Hey blades :Wave: as the title states, I am an Organics Noob but not a noob to growing weed. I have been considering organics for some time and my mentor has finally convinced me to give it a wirl. So I have decided to (in the future) grow 4 7gal organic girls. I have been doing shit tons of research and talking and blah blah to find out what i need to find out, and i think i have a solid plan but owuld like some reassurance (sp?) from my community Soil: 1CF Sunshine Mix #4 - sais it fluffs out to 2CF 12 QT bag of Happy frog soil 1.5CF Roots Organic Greenfields This is what i have came up with so far. Now I know I can run straight like that with no cooking and substitue nutes with teas. My question to you is, What can I use as a good organic Microbial so I can keep reusing my soil. I mean i plan to run that very soil for 3 grows while i take a dif mix (same products and ratios) ammend it and let it cook. What im getting at is what would you do if this was your Organic grow. Keep in mind I dont want to buy 3000 different ammendments, I simply want to create a Decent Water only soil that is pretty low maintenance. I would like for it to contain decent microbs both for growth and to help with the reusing process. Help me out... sorry im cutting this short. I'm stoned shitless and am forgetting where I am trying to go with this lol. I have my organic basics dows now im just ready for the old schoolers, or new, to kick me some knowledge.
Yah, I'd advise you to completely restart your learning process...its all wrong. On the first page of the organics section is ITG's beginner thread...I can't believe you haven't read it yet...
i have read it, i dont like it. nothing personal to ITG i am just looking for something that fits me. your comment is both useless and unneccesary. im looking for legit answers not arrogant pricks who wanna feel like know it alls. go play elsewhere on the forum i have no time for your weak bullshit.
There is no humus source in what you have listed. Maybe in the soil, but do you know how much is in that bag? That is what we consider the heart of our soil. You will need quality source for humus. Source locally. Craigslist is a good start "compost" or "worm castings". As far as amendments. My big ones that I will not grow without are neem meal, alfalfa, kelp meal, shellfish meal, and rock dust. These are not "one trick ponies". They serve other purposes as well as nutrition. If your looking to grab some bags, mix some soil and go, then you may be setting yourself up for problems. I look at it like this. It's like building a house if your foundation is solid the less problems you will have. If your foundations is fucked then everything above it is going to be wrought with problems that need to be overcome. The basic soil recipe around here is; 40-50% pro-mix or sunshine 25-30% humus (quality compost or EWC) 25-30% aireation Amendments 2-3 cups per cf Minerals 1 cup per cf Rock dust 1-5 cups per cf If your going to reuse soil why not know what's in it before reammending? Teas IMHO should be used sparingly and only as a tool not a feeding regime. You'll also need to unlearn everything you thought you knew from the hydro world. I'm constantly unlearning. I am by no means an expert, but ever since I went this route I will never go back. Best yield and quality. I feel like such a sucker knowing what I know now. Check the attitude at the door. Kesey was trying to help, granted it could of been phrased better. This is a nice little corner of the web with very helpful people. Not like other places I've seen. Lets keep it that way. Welcome to the GC organic community. SF
Jflow, it's always a gamble counting on getting both proper nutrition and even more importantly, proper levels of soil microbes when buying overpriced, overrated & oftentimes poorly constructed soil from those companies you listed. Though bags state there is this and that in them, we never know how much of or of what quality this and that is - thus the "make your own" mentality. A fine and effective soil can be constructed with peat, castings/compost and some nutrition and you'd be way ahead of the game. Like SF said - welcome to our organic corner of the web. J
Nearly all pre-bagged soils are under-ammended, so that in order for you to finish your plants you need a bottle, which conveniently enough they also produce
I'm a noob to organics too...just wrapping up my first all organic grow with results way beyond my expectations. 'Like it' or not, it is what it is....simply put you can't accomplish what you want with what you listed. There are some very basic things though that Jerry was kind enough to post in his organic obsession thread a short time ago that are few and cost effective...lemmo go find it and I'll quote it here. Don't give up....it's well worth it
Found em. If you start with these, then accumulate more amendments as you grow in the knowledge of what gives the best results and pick up those things along the way to amend your used soil you're going to end up with a killer mix. I started my mix with what I could find/afford while in the middle of a grow using FF products. As time went on and I read/learned more I picked up a few more things here and there as funds allowed and went with it for this last grow. Killer. While this grow was going I found and added a few more things (fish feather meal and crab meal, things like that) and I'm ready for this next grow to knock my socks off
Thanks for the reply bro, would I be safe replacing the happy frog with compost? I would obviously scrap the 12qt and replace with 1CF compost? As for the amendments in looking for the less is more route, I really don't want to buy 8000 bags of meals kelps and other stuff that I'm only going to use a cup of or a few scoops. Are there any all in one type products?
