BeZtoken This plant was handed to me in a 1 gallon pot and was about 13" and transplanted it into a container from the last cycle. This soil had been used for both the veg cycle (about 4 weeks) and the flower cycle - 8.5 weeks. After the harvest the pot was stuck in the corner. The day I decided I had to do something with this test plant I was too lazy to mix up a small batch of soil so I grabbed the pro with the 'used soil' and removed what little was left of the stalk and a few primary roots. The plant went into the soil and the only thing that I watered with was Yucca extract since it's a solid wetting agent. I did this because I wanted to make sure that the dried soil took up the water completely. I removed the top 7 - 9 internodes and hit it with a Yarrow & Horsetail Fern tea with BioAg's pure humic acid and Aloe Vera extract. This is the plant after the 2nd tea was applied - this time it was Comfrey. Think this plant is deficient in any macro or micro nutrient? LD
No sir LD that plant is a beauty. And sorry I guess I asked the wrong question. What I ment to say was, what is a trusted or suggested brand of natural phosphorus to amend the soil with. I'm trying to not use ANY bottles just meals, tones and powders, but I think I'm gonna have to get a liquid fish of some sort, hydrol if possible. I don't think the fish meal has the same benifits. I definitely am not playing the deficiency game. I just want all the rt things in my soil to start with. I still haven't really found a soil recipe. Is there a thread? Thanks LD, BeZ...V
Ok I just read that the mycorrhizae become inactive in high phosphorus conditions!! So I will not be adding any phosphorus supplement. But thanks tho. BeZ...V
Very helpful comments LD. I agree fully. Less is more, is a tough lesson to learn though. This living soil thing is more philosophy, or a change in thinking, than a organic for chem swap. I think this, thinking change business, is harder for hydro guys than back yard gardeners. Along those lines. You go on a hydro forum and they are all talking mico's with maybe ten percent knowing what mycos or micos or bennies or whatever the current cool words are, actually mean. I think most are thinking mico's are nutrients that they somehow need to buy. And sadly the folks whose hands are on their wallets sure as hell are not telling them.......MIW
So if less is more, but if more diversity within the natural and organic products/material used within the soil/medium is key for a diverse community of microbial life. I'm confused o_0 Then I guess there is no happy medium?lol. I've already discovered that EWC alone is not enough. If you add organic kelp and alfalfa meal it makes it a little better cotton seed meal one more step up, add a diverse carb, even better, natural phosphorus must be in the mix somewhere. So should we all just buy and source every usefull natural organic material and meal we can find? I've read that organic natural ingredients ALMOST never burn plants. What do they mean by almost? Is there a meal you should steer clear of? Or a deadly combination? I'm only talking teaspoons and pinches here as soil amendments. Hope you don't mind all the questions or consider this too far off topic. Thanks, BeZ...V
Sorry I was using "less is more" as a metaphor, to set up my change of thinking comments. Guess I struck out, eh? I look at less is more, in a way like, quieting the angry monkey. Clear as mud? When you clear out the clutter in your life, life will find you. Growing plants can be as simply as staying out of the way, if you can embrace less is more, and when your mind is clear, there is no angry monkey......one day it will all click, will you hear it? MIW
Ok I gotcha bro your talking like inner peace, philosophical. I don't mean to come off stressed out about anything really. I think I just must know everything.lol. But according to my ol' lady I do know "Everything" right? Lmao. But I am getting all the plant meals I can find and adding as a topping to the pots, can't hurt anyway. Thanks as always, BeZ..V
Growing plants, like any other discipline, can be confusing if you listen to all the noise around you. Quiet that angry monkey. Much better to learn why you do things, and find your own way. To do that is easier when your settled on a discipline and have some order in your grow/life, than when you are jumping around one great idea to the next. You will never know how to gage progress if you are trying something new every cycle. Less is more. Take a breath, relax. Keep notes on your grow. Read a lot, research your own questions, the practice and discipline of researching, will become useful in all areas in your life. Discipline... Chop wood carry water. Use your own mind to separate the good from the bad. And before you know it, your grow, will teach you what it wants. First clear your mind, close your eyes and listen. This herb wants you to have fun and enjoy life, it's only goal is to please you. Are you listening? MIW
I would suggest avoiding corn gluten meal (prevents seeds from germinating), cottonseed meal because they use so many pesticides on cotton and a lot of them can remain, and soybean meal because most soybean is GMO (great product if you can find a good organic non gmo).
