Having frequented this forum for a while now, I know that some questions are asked over and over. (Which is fine!) Most businesses have an FAQ section... why can't we? These are some of the questions that I can think of off of the top of my head. I've taken the time to answer a few of them (in no particular order). The answers i've posted are by no means the "end all to be all". I'm just answering as best that I can (multiple heads are better than one!) I will slowly get to the other ones as time allows, but I really encourage other folks to feel free to answer them. In fact, please do! And if you can think of other FAQ's post em up. As they say in school: if you have a question, chances are that somebody else is wondering the same thing. The answers to all of these questions are scattered throughout the forums. This should help consolidate them a bit. FAQ: Do I have to worry about pH in organic soil? Do I have to check my ppm? Do I have to add something before flower? How often do I have to use teas? Can I use bagged soil like FFOF as a base? Can I start with bottled nutes and finish with organic teas? Is there any organic "bloom boosters" I can use? How moist does the soil have to be when it is "cooking"? What should I use to cook my soil in? Totes? Pots? A tarp? Compost tumbler? Can I use a "supersoil" like subcool's or the rev's? Are the yields in organic soil as good as hydro? Can I use bottled nutes in my organic soil? Do I have to flush? Can I use coco coir (or other alternative) instead of sphagnum peat moss? If I use coco coir, do I have to add lime? Are there substitutes for dolomite lime? The guy at the garden store told me that neem meal will hurt my soil or my plant--is this true? Can I use this organic soil on other plants like tomatoes? Can I really make a water-only soil mix? How many cups will I get from a bag of amendments? Where can I find the items to make organic soil? My soil has mold growing on it--is this bad? Is azomite a rock dust? my first grow
Do I have to worry about pH in organic soil? Yes and no. If you build a soil properly, then pH is a non-issue. Follow a proven soil recipe and use high quality humus and pH is irrelevant. To really answer this question, one must have an understanding of what pH is actually a measure of. I'll help explain it without getting to in-depth. This is a simplified explanation. To quote wikipedia: "In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline. Pure water has a pH very close to 7." That is the a very general definition, but it still doesn't help much. The letters "pH" stand for "potential Hydrogen". pH is a measurement of the concentration of Hydrogen ions (H+) in aqueous solution (water). Hydrogen ions have a positive charge. An ion with a positive charge is referred to as a cation (cat-eye-on). pH also gives you a reading of Hydroxide ions (OH-) in aqueous solution. Hydroxide has a negative charge--referred to as an anion (an-eye-on). Pure water is the chemical equation H2O. When there are an equal amount of Hydrogen ions (H+) and Hydroxide ions (OH-) you have pure water because the ions combine to form H2O--water. When there are more Hydrogen ions in solution than Hydroxide ions, it is said to be acidic. As the concentration of H+ ions in solution increases, pH goes down. When there are more Hydroxide ions in solution, the solution is said to be alkaline or basic. As the concentration of OH- ions in solution increases, the pH goes up. Ok so how does this tie into organic soil?-- To answer this, you must understand something about cation exchange capacity (CEC) in soils. More quotes from wiki: "In soil science, cation-exchange capacity (CEC) is the maximum quantity of total cations, of any class, that a soil is capable of holding... available for exchange with the soil solution." "Clay and humus have electrostatic surface charges that attract the solution ions, and hold them." "One way to increase CEC is to favor the formation of humus. In general, the higher the CEC, the higher the soil fertility." So CEC is a measurement of the soil's ability to hold onto and exchange cations with the soil solution. If a soil has a high CEC, then it can hold a lot of cations pulling them out of the soil solution. Organic matter and humus both have a high CEC (and anion exchange) ratings and can therefore hold onto many cations (and anions). Hydrogen ions are just cations. Therefore a soil with a high CEC can accept a lot of H+ ions taking them out of solution. This means that if you build a soil with a high amount of organic matter, it will buffer against pH swings. The organic matter can accept H+ ions when they are in excess and release them when concentrations are low. The plant itself can also regulate its soil's pH by exuding H+ ions through its roots or by attracting and feeding particular microbes that will bring the pH into a suitable range. Soil fungi exude acids and bring the pH down. The take home message is this: build your soil following a proven recipe and use a high quality 'humus' component. Let the soil buffer pH for you and you won't have to worry about it. Edit-- here is some good conversation about checking pH in organic soil with links n LD quotes to boot: http://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1283281-cooking-instructions? my first grow
