Do I need a substrate?

Growing outdoors for beginners. The answer depends on your choice of growing in pots or in open ground. In the last case, you already have the soil and you don’t need a substrate as such. You can however improve the soil with certain products. If you want to grow in pots, however, you’re going to need a substrate. But which one do you use?

Choosing a substrate

The choice of a substrate is an important decision for a grower. You need to take into account the goal of your cultivation, your own experience and your budget. Every substrate has specific properties and affects your plants in different ways. For the beginning grower, a peat based substrate with rich microbiological life and several weeks prefertilization is recommended. Ideally the substrate is designed to work with organic fertilization. A more experienced grower could use shorter prefertilization and mineral nutrients. This combination is geared towards larger and quicker harvests, but it’s harder to use because the grower will have to check and control the pH values closely. Plagron has two grow styles with peat based substrates:

Apart from soil based substrates, there are alternatives made of coconut fiber or clay pellets. These are more suitable for advanced growers, because they work best with two component mineral nutrients and a hydrological watering system.

Do you want to know more about growing outdoors?   

In our download area you can find our Whitepaper "Growing outdoors for beginners" in 8 languages. Check it out right away. Are you a first time grower and do you need help? Order our Startersguide here.