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There are several choices out there when deciding on a grow medium for your cannabis garden.
This article aims to provide some information on the best grow medium options for cannabis, how to get the best results out of each medium, and the pros and cons that follow.
PEAT MOSS (Best Overall)
Peat moss is essentially dead-decomposing moss that has fallen from a tree combined with other living decomposing materials that can be found in a peat bog.
It usually comes from Canada if bought in North America.
Peat is a premium grow medium for many hobbyist cannabis gardeners!
It's great but, is has a naturally acidic PH range between 3.8 to 4.4.
BUT..
That's an easy fix.
In order to better balance out the PH and provide great drainage, add a 50/50 ratio of Vermiculite to Peat. You also want to add Dolomite Lime at around 40 grams for every cubic foot of medium, and Gypsum at about 10 grams per cubic foot of medium.
The above recipe will raise your PH to between 5.5 and 6.2 which is the ideal medium root zone PH for growing cannabis in peat.
In addition to raising PH, the above ammendments also provide key nutrients.
Vermiculite adds silica, a nutrient which allow your plants to better thrive in harsh environments, Dolomite Lime has calcium and magnesium, and the Gypsum provides calcium and sulphur for your plants.
Pros
Great Aeration for roots
Absorbs several times its weight in water
Holds on to nutrients well
Great Drainage
Disease and Pest free medium
Large Yields
Rapid Harvest
Cons
Expensive
Uses more nutrients
Acidic PH
Cannot reuse, must find a way to dispose of your used peat
Not Environmentally Sustainable - limited supply, in very few areas, that take a long time to develop, and is bought and used faster than it used naturally produced.
Takes a very long time to decompose
Not the best choice for beginners - requires knowledge of nutrients, but, it's not rocket science either.
The 2 products below are both 8 quarts and can be directly combined and mixed to create a perfect 50/50 ratio of Peat and Vermiculite! Add in the ammendments listed above to raise the PH to between 5.5 - 6.2 and you have a fantastic grow medium for cannabis!
COCO COIR (Favorite)
Coco coir, or just coco for short, is the outer shell of a coconut that is pulverized and blended until all that remains is ground up coconut fiber.
Coco is another great grow medium because it has an average PH between 5.2 and 6.8 which is right in the wheelhouse of perfect PH for growing cannabis in coco between 5.5 and 6.2.
BUT...
It is also a very neutral medium that provides zero nutrients naturally.
Thus, you will need additional additives to be sure your plants are getting everyting they need to stay healthy and grow big and strong.
In combination with your grow, micro, and bloom nutrients you will also need to add some calcium and magnesium in the form of Cal Mag, some Silica, and throw in some Epsom Salt to provide your babies with more magnesium and sulphur as well.
Coco drains well but, you will also want to add extra drainage.
Cheapest way to do this is to purchase dry Coco Coir bricks, hydrate them and mix in Perlite at a 70/30 to 50/50 ratio. I prefer 50/50, extra drainage is always a good thing in my book.
OR
Just buy a premixed pack. Mother Earth has a great 70/30 Coco + Perlite mix. Feel free to ad in an additional 20% Perlite for extra drainage.
Be sure to flush your medium with PH balanced water every 2 to 4 weeks, as coco can retain salt from the nutrients/fertilizers and create a salt build up that can prevent roots from being able to absorb nutrients.
Pros
Affordable
Drains well
Reuseable (see Advanced Nutrients article here)
Environmentally Sustainable
Great PH for growing cannabis
Pest and Disease resistant
Great Aeration for roots
Large Yields
Rapid Harvests
Hard to overwater or overfeed
Cons
Salt Buildup and Nutrient Lockout are likely to occur - flush every 2 to 4 weeks
Will need to water/feed almost everyday
Uses more nutrients
PH can fluctuate. Needs to be constantly measured and tested (nutes and runoff)
Not the best choice for beginners - requires slightly advanced knowledge of nutrients & PH, but again, it's not astro physics, if I got it, I'm confident you can figure it out too.
