Guidance on using our new AUTO Soil
We're delighted to announce that we now sell a selection of pre-mixed living soils: one for photo plants, and one for autos - so if you would prefer not to make your own via mixing our dry amendments with an off the shelf light mix substrate, these are for you!
Our soils are all peat-free and are charged with a selection of our dry amendments, wormcasts, compost and lava rock. They are really quite something! We spent an age getting these tested to make sure they are spot on from the outset and are particularly excited by how well received our AUTO soil has been.
Auto strains are pickier than their photoperiod cousins and require a very aerated substrate for optimum root oxygenation and to prevent the soil from becoming compacted, hence we have added more coco coir & lava rock into the mix.
In terms of nutrition, auto strains don’t require as much as photo: if they are over-fed, they will get stunted resulting in small, unproductive plants. They also don’t like to be overwatered so we suggest water ‘little and often’ with dechlorinated water. The pH is not that important as long as it's in the range of 6-7.
Because of an auto's short life-cycle, it's also been charged with all the necessary organic amendments for both the vegetative and the flower stage, so all the grower has to do is place the soil in a pot (preferably a fabric one to further improve oxygenation) and plant a seed/ seedling in it.
We do recommend that if your plant is a heavy feeder or the flower stage is over 10 weeks, top dress with Bloom AUTO once a week and water in together with a feed of Barley from week 4 of flower onwards.
In terms of storage, the packaging is compostable, so will need to be taken out of the packet and used pretty much as soon as received. If storing for more than a few days, we recommend you put in a pot.
Once a grow is finished, our soils can be reused - simply cut the old plant at the soil level and re-amend with a full dose of Grow AUTO, Wormcasts, Neem and Rockdust - and some peat free ericaceous compost as needed. Then water until 5% runoff and ensure there are no dry patches, cover and leave for 2 weeks somewhere warm and you are good to go.