Do I have to check my PPM/TDS/EC? Well first, you should know what it is you are referring to. PPM means Parts Per Million. That is a unit that describes the amount of Total Dissolved Solids in solution. This is figured out by measuring the Electrical Conductivity of the water solution. So really you are using an EC meter to figure out the TDS, and PPM is the unit of measurement that is used. It is important to measure the concentrations of dissolved solids in nutrient solutions that are fed to a plant because otherwise you can burn the plant--commonly referred to as "nute burn". In living soil, as in nature, plants trade exudates (carbohydrates and proteins) with microbes in the soil for plant nutrients. The plants use the power of the sun to build carbohydrates (sugars) and feed them to soil microbes. In return, the microbes deliver nutrients to the plants. This means that really the plant is in control of what nutrients are taken up and in what amounts. If your soil is made properly and uses a high quality living compost, the microbes in the compost will worry about all the nutrient requirements the plant needs and "nute burn" is not an issue. In a bottled nutrient paradigm, the grower mixes nutrient solutions based off of the directions on the bottle, their experience, or the advice of others. You mix the nutrients in water and use an EC meter to be sure that the nutrients are in the correct concentrations. If you add too much, you can burn your plants. What is "nute burn"? This occurs because of a process called osmosis. Osmosis is defined as the diffusion of free water molecules across a semi-permeable membrane. Wiki: "Osmosis is a type of diffusion. Osmosis can occur when there is a partially permeable membrane, such as a cell membrane. When a cell is submerged in water, the water molecules pass through the cell membrane from an area of low solute concentration to high solute concentration (e.g. if the cell is submerged in saltwater, water molecules move out; if it is submerged in freshwater, however, water molecules move in); this is called osmosis." Back to "nute burn"... If you add a solution that has higher concentrations of dissolved solutes than the water solution that is in the plant, then, because of osmosis, the free water molecules from inside the plant must go outside and dissolve the added solutes. This is the same process that is occurring in the wiki post: "if the cell is submerged in salt water, water molecules move out". This results in wilting, chlorosis, lack of nutrient uptake, and slow growth. If you rely on soil microbes rather than your best judgement, these problems are negated and the use of EC meters is unnecessary. Instead of feeding the plant nutrient solutions, you build a soil that has all of the "nutes" that you need to grow a plant, then the soil microbes deliver those "nutes" for you. my first grow
How many cups will I get from a bag of amendments? This is a tough question because most items are sold by weight and soil mixes are typically made based off of volume. The guys at BuildaSoil are the only ones (that I know of) that have a weight to volume conversion chart for soil amendments. http://buildasoil.com/blogs/news/11485089-how-much-does-each-amendment-weigh my first grow
Where can I find the items to make organic soil? Funny you should ask! We've got a thread fer that (thanks, Jerry!). http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1277064-sourcing-organic-soil-mix-components.html my first grow
My soil has mold growing on it--is this bad? It depends. Is it white and fuzzy? If so, this is white mycelia and is beneficial. A good sign that things are going as they should. If you have black, blue or green mold growing, then that is not good. Colorful molds are a sign of putrefaction. How does the soil smell? It should smell subtle and earthy. If it smells like a trashcan, that is bad news. Chances are that your soil microbes are not getting enough oxygen so anaerobic microbes are dominating the pile. my first grow
Can I use a "supersoil" like Subcool's or The Rev's? You probably can. But honestly they are both complicated and probably not that great. Here's an article about The Rev mix: http://buildasoil.com/blogs/news/9885098-why-tlo-dissecting-the-rev-mix-line-by-line There is probably a subcool article out there too. If you are gonna build your own soil, I highly recommend following one of these recipes: http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1116550-easy-organic-soil-mix-beginners.html Or Lumperdawgz/Cootz Mix (pretty much): 1/3 sphagnum peat, 1/3 aeration, 1/3 compost (same deal as thread above) To each cubic foot add: 1/2 cup kelp 1/2 cup neem/karanja cake 1/2 cup crab 4 cups 'minerals' 'Mineral' mix 1 part gypsum 1 part oyster 2 parts rock dust The oyster shell, being high in Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), acts as your 'liming agent' to raise pH and help balance the acidity of the sphagnum peat moss. With some knowledge of what the amendments actually do and some experience you can tweak the above soil mixes. If you are a newbie, I would follow them as closely as possible. my first grow
Can I use bagged soil like FFOF as a base? Yes you can. If you wanted to add stuff to it like compost, ewc whatever, I would still try to follow the guidelines of the proven soil mixes. Try to aim for 1/3 peat, 1/3 aeration and 1/3 compost as usual. An idea you can try would be to use 3 parts FFOF, 1 part peat, 1 part aeration, 1 part compost. If it were me, I would only amend the stuff that you added and treat the FFOF as an already amended portion. So if you took 1 cubic foot FFOF and 1 cf of the other parts, only add enough amendments for 1 cf. That is the way I would go about it anyway. There are many ways to skin a cat as they say! Just be sure that your soil drains well and is well aerated. Don't over-amend either. If you do add dry amendments, you'd better add a lively compost to make those amendments available. I wouldn't rely on the ewc or 'humus' in the bagged soil to be teeming with life. Another option: if you want to build a custom soil mixture, you can use the FFOF for early growth, mix up your soil, and when it is done with the nutrient cycling phase, transplant into the custom soil. This way you can get growing without waiting the typical 4 weeks for your soil to be ready. When it is ready, you will have month-old plants that are ready for it! I'd love to hear some more suggestions from people who use bagged soil as I have no experience. These are just ideas that I think I would try if I were to use bagged soil. my first grow
