So today I was clearing out some brush at my soon-to-be outdoor spot, and while I was uprooting some foliage, I noticed a very black, thick soil. So thick that I could make a nicely-sized ball out of it with some effort. It felt a lot like clay. Now, when it comes time to transplant my seedlings from 16oz solo cups into 5-gallon buckets, I will be using Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil. But in the 2-3 week seedling period before transplanting is done, will the soil I've discovered work well for the germinated seed/seedling? Or will the FFOF do just fine? Thanks guys
Neither will be perfect. The soil you described does not sound good for seeds/seedlings because of how much clay it has, and Fox Farm Ocean Forrest is way too hot for a seed. Maybe if you bought some FF light warrior and mixed that with some perlite and worm castings.
Thanks so much guys. I got 10 female Northern Lights seeds from Nirvana so I'd definitely like those to grow to the best of their abilities, so if Light Warrior + perlite + worm castings is the way to go then I'll definitely go that route. I also got the FF soil nute trio for when it comes time to transplant so I guess you can't go wrong with an all-FF grow. Question about the nutes, the soil feeding guide is somewhat simple but I've heard that starting the plant off at 1/4 strength with the nutes is better for it. Can anyone give me tips on using these nutes? Best time to introduce them?
Don't introduce the FF trio until your plant tells you it wants it. 4-5 nodes and yellowing on the cotyledons and first set of leaves means its ready for a 1/4 strength solution (Usually around a month of growth from seed) As for seed starter, here are some proportions: 50% FF LW 30% perlite 20% EWC (Earth Worm Castings) Once they get a month old you can transplant directly into FFOF and that should supply enough nutrients for another month or so.
I'm trying to get the point across that there is no specific day to begin adding nutrients, wait until your plant tells you it wants nutrients. Some indicas may continue to flourish over a month after sprouting with no nutrients at all while other sativas will require nutrients within three weeks of sprouting.
Hey so here's another question, would the worm castings and perlite also be a beneficial mix with the FFOF?
You can certainly add more perlite to the FFOF, but as for the worm castings...you can but may want to keep it to a minimum since FFOF is already decently hot. Even though worm castings are pretty light in nitrogen, idk maybe like a 5:1 ratio FFOF to worm castings. Edit: Disregard that last sentence. Thank you for the save Corto...learn something new ery day
FFOF is chemicals castings is organic you don't mix both generally as the salt in thte chemicals will kill the bacteria etc... in the castings (or manures).
Hmmm, what about using organic composts in conjunction with some organic liquid nutrients...say the Humboldt line, or Roots Organic line, both 100% organic. Does that mean that they do not use salts to make their nutrients?
If it's organic the salts won't harm the organic bactgeria there are in humic and fulvic acids (found in compost, castings, manures etc...). I know some growers who use Espoma (chems) as slow release dry ferts coupled with organic stuff (guanos, kelp etc...). It still works but you shouldn't use lots of chems with organics, esp. in liquid form on a daily basis.
Noted. I was only thinking about adding cal/mag if she needs it, so it should be fine. Thanks for savin my grow though, who knows what else I might of added.