Good advice on all 3 meals............... And I would reconsider using conventional (non-organic) fish meal because of the use of Ethoxyquin as a preservative and antioxidant this ends up in pet foods and livestock feeds. The organic fish meal is listed by sellers as 'Naturox' and it comes at a higher price, i.e. $80.00 vs. $50.00 for 50 lbs. Your call........ LD
I will pass on something that I have learned here, and that is that a soil that has enough humic acids in it will not stay balance enough for ion exchange to take place, no matter how much 'stuff' you have in the soil, and building up a level of this is the hard part of making good soil. It is the greasy, tarry, sticky, slimy feeling jet black mud that sticks to your palms when you rub some good damp compost between your hands. A really good addition to your soil would be to buy some of it and add it to your soil alone with goooood compost. Bio-ag humic and fulvic adic is fantastic. You'd have to ask LD for an explaination of it from a referenced perspective, I just know that if your soil leaves your hands jet black, when rubbed a hand, you will produce good pot with little or no fuss. Just my 2 cent's on 'deficits' in soil for real.
Canola, too, is GMO. It seems that every other year, Monsanto, et al, mutate another plant that can suck up poison w/out dying. I can just imagine what Monsanto will try to do to our lovely herb if it ever gets legalized.
Thanks guys I'm currently using Dr. Earth brand kelp and alfalfa meal I found at a local non chain garden center. His products are what I'm going to use unless I can find or source something better, or if someone here knows something bad about them that I don't know. I plan on picking up a couple more. Will the organic cotton seed meal be no good? If its organic, no pesticides right? Is there a brand or company that has ALLL the meals? Thanks LD for the advice I have been researching the different processes of fish and will use one that still has the goodness in tact. I wasn't going to use any non organic, a couple extra dollars more for the proper materials, I can live with. Helpful BeZ...V
Organic labeling means no pesticides and non-GMO, if it's sourced from the US. A "small" loophole is that if it's sourced from another country, then their organic standards apply...which in some countries is pretty much meaningless.
Cool that's basically what I was thinking. I definitely look for American made, as local as possible. I'm still looking for a "local" organic fruit or compost farm I may be able to source materials from. I live in Michigan there's water everywhere I'm hoping one day I can source my own freshwater seaweed product if possible. It's like they probably sell people in Norway, Great Lakes freshwater seaweed extract or something because it sounds exotic to them. Idk just rambling. Thanks bro. BeZ...V
Your local county extension agency will have a list of local framers' markets...and there you'll find organic and non-organic producers. Some might have sourced local freshwater 'seaweed'. Or the local natural resources people. University dweebs doing flora studies? Even local old timers - never forget that they've been around, know the area, "knows what grows", and are often eager to have someone pay attention to them and ask question...they might even have used the stuff themselves 'back in the day' before readily-available commercial fertilizers. Another reason to respect your elders, ayuh?
"I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next" - Steve Jobs
BeZ, If you're going to use the Dr. Earth line up, which I used with great success early on you might find this thread useful. This contains a feeding schedule that was put together by the owner expressly for the medical MJ community. IMO, if you're just starting in organics, Dr. Earth is a path of least resistance in that their products contain all of the meals we look for wrapped into one package. I've used just their Tomato, Vegetable and Herb blend from start to finish and couldn't be happier. chunk
Thanks daddyo I downloaded the files and will experiment in the future. It's kinda frustrating trying to find a good source of organic amendments. I was at the grow shop yesterday more like hydro shop, 5 employees standing around and no one had a clue what fish hydrolysate is. So do you know of a website where I can get ALLL the organic goodies/meals. I hate buying online, I just do, and a single site would make my life sooo much less. BeZ...V