Mother Earth makes a great Coco + Perlite 70/30 mix shown below! Add in 20% more perlite for extra drainage!
SOIL (Best for Beginners)
Soil is dirt.
That black stuff below our feet.
BUT...
Not all soil is created equal.
In fact, there are over 70,000 different types of soil in the United States alone, and the amount of living organisms in only 1 tablespoon of soil exceeds the human population on earth.
Pretty cool right?
For the purposes of growing cannabis, you will want your soil to have a PH between 6.2 - 6.8 and have great drainage.
Brands like Roots Organic and Fox Farm sell potting mixes that are already prebalanced within that optimal PH range for cannabis.
You're more than welcome to create your own special mix and PH balance it and all that fun stuff, but, these companies have already taken away the guesswork. In my humble opinion, you're better off just buying soil already premixed.
All you need to do is add some extra drainage, about 20% Perlite and you're ready to get growing!
Soil is by far the best choice for beginners.
It's easy to work with, forgiving to PH fluctuations or overfeeding (just flush, flush, flush if you make a mistake), and you won't have to water your plants as much as peat or coco grows.
Pros
Easy
Forgiving medium
Less Work (don't have to water/feed every day)
Environmentally Sustainable
Affordable
Natural Way of doing things
Cons
Vulnerable to Pests and Disease
Longer Harvest Time
More difficult to reuse and recycle in a smaller living space, requires composting
Heavy
Doesn't Drain as well as other options
Shown are 2 great soil mixes below that can be used specifically for growing cannabis! Don't forget to add in 20% extra Perlite for improved drainage!
HYDROPONICS (For Experienced Growers)
The definition for hydroponics is growing plants in a soilless medium and using liquid nutrients for ammendments instead of the natural occuring nutrients that soil provides for plants.
With this definition, I guess you could actually include growing in Peat Moss and Coco Coir into the Hydroponics category.
Yet, when I think hydroponics, I think of growing plants using nutrient rich water and different media as your primary grow mediums.
If you've got the money, time, and knowledge to invest into Hydroponics go for it!
It is a superior method of cultivating cannabis and several other species of plants for that matter.
Cannabis plants thrive in a slightly more acidic root zone environment of PH 5.5 - 5.8.
Typical mediums used for growing cannabis in hydroponics include Rockwool, Oasis Cubes, Hydroton aka expanded clay pebbles, Perlite, and Shaved Wood.
There are several different types of hydroponic set ups to choose from. I've highlighted a few of them below.
Deep Water Culture (DWC)
If you're just getting started with hydroponics you should probably go with DWC as your first choice.
It's the cheapest and most simple hydroponic method out there.
All you need is a reservoir or bucket to hold your water mixed with your nutrients, an airstone and air pump to oxygenate your water and nutrient solution, and a basket or net to hold your grow media and provide structual support for the roots and plant.
There are many more advanced, multi plant DWC setups, but the example shown above is the most affordable and easiest set up.
You can buy an already built, ready to grow set up like the ones made by Hydrofarm. All you need is some hydroton, which are expanded clay pebbles to be used as your grow medium that hold your roots and support your plant, and some Hydroponic Nutrients combined with Cal Mag and Silica.
Pros
Incredible Yields
Super Fast Harvest
Huge Root Systems
Simple - not a lot of moving parts that could break or fail and ruin your crop
Easy to expand for more plants and a bigger setup
Cons
Maintaining Water Temperature between 60 and 68 degrees Farenheit can be challenging. May require purchasing a water chiller $$$ or dropping a frozen water bottle in your reservoir daily.
Requires precise PH between 5.5 - 5.8
Set up is vulnerable to power outages (dead crop)
Set up is vulnerable to equipment failure (dead crop)
Need to purchase an extra pump and extra reservoir just in case
Smaller reservoirs can be extra work because the water evaporates faster, is harder to maintain PH, and harder to maintain ideal water temp.
