So I have an organic grow going on... Using Fox Farm Ocean Forest mix the whole time... And I gotta say that I'm not all that impressed. While it is super airy (great for vigorous growth), the nutrients get exhausted way too fast, imo. I hear people saying how they barely ever have to fertilize with it... But I've got 4 (had 5) different strains growing in it, and they all required very regular feedings (and most commonly suffered from phosphorus and nitrogen deficiencies). I've even transplanted into bigger pots/fresh soil, twice, and added blood/bone meal, and beneficial fungi to the soil... And still keep getting deficiencies... PH is typically 6.8, so it's not a problem with the plants being able to absorb the nutrients. Temps are all ideal (mid 60's at coldest, mid 70's at warmest), as is humidity (I live in the Bay Area - 'nough said lol)... So my only logical conclusion is just that the soil's not all it's cracked up to be. Anyone else experiencing this? Or are the plants I had in it just nute-hungry freaks? Strains grown were: Northern Lights (had 2), Skunk (also had 2), Thai (2 as well), Blueberry (just 1, but it died due to circumstances beyond my control, lol), and Cali Orange (also just 1).
Hmmm. well, then i guess that's a good thing for me cuz i don't have access to FFOF and im going to be using miracle grow organic soil with added perlite. All for the better i guess. For some reason the system isn't letting me check out your grow?? never has before, it says that i may not have sufficient priveledges to access it or that i may be changing the post?? wtf? w/e.
I'm not a fan my self. Lower grade base materials, combined with a higher cost, not cool. Good luck with the gnats and mites. Good quality peat though, for how cheap it is.
Do you think Im going to have a problem w/ gnats and mites?? ... hmmm why do you think so? and what can I do to stop them??
Lord knows I did. And it's because they are in the soil bags. As far as stopping them, there's plenty of tricks, but not plenty of tricks that won't decimate your microbial life. Look around, and read everything you can on here. I use predator species to keep everything balanced out my self.
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i have to defend FFOF here i think it's good soil for the lazy grower who doesn't want to mix their own dirt. the one thing about FFOF is it does not lack in available nutrients.. if anything it might be a little too much for some smaller plants (according to growers who have had overfert issues) anyway.. thats just my .02 on it. i'm not claiming it to be the best soilk out there... but i think it works pretty well.. these are in FFOF and were fed about 1/8th strength veg nutes at week 4 and straight water any other times.. they are going on 7 weeks of veg right now. They are males and have been in these 2 gal pots for quite a while. also not a gnat or bug in the garden..
hmmm, Ill have to look into this. Well, is it really that big a deal if there are a few gnats and mites on my plant while its in the veg state... Im growing outside fyi. So either way there are going to be gnats and mites.
Werd, I feel ya on the lack of bugs. That much is definitely a plus. Maybe my plants are just nute hungry freaks? But the source of my genetics says they don't really like a lot of food, so that makes me wonder if maybe we just got a shitty batch of FFOF? I did have some slight burning with a few of the babies, but it would be impossible to tell if that was from the soil, or the chlorine in the water. I'm not sayin it's the worst soil, but I hear a lot of stories about people saying they've only had to feed once or twice in veg, and same in flower... And I usually have to feed every other watering (watering every 2-3 days).
ya know.. my last run yellowed pretty early on me and took me by surprise. It was probably the earliest i've had to feed plants in FFOF (like week 2 i think). This batch i fed at week 2 based off of that, and they ended up dark ass green.. to where i haven't fed them since. i do have to say FFOF can be pretty inconsistent at times. Ive had batches that looked and smelled noticeably different than other batches a few times now. yeah i hear the same thing about flower... but i feed fairly heavily during flower even with fairly soil. The couple times i took it easy on nutes during flower.. i was yellowing at like week 5. a lot depends on how quickly they are growing i guess.. lighting.. etc
Not to hijack this thread, but damn AW those are some healthy looking boys! Would love to get a hold of some of the pollen to do a little X breeding. As for FFOF, it's a stand alone soil that can get the job done (with a little additional perlite IMO.) I think us organic guys try to get our soils scientifically perfect......and look down our noses at the bagged mixes. There are hundreds, (if not thousands) of successful grows/grow journals here that would dispel the bad rap on FFOF. As for the fungus gnats, they can pop up in any soil mix. I think Sam87's on the right track with the nematodes/predator species. I'm also side dressing with neem seed meal, which is a deterrent. Igotthecottons, next go around, try mixing your dry fertilizers in your soil 4-6 weeks before using it and water it in with a good AACT. Add some Hygrozyme to the tea before applying. You can also use a fish hydrolysate fertilizer instead of hygrozyme, as the liquid fish also has enzymes.This will get the microbe life working on breaking down blood/bone meal prior to planting. I'm thinking that your signs of deficiency are a result of the organic fertilizers not being totally available for the plant's use. Without a healthy micro-herd, you could also be having pH problems. Finally, try adding an endo mycorhizae product to your planting hole. It's always best to get the myco involved as soon as you can so it gets colonized in the root zone. Take care, chunk
We've used Myco Madness in the soil from the get go, and put the blood/bone meal in when we first set everything up. The plants have been growing for about 2 months, so I doubt it's a microbial issue (Maybe at first, but not after such a long time). I think I just got a shitty batch of FFOF... When I feed, they respond positively... So if we didn't have the necessary microbial environment for the plants to absorb the nutrients, they wouldn't respond positively after feedings, I'd think... And runoff PH is in the optimal zone... Usually between 6.5-6.8... So it's not a PH issue...
Never had a problem with mites in Miracle Grow, but the Fungus Gnats is another story. The only time I had a severe gnat infestation was when I used it. You can safely use Mosquito dunks dissolved in the water you use to water, I used about a 1/4 dunk per gal and let it soak in good. The bacteria attack the larva. Also hang those yellow sticky papers in your room, they love them
FFOF can be a little "hot" sometimes for your application. You could always make your own soil mix, that way you can control what is going in and what deficiencies you need to address