Home Growers Corner
Time to Start Growing
How to Choose Your
Grow Medium
by Gerry Donovan, contributing writer
▲ Plug-n-Play Hydroponic bucket is affordable and suitable for growing a single plant from Seed-to-Harvest.
The fall and winter seasons are officially here. If you are an outdoor grower, now is a good time to start selecting your genetics for next year. If you’ re trying to grow massive outdoor plants, consider starting your seeds indoors so you can veg them inside before moving them outdoors.
If you are new to growing, now is the perfect time to start— but where to begin? Not only do you need to select your seeds, which I covered in a previous article, but you also must decide how you’ ll grow them. There are many ways to grow cannabis, but the two most popular methods are hand-watering potted plants in a“ Soil”-type medium and utilizing a DIY or prefabricated hydroponic system.
Focusing on those two methods brings us to two main categories of grow media:“ Soil” products and Stone-wool products.
I put soil in quotes because there are several categories of soil. First, there are soil-less mixes, many varieties of nutrient-packed soils, as well as soils designed to provide all the sustenance your plants need.
Soil Types
● Soil: generally comprised of mixed earth, animal, and aged forest products.
● Soil-less: Looks like soil – generally a mixture of peat moss and perlite.
● Coco: husk material usually stranded or shredded and sometimes compressed. Pure or mixed with perlite is most common.
● Living Soil: Soil that utilizes the“ Soil Food Web” idea. It is comprised of a mix of organic materials and( good) bacteria and living organisms that should work together to release the appropriate nutrients for a plant.
● Mixed Substrate Soil: combines several of the aforementioned components into a mixed soil blend consisting usually of Coco, kelps and seaweeds, guanos, forest products, peat moss, and perlite.
Let’ s keep it simple and call this“ Bagged” media ready for a Pot and hand watering( or an auto water drip system).
The best way to think about these is how“ Hot” they are: Sliding scale from Inert to Hot
● Inert – Something like washed perlite and peat moss.
● Warm – Something with mixed forest materials and animal byproducts, along with perlite, moss, and other additives.
● Hot – Living water-only soil.
Water retention and workability are usually the two main characteristics that people notice differences in the soil types. You won’ t know what you prefer until you’ ve tried several varieties.
When making your decision, also consider how many extra nutrients to give. I like inert, and I will give a non-endorsed plug to Pro-mix! That way, I know exactly what my plant is getting at any given time.
Bagged, pre-made living soil can be a good start for gardeners who don’ t want to overwork their plants with nutrients, but some plants may still require supplemental nutrition even when using living soils.
All in all, let’ s make this easy— go to your local grow shop! If they are stocking correctly, any type of bagged“ soil” that they offer will be adequate for starting your grow. CAUTION: Do not be tempted by that 100 % organic topsoil being sold for $ 4 a bag at the front of the grocery store! Spend the extra money on quality soil; the photo on left( below) shows a plant growing in cheapo garbage soil, and the photo on the right shows a plant growing in Pro-mix soil. Photos were taken on the same day!
Here’ s a quick break down for grow containers aka soil pots:
Traditional Plastic Pots
● Pros: Inexpensive, rigid, and water retention.
● Cons: Undersized pots can lead to root-bound plants, where roots grow to the outside of the container and start wrapping and choking.
22 November 2025