I will be using 3 years old horse manure as a base, liquid seaweed, vermicompost (I'm currently setting it up), some 14-4-5 sticks I plan on breaking up and adding whenever. I would like to know if anything could complement this? (none of this plant will be smoked as is, I will turn it to some yummy live resin so I am trying to minimize residues, even in sugar leaves) Strain will be kush, a purple variety (unknown exact kind) from clones, good source. Heat will be limited as it is LED grow, with fans, plenty of aeration... also keeping the plants very small, as it is in a narrow closet.
I don't think anybody can answer your question unless they've used the exact same mix that you've created. Drainage is super super important to these plants when growing inside in soil and I didn't see perlite listed anywhere above in your mix recipe. Whatever soil base you end up with, you need to then do about a 60/40 mix of soil/perlite. They don't like their roots sitting around in moisture all the time and need a mix arid enough that they can grab the water and feed they want/need and let the rest drain through. If you're going to mix your own soil, I suggest you do some research into the MJ plant and the nutrients it needs during the different phases of life and then figure out whether what you've put together provides what they need. If it were me, I would just buy a bag of formulated grow soil. It's worth every penny you pay for it and it's designed specifically to keep the roots of the plant happy. That is the nerve center of the plant, so they need optimum conditions for optimum growth and production. Don't crowd your light. I don't know how much light you have, but realistically, the average LED can only cover so much square footage. They also burn hot to plants, especially seedlings and clones, so you always need to hang the lamp high and give the plants time to adjust or you'll see some bleaching from the light. But there are tons of threads on here regarding true organic growing and different soil mix recipes. If you're to go organic, I really suggest using a tried and proven soil mix recipe...which you can also find on the forum. Good luck, regardless of your choice. TWW
Thanks for the infos, still looking for complementary soil boost, would egg shells fall in this category? I planned on putting them in the vermicompost *bump*
Peat moss! Lots of it. I would go with something like 40% peat moss, 15% worm castings, 15% composted manure, and 30% something for aeration (lava rocks, perlite, calcined clay kitty litter, or even a mix of any of those). And I would ditch the sticks.
How important aeration would be for really small plants(not as in young)? every plant will give me only 1 medium sized bud (keeping them really small) From what I understood it was mainly to prevent rot in the roots since we will be watering alot
No way around it, you need aeration. I do seedlings and clones in just peat moss and castings, but anything else needs aeration. Think of peat moss as the framework to hang your humus component (castings, composted manure, hydrophilic compost). Add to that the aeration and you will be rocking. If you use primarily manure and casting as the base, you will be making mud and I doubt any aeration would be enough. Take a look at my thread in the sig. We are in a very similar boat.
Weird, I will be using the same genetic as a friend who grows, he says his plants are better off w/o (only at the bottom)... I will most probably try both and see if results match