There are a bunch of ready to grow DWC set ups, but the one shown below is really cheap and has great reviews. All you need is some expanded clay pebbles, nutrients, and you can get to it!
Ebb & Flow
Ebb & Flow is also called Flood and Drain, and is exactly what it sounds like.
In a nutshell, a reservoir filled with aerated water and nutrients sitting below you plants uses a water pump to shoot water into a seperate tray that is above your reservoir where your plants are held. The pump floods the growing tray until the pump shuts off. The plants roots absorb the nutrients while the grow tray is flooded, then the water and nutrients drain back into your reservoir and the process is repeated multiple times daily.
Plants usually sit in 6 inch net pots filled with expanded clay pebbles that provide support for the roots and stability for the plant itself.
The set up will typically look something like the diagram below.
Pros
Automated
Great Yields
Fast Harvest
Prevents Root Rot better than DWC because roots have dry time in between flooding
Cons
Requires a lot of nutrients reservoir changes every 3-5 days or so
More hands on, more maintainence involved
Can be Expensive
Vulnerable to equipment failures and power outages
Time consuming to set up
Need at least 2 reservoirs, a backup pump, and an extra air pump, just in case.
You can save some money and build a DIY Ebb and Flow Hydroponic system just like the video linked here - OR - you can just buy already built systems that are a little more complex and expensive shown here.
Drip Irrigation
This system also uses an aerated reservoir with a pump, but instead of flooding the plants root system, the nutrient solution is pumped through tubing and then slowly released using a dripper for each of the plants. A Drip Irrigation system looks something like this below.
This system can be used with a variety of mediums including expanded clay pebbles, peat, and coco coir to name a few.
Pros
Uses less water
Uses less nutrients
Fast Harvest
Great Yields
Takes the guess work out of how much to water/feed
Cons
Prone to clogging
Constant maintenance required to keep everything running smooth
Have to flush/clean tubing monthly
Vulnerable to power outages and equipment failures
General Hydroponics sells an awesome single unit Drip Irrigation system that comes with almost everything you need including nutrients, and expanded clay pebbles. It also has amazing reviews! Shown below.
OR
You can go a ahead and try to build your own by purchasing a reservoir or 10 gallon plastic container, water pump, air pump and air stones, and a drip irrigation kit!
Gravity Fed System (Favorite)
This set up in essentially the same as the Drip Irrigation system, but, instead of a pump it uses gravity to feed your plants roots. Simple diagram shown below.
You want to elevate your reservoir to let gravity do its thing, and be sure to aerate the nutrient solution in your reservoir with an air pump and air stones.
Pros
Uses less water
Uses less nutrients
Very Simple Set Up
Fast Harvest
Great Yields
Takes the guess work out of how much to water/feed
Not vulnerable to power outages or equipment failure
Cons
Prone to clogging
Have to flush/clean tubing monthly
There are plenty of DIY videos on youtube if you'd like to build your own.
OR
AutoPot USA makes a great gravity-fed, bottom-feeding drip irrigation system that is expandanble if you want to grow the size of your garden! AutoPot systems work with just about every grow medium you can think of at a reallly reasonable price!
CONCLUSION
This article should give you a better idea of what factors need to be considered when deciding on a grow medium for your cannabis garden.
The amount of time and energy you have to invest in your grow, your budget, and your experience level are key factors in deciding what medium is right for you.
I'm personally a huge fan of growing in Coco Coir. It's a widely available grow medium, cheap, and gives you great yields and a faster harvest than growing in soil.
If you have the extra time and money hydroponics is amazing too and can be set up on an automated system once you have everything dialed in.
I've only dipped my toes into the hydro game myself, but I have friends that do it and their plants are beautiful, their yields are heavy, and they are harvesting and trimming buds way before I am.
Enjoy the Journey!
Happy Growing!
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