Whats a good fertlizer recipe for hempy bucket. Im trying to save as munch money as can but not cut back. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Is Dyna-Gro Protekt (Potassium Silicate) organic? I see some bugs in my organic soil/worm bins/compost--is this normal? Do I have to use ACT's? What are some 'must-have' amendments? Is this compost good to use? (How to be able to tell visually, olfactory...) Is it ok to use rock dust from the local stone cutter even though it is a mixture of things?--marble, granite, etc. What is the difference between pure worm castings and vermicompost? Which is better? Can I add amendments like neem cake and things to jazz up my ACT brew? What are the benefits of aloe vera juice as a soil drench or foliar? How do I use it? How do I make it? Is this a good brand to buy? What about coconut water? Can I use Promix or Sunshine mix as my base? Should I mix up different types of soil for flowering and veg? Should I amend the soil differently if I want to go no-till? What about 'NPK'? Doesn't the word 'organic' just mean that it has Carbon? my first grow
Thanks VERY much for this info. I'm sure this will become a sticky with proper participation. It's great info, even without answers yet for the "new" organic grower.
Is it ok to use RD from local stonecutters even if its a mix of different rock types? Hell Yes! The variety is good in a RD. The fuel saved on shipping is good for the planet. Its often free. I'm sure there are more advantages I've overlooked. Just ask them if they cut anything other than stone to make sure its pure RD. When you order it though the mail how do you know whats in the box? By what they tell you. I'm not saying the mailorder stuff is not good. It is. But local can be just as good or even better. Twas Ever Thus!
Another place to look is local quarries or construction sites where they are drilling and blasting. The rock drills create very fine rock powder and it'll be native to you!
if i smoke an organic J, will i really turn green? nice thread TJ, i know theres a few questions i saw that i still had.
Is Dyna-Gro Protekt (Potassium Silicate) organic? By definition, potassium silicate is not organic. It is however 'approved for organic production'. Items like Silica Blast, Rhyno Skin and Protekt... all the same stuff. Protekt has it in the highest concentration of the liquids and is probably the best 'bang fer yer buck'. I believe there is a similar product called Potsil in Europe. You can also buy a powdered version called Agsil-16H (there may be others) which is probably the cheapest way to go. Here is a great spot to learn about Silica products: http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/980786-silica-%E2%80%93-hidden-cost-chemicals.html my first grow
buildasoil.com just got the Ag-Sil back in. Ag-Sil is recommended to dilute 140 grams of it into 32 ounces of water to make a ready-to-use liquid silica product which should be between 7-7.5% Silica (approx. same as Pro-Tekt). 1lb is $12.20. That means you can make over 4/5 of a gallon (108 fl. oz) of liquid silica for $12.20.
Here is a quote (sorta) from a PM I received earlier from BrassNwood regarding rock dusts. I reworded it a bit. This is actually what made me add the rock dust question to the list in the first place. I think it is an important thing to consider when looking for rock dust. "Might mention rock dust and to avoid local sourced dust from stone cutting- fab shops. With so many materials cut and some containing high levels of heavy metals and fun stuff like Arsenic, it's now treated as a hazardous material, in this state at least. Wife worked in the slab supply side of the industry for many years. Just a safer bet to use a rock dust fertilizer supplier like agrowinn like I finally did." -BrassNwood Thanks BNW! It would be worth asking the local stone cutters about possible heavy metals or other toxics hiding in their rock dust before grabbing a truckload. To learn more about rock dusts check out this thread (thanks again Jerry!): http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1111289-rock-dust.html my first grow
Its a good idea to ask if they cut anything hazardous. I firmly believe local sourcing is better but you still need to be diligent of quality. shipping tons of rock around in trucks just seems kind of ludicrous to me because I'm trying to reduce my impact on the planet as one reason to do Organics. edit.bad enough we have to use electric light when the sun shines every day. Twas Ever Thus!
Is Azomite a rock dust? Nope. Wiki: "Azomite is the registered trademark for a complex silica ore (hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate) with an elevated ratio of trace elements unique to the Utah mineral deposit from which it is mined." IOW, it is an aluminosilicate clay.... Not technically a rock dust. Is it potentially beneficial for your soil? Sure, lots of people use it. Is it rock dust? No. And that's all I'll say about that lol. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azomite http://azomite.com Here is some convo on the subject: http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1283184-azomite-reasonable-substitute-rock-dust.html