by 4ft wide bushes, but I think the lack of height is due to strain selection since everyone I know who is growing the same clones has similiar sized plants regardless of using grow bags or massive trenches filled with great soil. I planted a few seedlings of a different strain and they are around 5ft tall now, so this confirms my theory about strain selection accounting for the shorter, bushier growth.

Personally, I'll never fill a hole with 100% store-bought soil again, I'd rather amend my native soil as best as possible, even if it is hardpan or clay, it can be amended well with the right approach. I also think that 10-15 gallon holes are plenty big for good sized plants, even though your soil is hardpan you have to remember that ganja is a very strong plant and can probably put it's roots down and out into that native soil without much effort.

picture.php
 

microgram

Member
Thats why coco is a nice filler, so much less hauling, so light. Hauling sucks dick, speaking of which, I gotta start preparing for next year... shit.
 

D.S. Toker. MD

Active member
Veteran
I learned that in normal agriculture, 12" is as deep as ground is ever plowed for corn, sunflowers, etc. NOrmal plowing for Hemp which grows to 15' tall or more is 10" deep.
t
This young lady is planted in a 16"X 12" hole. This pic was taken a few weeks ago and she's one growing bitch now.


picture.php
 

D.S. Toker. MD

Active member
Veteran
I agree in general THC, but damn man, carrying dirt is a big job.

Usually when i fill holes, i catch my breath, reach around and rub my sore back and say, " Fuck, that looks like more than enough dirt to me!!
 

THC123

Active member
Veteran
Lol i agree , with my mountainbike it is ok but still carrying 100 gallons 5 gallon at a time and 16 miles per ride was pretty rough

i say if you have good soil use a small hole , if you have shit native soil , make a bigger hole
 

nomaad

Active member
Veteran
Has anybody asked how big the plants are now and it what size pots? There is only another 2-3 weeks of veg time, max and then stretch. If you don;t want to be wasteful or schlepp in more dirt than you need ts going to make a lot of difference what sized pots the plants are in right now.
 

THC123

Active member
Veteran
we're talking bout the hole size to transplant a plant to the full groundmother earth) no pots
 

nomaad

Active member
Veteran
i understand completely. to be clear, my question is: what size pots are they in BEFORE transplant? VERY important in determining hole size, dontcha think?

i mean... if i were transplanting from a 3.5" square pot, i'd use a lot less dirt than if the babies were in 2 gallons of dirt. Especially if I were hauling all the soil somewhere. Its almost time for stretch and the amount of root mass NOW will speak volumes as to the potential for growth until flowering begins. Not to mention the strain being grown. I'd put Blue Dream in a LOT more soil than I'd put Master Kush right now since the MK is a slow vegger and a fast stretcher. Blue Dream could utilize 3 times the dirt in the remainder of the season we have before us.
 
Top