Some Background: I live in New England. I'm planning to start a grow, but I'm creating a checklist so I can know how much I will be spending in advance. It will be an outdoor grow. This is going to be my second attempt at a grow. (last grow was fail) I've been reading mad, and absorbing everything I can before I actually execute the plan. So I've been reading alot on Fox Farm, and from what I hear many people swear by it. Here is my current checklist: o Fox Farm Ocean Forest® Potting Soil o Fox Farm Big Bloom™ Liquid Plant Food (0.01-0.3-0.7) o Fox Farm Grow Big® Liquid Plant Food (6-4-4) o Moisture Meter o pH Soil and Hydroponic Testing Kit What else do I need to make this grow work successfully? It's in a wooded area. I'm going to put the plants in pots not the ground. What else should I add to this list, to make sure I don't run into problems. I need some type of animal, bug, fungus repellents to keep shit off my grow area, but don't know what brand or how much to get.... I'm pretty sure I need perilite and stuff like that too, but again...I don't know how much or what brand? Any help would be appreciated.
You actually helped me out with that list, its more or less what I'm looking for. I have an idea to get you and me some answers.
This might not be what you want to hear, but drop the Fox Farm products. FF has a ton of extra salts in and will cause your pH to get out of wack and your EC to get real high resulting in nutrient lock out. Plus, it is NOT organic like they claim. If you are not going organic, you may as well just buy Grow More - it costs much, much less, and works ten times better than anything Fox Farm makes. The only reason people swear by it is that they've never tried anything else. Every grower I've known, myself included, that made the switch from Fox Farm to something else, never went back. Fox Farm is the bottom of the barrel - there are other fertilizers out there that work far better and cost far less.
Nice. Do you live in New England by any chance as well? It would be cool to start our grows off parallel, and compare and contrast. The only reason I'm going with Fox Farm is because it seems like the product that most people use from what I've seen, and many people have experience with it so I see it as an oppurtunity for support. I'm not growing for organic reasons.
All you really need is about 20% decomposed manure in your soil mixture for vegging ($15/pickup load here for decomposed organic cow manure) and an $8 jar of molasses to feed soil bacteria and add potassium for flowering. I've seen so many images of burned and stunted plants on weed forums it's pitiful and virtually every post has 'should I cut back or increase the pick a highly advertised name of nutes'.
Well, like I was saying if you do not care about going organic, Grow More is the way to go; it is what professional farmers all over the country use. It is cheap, well made, won't mess up your pH or EC, and is nice and clean and won't clog your drip lines. It is instantly available to your plants and will get you a high rate of growth and a good yield. For organics, I have had good luck with Botanicare's organic liquid products. The N is a bit too low on their grow though so you need to do regular foliar feedings to keep your nutrient levels where they should be. Liquid Karma is also a great product and has been proven in university studies to boost nutrient uptake and yield. If this is your first time growing though, I would really recommend the Grow More - it can get amazing results and won't hurt your bottom line.
They sell an extremely wide range of products and can even do custom blends. Just google them and check out their web site - their products are too numerous to list off the top of my head and I am not familiar with everything they make.
imo, bro, your best & easiest way is to go organic, growing w/ the FOFF, & useing compost teas as your nutes. if u go w/ compost teas (AACT), u dont need a ph meter, ppm meter, no flushing is required, & your yield, taste, etc will be better than any other method. but when going organic, everything needs to be chemical free, so let your tap water set out for 24-48hrs. look on youtube for compost tea vids, & in the organic section here. if u dont want to go that route, look up the lucas formula
^^ that is some good advice. The AACT's are AWSOME and are a must if growing organic. They will boost your yield, nutrient uptake, etc; they do it all!