Can anyone tell me how I can break these measurments down in order to be just enough for a few plants? This looks like enough for alot?
it's not a lot. but you can substitute the ingredients for foxfarms products with stuff from your local feed store and save yourself some good $$$, and then you'll have the organic upper hand too.
[quote name='"Dumdumdummy"'] Can anyone tell me how I can break these measurments down in order to be just enough for a few plants? This looks like enough for alot?[/quote] Each bag is around 1.5 cubic feet. In 3 gallon pots it gives me enough for 5 or 6 plants. Be sure to let your mixture cook for a bit. Good luck!
Can you elaborate a bit? You are leading me where I want to go eventually. The FFOF that I get is from a hydro store that is hours away from where I live and I only stop there because its on my way during my travels. Eventually I wont have any business out that way and I wont have access except to order it which I dont want to do (just not practical as I wuld like it to be). I do have feed stores around me though. What items can I get to sub for FF stuff? Thanks. How long does it need to cook before its used?
At least a month. Mist it with water while mixing it. Don't want it wet, just damp. Mix it a couple, three times a week. This just starts the nute break down process.
Can anyone answer me this, our seeds are now 4 days in the soil. We didn't add any perlite or anything to the soil, its just straight organic soil. Is it too late to re-lift the soil and mix in these additives?
Well you can just top dress with something like the Espoma plant tone and guanos you can even top dress the soil with alfalfa, kelp,bone and blood meals earth worm castings are great on top. Basically its what I've been doing and then I like to add molasses and sometimes fish emulsion to the water. It's what I did on my last grow and I was very pleased with the results. Trust me you won't lose any THC content or "Trichomes" and overall taste and high is superior when growing organic or top dressing your soil with organic fertilzers instead of bottled nutes IMHO. Just remember a little goes a long way one or two table spoons of ea amendment or fertilzer is sufficient for a 60 day flower stage in a 5g pot. Good luck, BeZ...V
Well, that description doesn't really tell us much. Organic soil you dug out of your back yard? Bagged organic potting soil? The reason why I point this out is your comment on perilite. Imo, and I'm probably in the minority here, perilite is the most overused, over rated crap on the market. I haven't used it in over 5 years of indoor growing (I used to like it a lot) and don't miss it a bit. If you want to add it to help your soil drain better, there are better alternatives. However if you are using bagged organic potting mix, most likely it already has perilite in it and already drains well.
It's miracle grow brand I believe, organic potting soil. I just said perlite because I've just been picking out stuff to use from diff grow journals on here. So it'll be ok to get some stuff and just lay it on top? What would be a good additive that's effective and not too expensive
Also, we have growing rocks on the bottom of the pots to help with drainage but we're watering it today for the 3rd time and there isn't much water that's drained, not enough for our PH meter to take a reading at least
[quote name='"Dumdumdummy"'] Can you tell me what ingredients I can sub for FF products that I can get from a feed store? thanks.[/quote] Sphag peat moss Humus Worm castings Fish bone meal Alfalfa meal Kelp meal Greensand The list goes on just grab a recipe off this thread and get to mixing. The initial cost of everything at once is spendy but it's like buying everything you need to make 1 batch of cookies. You'll end up with enough to make a ton of batches whenever u need to.
[quote name='"LilJ86"']Where are all the pics of these soils in use???[/quote] Mine are in Absolute Beginners, 1st time indoor grow. 1 bag FFOF 1 cup blood meal 1 cup bone meal Lime Perlite I'm day 2 into flowering. I've had problems with nute lockout, pH issues, etc. I think most of my problems stemmed from me not cooking my soil and the usual gambit of noob mistakes. I've done so much reading on here my eyes are crossed. I also bought a couple books for instant reference. There have been a couple of times I've " noob freaked" and had to post questions, but after reading the responses I really had no reason too. I started the FF feeding regime with Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom along with Brer Rabbit Molasses at full strength. I'm using Ro/Di water and the combo of nutes dropped my pH to 4.4!! Adjusted to 7.4 - 7.5 and my girls are thriving!!! Daytime temps range from 75 to 80 and nighttime hovers around 70. Stinky stinky!!
Okay. I guess that my specific question is what ingredients are the ones that will mirror those found in FFOF the closest? I just know that at some point, I wont have access to the FFOF that I purchase now so I want to start understanding what stuff makes FFOF work as well as it does. The bag says that it contains fish meal, peat, EWC and humus...but Im pretty sure that there are other things in there that round it out...right?
[quote name='"Dumdumdummy"'] Okay. I guess that my specific question is what ingredients are the ones that will mirror those found in FFOF the closest? I just know that at some point, I wont have access to the FFOF that I purchase now[/quote] Amazon
This is pretty much what I am driving at. I have been picking the brains of MIW and WeeDroid for how to hook up organic growing and the one thing that sticks out to me that most is that when growing this way, ph is not supposed to be an issue because the plant/soil relationship balances things out and corrects itself to a certain point...thats the way I understand it. There is generally no need for an RO unit and expensive ph pen and also no need for nutes other than those in ACT...
