General hydroponics dropped an organic line called General Organics. They have this product called "Ancient forrest" I recently tried it for the first time and am impressed. It is advertised as already containing the living micro-organisms of a living soil? If this is true, that is awesome, becasue thats the end goal of a really good soil mix, correct? To make it living so you can constantly have new soil from the poop of the micro-organisms. Apparently they get it from decomposed trees in Alaska. This is interesting becasue I have heard of growers in Northern Cali, pulling out dead decomposing trees, and replacing it with a nice health MMJ plant. Thes plants are rumored to reach 15 feet and more? Never grown outdoors so I really dont know if that is huge, I just know the decomposed trees in ancient forrest seem to work for me. Here is the description you can find at online hydrostore's: General Organics Ancient Forest is a natural soil amendment consisting of 100% pure forest humus. Derived from thousands of years of naturally decomposed forest litter, it contains a wide spectrum of organic compounds. Its high diversity of microorganisms, including more than 35,000 species of bacteria and over 5,000 species of fungi, make Ancient Forest an ideal amendment for gardening and potting soils. This amendment also aids in the retention of water and nutrients, creating stable, long lasting soil for your garden. Ancient Forest’s immense biological activity also makes it the ideal inoculum for actively aerated compost teas. peace
Did you go online and order this or do you have a Hydro store where you live? There are not many out where I live so its a hell of a time trying to find a store unless I go online. I will def check this out sounds pretty descent.
I actually had to have my Hydro store order it for me from their supplier. Only took like 3 days to come in and it was well worth the wait. Im in week 5 of flower, and these are hands down the healthiest plants I have ever grown.I would attest that mostly to my soil mix....or should I say subcools soil mix, with some slight variations...Ancient forrest being one. I would highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a living soil...If you wanna know my other secret ingredient send me a PM Warlock
You should get a grow journal going and post all your stats and take some pics of your babies. Im really excited to see what they look like! I have been looking into the product but I would like to see what your babies look like coming from it. I would love to know your seceret ingred! Now you got me all excited!
Ive thought about it, but dont have the time. Dont get me wrong of course I keep logs and pics...just dont have the time to post. And as far as my "secret" ingredient I re-read that and realized I soiund like that douche who wont tell anyone what someone told them...I dont wanna be that guy. The other things I add are AZOMITE, its a powder and the name is actually an acronym for "A TO Z of minerals and trace elements" hence, azomite. Not sure where you live but its hard to find so go on their website and see whos got it around you. Id also say you get some botanicare granular bloom. Its also pretty hard to find. Lots of hydrostores wont even know what your talking about and will take you to some botanicare liquid fertilizer, bloom pro or whatever. The stuff Im talkin about comes in a bag, is solid, and smells horrrrrrrrible. Made by botanicare. Pink flower on the front. Throw in the other ammendments and voila. organic dankness. I water with RO water, mollasses, a little gravity and snowstorm in flower and late flower. here are some pics I took last week of what ive got goin right now. 5 weeks since I flipped the lights
hi everyone. i have adding composted horse manure (with very low to non existent drug content) to my garden for 30 years. also hauled in about 12" of topsoil. i am the only one in the neighborhood that can grow corn and my vegs are much larger than the guy next door so i think my soil is ready. the mj is growing faster than the corn at this point. pigeon droppings are very high in nitrogen, good in the compost pile. j
Hiya orellej, Welcome to the GC forums and thanks for taking the time to share your soil mix with us. It sounds like you've established a great soil mix for your garden/gardens without a lot of hassle. Its amazing what you can do with some good compost and native topsoil. If you feel inclined, share some pictures of your garden with us so others can learn from you. Again, welcome, chunk
I just switched to Fox Farm 'Happy Frog', right out of the bag. I may add just a little more perlite or pumice to the mix. It's a great soil with mycorizza already added, beneficial minor trace elements in the mix and bat guano. My plants are thriving in it. I like not having mix soils ever again. Just add liquid ferts as needed.
Someone told me that Fox Farms soils have blue chip urea in them and that its not organic. Does anyone know if thats true?
Thanks for contributing to the thread. Organic, cheap (free) amendments are: - horse manure. Place in your garden in winter so worms come and eat it. You can use it with mix (30%-40% total volume). Get the manure where it's dark if you get it from a pile. It won't burn after plant is out of seedling stage. (It can be used very lightly for seedlings) - chicken manure. Also place over winter (or place at bottom under plant). It is hotter so don't have them touching any young roots (burn). Use composted too (not fresh). It should crumble a bit in your hand but still be moist. Fresh it is very strong smelling and gooey (total burn if used). - other manures you can get (sheep, cow...). - coffee grounds (not too much acidic), banana peels, eggshells: over winter. Attract worms too. - hay, small branches, ashes, saw dust (mechanic saw) over winter will be beneficial for worms and other bugs in your garden (or grow spot). They will live in them and it's good for the plants when decomposed. - worm castings (homemade see Oldpork's great sticky). No burn at all, can be used directly in Spring (and added over Winter too). It can touch day old seedlings (20% vol.). The goal is to attract micro organisms, insects and worms so bring manures, and other worm treats. They're cheap and very effective amendments for big healthy plants.
I've called them and they say that Happy frog, Ocean Forest and FF regular have no blue chip urea in them or any other synthetic ferts in them. Totally organic. Fox Farm- 1-800-436-9327
As a matter of fact, they told me that their Peace of Mind and Happy Frog organic fertilizers that come in bulk boxes can be made into teas and used that way too. They're all organic.
I have a question about Spangham peat moss. According to the web site link below, they have two varities. Living and dead. Read on. \t\t Coco Peat, Peat Moss & Long-Fibered Sphagnum Moss Organic Soil Conditioners at Home Harvest® Garden Supply So I assume for sustainability issues, the Long-Fibered Sphagnum Moss is better, but how is it for growing cannabis? Does anyone have experience with this product?
I respectfully disagree with your definition of organic, for what you are applying the word to. In the case of plants and organically grown specificity, what we're talking about is not being carbon based, or being a living organism (although that is a large part of finding success when growing organic), or a part of a body. What we are talking about is the same definition that is applied to organic food. Organic (as it applies to growing organic) is... Food [and/or plants] produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.[1] When I grow organic, this is the set of standards that I work very hard to achieve. If your product does not apply to this definition, that you are not growing organic! This isn't really up for debate. This is what Organic means in many countries all over the world. It's really a safety standard to protect us, the animals and plants around us, and our environment that we share with them. Other than that, great post. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food -Tlogrow (aka Kushasaurus)
^^ whose this post directed at? If you're referring to slowhand, I would have to agree with you. Gunk is junk, is gunkityjunk.
The post is directed at the guy who started this thread. His, defintions of organic are not the ones that apply to Organic Growing of plants.