hi, im starting my first outdoor grow. I have friends who grow, and i have been around them alot so i know a thing or two. The difference is, that they grow hydroponics indoors. im setting up an outdoor garden using 1/3 perlite 1/3 vermiculite 1/3 peat moss. Im germinating the seeds right now. I bought everything today (perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, fertilizer 1 12:12:12 RATIO, fertilizer 2 12:0:0 ratio, ph up, ph down, ph tester. My question is this. Ive seen my friends top feed all the time using liquid hydroponics food. I don't know how to feed using these fertilizers that look like soil basically. I dont know whether to mix them in with the original medium or how to mix in the fertilizer. In hydroponics I know you follow a feeding schedule. Can someone please tell me how to feed the plants and when to feed them. I know the soil medium im using right now has no nutrients so im guessing im going to add the 12:12:12 fertilizer from the beginning and then add some 12:0:0 also during the veging stage. I just dont know how often to do this. Or to even do it from the beginning. Please somebody help me!!
Thats good you should have that mixed in before you plant though along with some bone meal. Mix your stronger ferts in and let the soil sit for a couple weeks before you plant.
so should i mix everything together? the perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, bone meal, blood meal, and the other 12:12;12 FERTILIZER all together? How much should i put? the instructions are specific for different plants but obviously cannabis is not on the label. I was thinking of mixing the perlite, vermiculite, peat moss together along with 12:12:12 fertilizer for the first two weeks after i plant the germinated seeds. Then feed as needed by just placing it on top of the soil before watering. After two weeks when the plants are big enough i would start using the blood meal along with the 12:12:12 as needed for the veging stage. Please let me know if that sounds good or how i should do it. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR INPUT!!!
mix everything together, water it heavly then let it sit for say two weeks. (unless your in a hurry to plant) Once the nutrients are in the soil you dont necessarily need to worry about constantly giving it more and more. like every 2 - 3 weeks add a small amount of 12-12-12 if thats what your using. You need to be careful if u add too much you can burn the plants from feeding it too much nutrients. As for how much bone and blood meal follow the directions on the package for a plant that is similar like say tomatoes. If you are gonna throw some 12-12-12 add no more than a cup to say 5 gal worth of dirt.
ok first of all i have not bought the vermiculite yet. I was watching ready set grow by high times, and it said you can use perlite and peat moss as a base. I just decided to try that out with a small portion of my supply to see the texture. I put half and half like the video suggested, and the texture wasnt too good. It was holding way too much water. I mixed in 3/4 cup of 12 12 12 fertilizer for a 4 gallon pot and 1/2 cup of blood meal. I added water at ph level of 6 (added ph down it was( at 8 originally). When i checked my soil ph it was at 4!! Im going first thing in the morning to get some vermiculite, and some lava rock for the bottom of the pots to make it drain better. I think its the nutes that messed up the ph. Any ideas or suggestions?
get some dolomite lime to raise the ph of your soil. the peat moss is really acidic right around a PH of 4 I believe.