So when I go to the store and look at ferts, all the chemical ferts have n-p-k ratio of like, 24-8-16, 10-15-10, 15-54-15, etc. When I look at organic ferts, I see 4-2-2, 2-3-3-, 2-4-2, 2-4-4 etc. i've been using chemical ferts, and am wondering if im using like, 24-8-16 what is a comperable organic fertilizer? and why are the numbers so different? Using chemical ferts I also notice they tell you exactly how much to feed, whereas the organic ferts dont mention much on actual feeding times/durations. Im wanting to make the switch to organic ferts, but im just confused as to where to start. also, do I mix these organic ferts in order to form an overall plant food?
what type of organic fertz? liquid? or natural?? natural organic ferts would be stuff like various bird guanos, bat guano, fishmeal, etc. I don't know anything about NPK ratio's but I thought I read somewhere something about it being around 10-7-7 for vegging.
Sorry, I didn't clarify, I was talking about natural. I havent read to much into the liquid ferts. But the hardware store I frequent has all sorts of stuf, lime, sulpher, bone meal, blood meal, manure, etc. and many more. im just not sure which ones to get, what to mix, and what is a proper food. im just used to seeing the 24-8-16 etc, not 2-4-4, not sure how they match up, or if I have to add other ingrediants in order to obtain a higher n-p-k ratio by mixing them. I do use lime and whatnot for pH balance, but thats as far as it goes.
Just giving it a bump, Wanted to find out what I should get, if anything for the soil. Urea, bone beal, blood meal, manure, all of it? thanks.
Do you have a hydroponics store in your area? They usually carry a line of liquid organic fertz which may be better suited for you if you've already started growing. But here's a recipe for VIC's Super Soil Super Soil Mix Original Recipe, as it was given to me. 1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix 2 L Bone Meal - phosphorus source 1 L Blood Meal - nitrogen source 1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source 3-4 cups dolmite lime -calcium source & pH buffering 1 tsp fritted trace elements 1/2 - 1 bag chicken manure (steer, mushroom, etc) - nitrogen & trace elements - Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit 1-2 weeks before use. Revised Recipe, after several failures due to bad manure sources, I now use the following recipe. Results have been excellent and the clones seem to take off right away instead of having a slow growing settling in period. 1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix (3.8 cu ft) 8 cups Bone Meal - phosphorus source 4 cups Blood Meal - nitrogen source 1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source 3-4 cups dolomite lime -calcium source & pH buffering 1 tsp fritted trace elements 4 cups kelp meal. 9kg (25 lbs) bag pure worm castings - Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit 1-2 weeks before use. Substitutions - The original recipe was a success, but I simply needed to experiment. In addition, sometimes not all ingredients were always available. Therefore, here are some possible additions and/or substitutions: Blood & Bone Meal - when trying to cut costs Kelp Meal - contains over 62 trace minerals. Good supplement for reducing the manure content to speed availability of soil. Worm castings - excellent source of micro nutrients. Bat guano - excellent for top dressing a week into flowering. Seabird guano - http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/428.htm -
his recipe is no good for you youve already started if ur flowering and want organic only use bat guano, fish emulsions, and itll say if u buy a bag of bat guano read it up the reason npk is so low is you cant really get exact reading on organic a solution is in turn a chemical a controlled substance if u will they make it pretty much so they know for sure npk levels i would go with like budswel liquid organic or a liquid mix you dont need crazy levels like 26-7-18 thats high in nitrogen if flowering you want higher potassium and phosphorus (p +k) so look for like 2-5-7 or 4-12-11 if vegging and u want to give nutes look for higher nitrogen levels
so instead of making a organic soil mix in the beggining to feed throughout the entire veg/flower phase, your saying, use a regular soil and add bat guano / liquid nutrients as needed? Sounds easier, i was just curios on the ups and downs. Liquid vs natural, the liquid is easier I take it, but are there any big differences in going with one over the other? Thanks for the help, very much appreciated
add in the guano to the top layer of soil and mix it in. you could also try making an organic 'tea' as well.
As far as good choice for Organic Nutrients I can suggest simple to use and very effective ingredients to blend together to make a wonderful Organic tea. 1. 1 cup Fish emulsion : 5-1-1 2. 2 cups Bat guano : 0-5-1 3. 1/2 cup Liquid seaweed 4. 4 teaspoons Molasses Add these ingredients to 5 gallons of water and aerate with a fish pump and a air stone for no less than 24 hours and up to 72 hours for stronger tea. This Organic Tea is great for all around feeding VEG through FLOWER but can be doubled in strength if needed.
do you use this tea everytime you water? or do you do this like, once every two weeks or so? Thanks again.
[quote name='Starlore']do you use this tea everytime you water? or do you do this like, once every two weeks or so? yeah, I too have been wondering the same. and thanks for the blend hashmouf, I may try that myself
It really depends on the need of the plants, if you have Nutrients already in your soil I would say once every other week switching off with plain water, but If you have a weak soil that lacks nutrition You can use this every feeding at half or full strength as needed by your plants. During flower I use this for mostly every feeding 2 times a week for 3 weeks then plain water 2 times a week for 1 week, repeat the second month of flower flushing the final week.
To the question of why the NPK numbers can be very large or very small... The key here is the ratio, not the size of the numbers, so a 20-20-20 fert has the same ratio as a 1-1-1. These numbers are percentages of the fert's contents that are N, P, and K. Chemical ferts are almost pure nutrient chemicals, so their NPK numbers are higher. These are concentrated formulas, and you are supposed to mix in tiny amounts (teaspoon or so per gallon). Organic ferts are not pure nutrients, they have other organic matater in them, so the percentage of the fert that is actual nutrients is lower, and so the NPK numbers will be lower. These are not meant to be diluted to nearly the degree of chemical ferts. How you mix any fert determines how strong the feeding is. In the end it's all about how much of actual nutrients you are delivering. And the key is the ratio of the numbers to ensure you have the right proportions of N, P, and K for the veg or flowering stage of your grow op.
Okay, that explains A LOT. haha. Thanks again for all the help. I wonder if this will work for my tomatoes, cantalope and broccoli as well. thanks.
Yes most of what you learn here will work wonders in your Vegetable garden as well, I wish I would have took some pictures of my cherry tomato and bell pepper plants last summer they were amazing !!! I used the same Tea recipe I gave you.
Thats awesome, i recently just planted some tomatoes so I beleive I will use this for them, and for future grows as well. Since everything else is already growing (cantalope and broccoli etc) I figure it'll be easier to just finish them out with the type of food they've been started on. Yeah, im always interested in different veggie gardens as well. Nothing tastes as good as home grown.
just go to your hyrdo store pickup a bottle of earth jusice bloom mix 1 tbsb per gallon and give every watering its 0-4-2 no nitrogen its good stuff 100%and they are sure of no unidentified extra n-p-k which means its only 0-4-2 and no hidden bull shit advanced nutrients you cant identify the exact amount of n-p-k thus all these fertiliztion problems EARTH JUICE BLOOM