Hey guys, first off, I'd like to thank all the organic gurus on this site for all the wonderful information (LD, your posts are priceless). So, I'm putting together a mix for a water only grow. These are the things I've acquired so far: Bu's blend Malibu biodynamic compost Alaska Canadian sphagnum peat moss Black gold pumice Worm Gold Plus EWC Dr. Earth tomato, vegetable, herb fertilizer (blend of fish bone meal, feather meal, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, soft rock phosphate, fish meal, mined potassium sulfate, humic acid, seaweed extract) Down to Earth crab meal KIS Mineral mix (blend of glacial rock dust, soft rock phosphate, oyster shell flour) My basic mix will consist of: 50% peat, 25% bu's blend, 25% pumice. I'll amend this with the recommended dosage of the Dr. Earth (1 cup per cu. ft.), crab meal, and the mineral mix. I was then planning on filling a couple of 3.4 gallon air pots with this mix, wetting it down and letting it sit for a few weeks. I'll transplant into this mix a couple weeks after sprout and top dress with 2" of the worm gold EWC (as LD has suggested). With the exception of the neem/karanja meals, am I missing anything here? Am I good to go for a straight water only grow from seed to harvest? I don't mind the occasional fish/seaweed liquid application during flower. I was considering picking up some Espoma tomato tone and mixing that in as well (half dose of each tomato tone and Dr Earth) for diversity. The Espoma mix has a few ingredients the Dr Earth doesn't - poultry manure, cocoa meal, greensand. Is this sound logic or am I overthinking this? I do plan on reusing this mix over and over (no-till) in the 3.4 gallon air pots. Let me know what you guys think, any feedback is greatly appreciated
You're gold. The only weak link are the specific EWC that you're going to use. They'll work but you can probably find better for the future. Nice program and mix - very nice indeed, IMHO LD
Thanks LD, I appreciate the advice. I'm definitely upgrading to Agrowinn EWC as soon as I get to the bottom of this bag; good thing I bought the small one. Would you recommend using a minimal dose (1/4 tsp/gal) of Pro Tekt with every watering during veg? I really want to incorporate the neem/karanja meals into this mix. I've been to 4-5 nurseries and nobody carries neem cake. I love their response when I ask for it - "Huh? Neem cake? Oh, that's a tough one." I'm better off with the Ahimsa neem/karanja cake anyway. Thanks again for the knowledge.
cl0ud I recommend and use the application rate on the Pro-TeKt that you mentioned with each and every watering - cuttings, veg plants, flowering plants. Always. If you have a retailer that carries the Down-To-Earth product line they have a 6 lb. box of neem seed meal. This is the very first neem meal that I used. It is not as good as the product from Ahimsa Foundation but it's 'do-able' for the time being. I have a couple of other companies that pack out of California that are listed in a vermiculture book I'm reading and they're considered a high quality source for castings: Sonoma Valley Worm Farm - Sonoma Valley Black Diamond Vermicompost - San Luis Obisbo They are in the same category as Argowin as far as quality. I don't know anything about their pricing so I can't help you on that one. HTH LD
cl0ud, I just wanted to chime in and welcome you to Grasscity and out organics forum. I see you're in good hands with LD on your soil mix, and in fact, by looking at your first post, you've done your homework. We're here to help and encourage you to join in our discussions. IMO, you can't get any better advice on the net than you'll get right here. All the best, chunk
LD, thanks for the references. I'll definitely give them a call and inquire prices. Unfortunately, I can't source the DTE amendments locally. I had to order a small bag of their crab meal from Amazon. Chunk, thanks for the warm welcome brother. I've spent countless hours reading everything you guys post, this is definitely the spot for good/solid information in regards to organic growing. It's a damn shame how much misinformation floats across cannabis boards. I'll definitely be around, absorbing everything I read. I picked up a box of Dr Earth after witnessing your success using the product on some of your earlier gardens. Perhaps I can buy individual bags of amendments in the future, but for now this (and the Espoma) will have to suffice. Once again, thank you guys for sharing your knowledge and experiences. All the best.
cl0ud, Using the blended fertilizers from Dr. Earth, Espoma, Down To Earth et al is definitely the path of least resistance when getting your organic program up and running. These companies have taken all of the fear and trepidation out of trying to assemble a fertilizer line-up. Thank you for the kind words and we're happy to have you here. chunk
Damn it. I live in San Luis Obispo and I have been buying Worm Gold Plus for way to much! Thank you so much LD for the link to Black Diamond. I will definitely be making my next soil mix with their vermicompost (to bad I just mixed one with Worm Gold yesterday haha). You live and you learn I guess. The soil mix looks good though Cloud. Did you order the KIS Mineral Mix offline? I havn't been able to find any of their products locally and it's rough trying to piece together a fertelizer line up.
Hi Chief, I know what you mean about the Worm Gold stuff. The only reason I bought it was because it was the only brand the nursery had. Also, I noticed on the bag that it included volcanic rock and kelp, so I jumped on it. I paid something like $10 for a small bag; asinine on my part. I'm going to use it, but definitely picking up a bag of Agrowin or the Sonoma Valley brand LD referenced. I ordered 5lb of the KIS mineral mix online, it was $3/lb plus shipping. I'm not exactly sure how much they're going to charge me for shipping, it didn't disclose the amount in the confirmation Email. I hope I don't get screwed on this lol. I figured it's cheaper then paying $20 plus shipping for glacial rock dust and another $15-20 for oyster shell flour. I can't find jack shit locally either, luckily my needs are minimal. I'll let you know what the total for the mineral mix is as soon as I find out, if your interested.