Thanks for the replays everyone, I guess what I'm getting at is what can I buy ready made to build a decent soil without purchasing too many products. Money is not the issue, I'm mostly a hydro grower so this organics will just be to get my feet wet so to speak, thanks again all for droppin some knowledge on me in a positive manner.
This should help http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/988488-ready-grow-bagged-soil.html Also look into the epsoma "tones" for organic fertilizer available at most lowes, ace, Home Depot. If you combine organic soil with SIPs and you'll never look at your pH pen ever again. Water only.
^ dunno bro, im a noob although i have made changes to my mix thanks to everyones suggestions. I found a guy on CL who makes organic compost. gonna buy a fer pounds of it. maybe 5 ? probably leave out the roots and just run promix and HF witht he compost and maybe one of those all in one ferts. heard lots of good about jack's? this sound better at all tho?
Depends what your native soil is. I would use small amount for inoculation of BIM in the soil but I'm no expert. If the compost is quality I would shit can the HF and get some epsoma tomato tone and roll with it. You may need to get some perelite or lava to lighten it up depending on the compost. I would let it cycle before you use it. 3-4 weeks or more. That will give you enough time to build a couple of SIPs for a test run BTW - sounds a hell of a lot better. Plus your wallet will thank you as well. If you can, find some kelp meal, alfalfa, and EWC to have on hand. IIRC, Chunk did an all kelp meal grow a couple years ago. It worth a look if you can find it.
You can cultivate indigenous microbes through far better means than adding native soil to your container soil, I don't see much benefit from adding native soil when its not necessary..
5 pounds won't be nearly enough. Use around a third compost and a third ProMix as your base soil. I'm pretty sure Home Depot or Lowes sells the Epsoma Tomato or Garden Tone fertilizers as Sticky Fiskars suggested - use two or three cups of this added/mixed in to every cubic foot (7.5 gallons) of the compost/ProMix base and you're done. The Epsoma fertilizers are blended organic ferts. Once it's all mixed up wet it thoroughly and set it aside to nutrient cycle/compost for a month - 3-4 weeks if possible. This lets the fertilizer break down into usable plant food. I would highly suggest, tho, that you get a little bag of kelp meal and switch a cup of the Tomato or Plant Tone with a cup of kelp meal. You can probably get this right next to the blended fertilizer - Epsoma makes this, too. A simple mix like this made with three or four ingredients will work just fine for you and be a good entrance into real organics. The reason the compost is so important is because this is where all your soil life/bacteria will come from. It takes these bacteria to break down all your organics into usable plant food and organic compounds. Without it your fertilizer just won't break down and your plants will starve or burn from the fertilizer that hasn't broken down. After the mix sits for 3-4 weeks you can plant. At this point if you can, get some worm castings and topdress with some castings too. This is as simple as it gets - just keep your plants moist with water from start to finish. Since you hopefully already have a little kelp meal, once your plants are established, soak some kelp meal - an eighth of a cup per gallon and soak it for a few days to a few weeks and water that in a few times during the grow. Keep reading. I can't stress that enough. This will work, and it will work well but there is room for improvement. J
Thanks bro, this helps immensely! Thanks to everyone for the info! Will keep you guys updated on my organic adventures!
It's VERY important to use high quality castings and compost - these two items are what an organic soil is based upon. IF you use these items, some peat and an organic fertilizer you'll do just fine for your first mix and this will work much better than bagged soil - but make sure you wet it and then be patient while the soil bacteria breaks down the fertilizer. If you don't it stands the chance to burn your plants, so be patient and plan ahead for your next round as well. The longer a soil mix has to cycle the better off you'll be. Another advantage to organic gardening (besides ease of use and producing very high quality products) is that we are able to continuously re-use our soil - big savings. J
That's eventually the plan bro, I love the thought of water only reusable soil. I also plan to buy all my ingredients now and let it cook through out this entire grow. I won't start organics until march of next year, I figure that's plenty of time for everything to break down. Should I add molasses before I cycle or after I already pot my plants?? Also can I just add that 5 pounds of compost to a bag of roots organic to make a decent base, mixed with sunshine #4 and perlite?? Another question is, wouldn't the sunshine have enough drainage to compensate?? If that's the sacr the would perlite be a waste??