[quote name='"Dumdumdummy"'] This is pretty much what I am driving at. I have been picking the brains of MIW and WeeDroid for how to hook up organic growing and the one thing that sticks out to me that most is that when growing this way, ph is not supposed to be an issue because the plant/soil relationship balances things out and corrects itself to a certain point...thats the way I understand it. There is generally no need for an RO unit and expensive ph pen and also no need for nutes other than those in ACT...[/quote] I completely understand. Your first grow is a 4 month "probation" so to speak. I'm sure you've been studying up on this like a college exam and want things to be perfect for your first grow. I did, it didn't. I believe that you can achieve these under optimum conditions, but in reality the chances of a perfect first grow are slim. Not saying it can't be done, but it's rare. I believe mistakes are the best teacher. My pH monitor has been my best friend.
Guys, FFOF has already been loaded with nutrients. There is no real need to add more for a month or longer. The nutrients it does have, is FF marine cusine dry fertilizer. It also is ph balanced with lime no need to add more, and given the 4 month break down time for lime, it is not doing what you think it is anyway. If you decide, as is popular on organic forums, to go with a peat based soil like sunshine mix or pro mix, a cheap one size does all fert mix could be any of the balanced organic dry mixes. Earth juice has some, FF does too, and my favorite espoma brand has a tone line that is cheap and well balanced with those mythical mycos added. I think you can do better but not at anywhere close to the same price. Sunshine and pro mix still does need a little ph buffering, IMHO, but not nearly as much as you commonly read. I'd go with 1.5 cup at most for a 3.8 cf bale. Along with those two peat mixes you can buy much cheaper a straight peat. In my area i can get 3 cf bales of premier mix, ($9) it's pro mix without any additives. Another is lambert Canadian peat in 3.8 cf bales. ($10) Since these guys are straight peat they do need more ph buffering than say pro mix. But don't get hung up on dolomite lime as a be all do all. It is a fairly tightly bound compound that does not give up it's cal and mag easily. Following LD's lead many of us are now using some sort of mineral mixes in it's place. I use soft rock phosphate, azamite, gypsum, along with about 1/3 of the commonly recommended rates of dolomite lime. You will also need some thing for aeration, check out rice hulls, pomice, lava rock. Perlite is the most common but not the best. Personally I don't like how it breaks down and disapears. And given the long break down times, it should be clear to give these mixes some time for microbes to start breaking the nutrients and minerals down. Again this is why I say most all of your work is up front. Take your time, do some research, and you will never use premixed soils again. It does not have to be expensive or complicated. And as always, the better the compost/ewc, the better your grow will go, remember it is a living soil we want......best of luck....MIW
[quote name='"MI Wolverine"']Guys, FFOF has already been loaded with nutrients. There is no real need to add more for a month or longer. The nutrients is does have are FF marine cusine dry fertilizer. It also is ph balanced with lime no need to add more, and given the 4 month break down time for lime, it is not doing what you think it is anyway. If you decide, as is popular on organic forums, to go with a peat based soil like sunshine mix or pro mix, a cheap one size does all fert mix could be any of the balanced organic dry mixes. Earth juice has some, FF does too, and my favorite espoma brand has a tone line that is cheap and well balanced with those mythical mycos added. I think you can do better but not at anywhere close to the same price. Sunshine and pro mix still does need a little ph buffering, IMHO, but not nearly as much as you commonly read. I'd go with 1.5 cup at most for a 3.8 cf bale. Along with those two peat mixes you can buy much cheaper a straight peat. In my area i can get 3 cf bales of premier mix, ($9) it's pro mix without any additives. Another is lambert Canadian peat in 3.8 cf bales. ($10) Since these guys are straight peat they do need more ph buffering than say pro mix. But don't get hung up on dolomite lime as a be all do all. It is a fairly tightly bound compound that does not give up it's cal and mag easily. Following LD's lead many of us are now using some sort of mineral mixes in it's place. I use soft rock phosphate, azamite, gypsum, along with about 1/3 of the commonly recommended rates of dolomite lime. You will also need some thing for aeration, check out rice hulls, pomice, lava rock. Perlite is the most common but not the best. Personally I don't like how it breaks down and disapears. And given the long break down times, it should be clear to give these mixes some time for microbes to start breaking the nutrients and minerals down. Again this is why I say most all of your work is up front. Take your time, do some research, and you will never use premixed soils again. It does not have to be expensive or complicated. And as always, the better the compost/ewc, the better your grow will go, remember it is a living soil we want......best of luck....MIW[/quote] This is why I love GrassCity. I learn constantly. Thanks MI Wolverine!!