Hi people, Thanks for the help in the last thread. After reading through this thread by Stoned Chick - http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/611419-soil-mixes-no-nutes-water-only-post-them.html and the last thread I made: Almost ready to grow, long post, please advice - Grasscity.com Forums I decided to go for this organic mix 8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil) 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings 5 lbs steamed bone meal 5 lbs Bloom bat guano 5 lbs blood meal 3 lbs rock phosphate ¾ cup Epson salts ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite) ½ cup azomite (trace elements) 2 tbsp powdered humic acid By subcool I want to grow a yield of about 500g and and want to use these pots: Pot Growing Solutions | Marijuana Growing, Growing Weed, Pot, Marijuana, Cannabis Im going to get 3 10l pots for a 1sqm tent with 650w lights The site replied this to me about using a mix like this in the pots: "answer to your question you can use any soilless mix or buy organic potting and mix it with perlite about 1/2 quart per 3 cubic feet bag of soil , as far as fertilizer goes we have always liked dyna gro . as far as size pots in the 10 inch pot you can yeild up to 4-5 feet and the 12 inch pot 6-7 feet and the 14 inch pot 8-9 feet" So I got my last questions before I order my pots and everything for my grow. 1. What do you think of this mix? What would you add or remove from this mix? I want to know how much molases I should put in and kelp? 2. What measurements do you think Ill need of everything for 3 10l pots? 3. Im reading a couple of grow diarys, would you recommend anything else? 4. What do I need to look out to go wrong here? Do I just add the water? How long will the mixture need to mixed till its ready for the plant etc? 5. And last, where can I buy all of this stuff? Im from the UK. Worm casting and molases I can get because there is a worm shop just down the road and I make molases for shisha anyway. Thank you very much for all your help guys
Add perlite to your base mix and Alfalfa meal and kelp to your ammendments. If you using a pre mix soil add some more mycorrhizae. Worm Castings (Earthworm Castings) as Organic Soil Amendment and Worm Casting Tea, Alternative to Golf Course Chemical Fertilizer, Organic Soil Additive
I think that when people put all their eggs in one basket they run the risk of not getting a crop? Or something like that... You might look at whether you would want to grow more plants in less large containers, so that when you kill some of them off, you will still have some that live. Only growing three plants and learning at the same time is not always a good mix. Nor is moving the 10L containers with the equally heavy full grown plants in said same container, the smaller ones are much more managable. Also vtime in veg is a factor for many people, you will have to veg long to get big plants like you want, and that pushes your nutrient management skills to the max, older plants need more tending then smaller or younger ones. What you are aiming at doing is max crop with max plants under under previously undetermined skill set and previously undemonstrated soil, with minimal lighting. I have re-re-re-reammended my soil so many times convering all the bases, that i can garuntee that your's will be incmplete for something, somewhere along the way. I'd go with 3 gallon containers and learn on smaller plants, more of them, and figure out what the soil mix you have going will give you in actual plant growth and go from there... like go big next time? ASlo the give and take of watering, dry and wet cycles; water type and condition; and the actual room/tent specifics and light-tightness will become factors of learning as well as your plant tending. And the pots you picked out are for water soluable nutrient use(bottled nutes), for putting nuted water to the roots only, not for pouring water over your plants and letting them get their nutrients from the wet soil and microes that are growing there. The site even stresses that the soil stays dry and that fungus's won't grow in it because it's dry, and that 'top dressing' doesn't wash into the soil because of not top watering, which is usually the point of the top dressing that people do actually. I'd opt for regular ones, or the smart pots perhaps, but the water to the bottom only system doesn't work for organics, cuz the wet dirt is the point. Just some thoughts.
Yeh, pretty much what skunk said. How long to you plan to grow before harvest? If <120 days (pretty much gives you a maximum of 60 days of veg ) you can easily get by with a 1.5 - 2 cf container. And that can be calculated starting with an 8" max depth. Any container deeper than that is gonna pretty much be a wasted effort IMO. Ok... I'll go to a max of 10" deep but that's it! The root system won't develop vertically as much as it will horizontally in that time frame. So, container length and width are, IMO, more important than depth to promote a healthy and robust MJ root system when growing indoors on a short cycle! And that's what you want! Healthy balls....! LOL! Healthy root balls mah man, healthy root balls! Something to ponder perhaps. IDK. Just saying.....
wow, lots to think about again now. Thanks guys. I wanted to have some good healthy bud in 11 weeks, start to finish harvest. Thanks again
So do you guys think I should plant in an organic soil. and just feed the plant through the water? I could feed the worm castings and all that through the water? And for weeks Ive been reading less plants on this and thcforums. = bigger plants. Instead of having 9 small ones, have 3 big ones? That I could produce bud in 11 weeks. I will be getting my fem seeds from subcool or mandala.
On this Organic section of this forum, we plant in soil and water thru the soil, yes. Mix soil, plant and water. Read more. You have 'the crop' on the mind and it's clouding your concepts; they need time to grow, you will need to veg them, then transition them, then flower them, and for ANY noob, you need to not kill them. Flowering alone takes 8-12 weeks, and you will need to add a veg time to this and you want 4-5ft plants so you will veg for many many weeks... so you want in a total of 11 weeks to grow a 4 foot bush in a 10L pot to produce 500grams... is not realistic. Honestly, grow a few small ones and see what they need, what you can do, and how long it takes, and whether you actually net some pot in the end at all. It's not simple, it's a dedication to a learning curve and you need some basics before you try to produce a lot at once. Bigger experience=live plants=something to smoke. Go from there. If you doubt it, look at the sick plants section of this forum, always crawling with people and posts.
Thanks for your reply. Im so confused now lol. After reading for months. And getting replys in threads like this: please read New to growing, was gonna use soil but now considering waterfarm cause of Bud Miester Almost ready to buy 1st grow kit, please help with what Ill need and other threads I have made here explaining why Im confident I can do this I thought I could yield 500g in a 1.2aqm tent. I want to grow as nicely as I can in 3 months like it also says in the top seed websites. Then I read about making making less pants to product bigger and more concentrated on fewer plants. Then I read about waterfarming and I decided to go grow as organically and nicely as i can for medical purposes. Now reading about all the soil nutrients it seems a little risking for first time so i thought ill grow organically through the nutrients, like a good mix and some natural stuff like worm casting in the water, mosales and kelp in the water. Can I not produce that amout in 1.2sqm tent that is well equipped, looked after and timed properly? If not 3 plants but 9 plants? Thanks Skunk
Maybe, give it a try. If you have a camera, i'd love to see. I'm too paranoid to post, but i love to look at the pictures other poeple put up.
Website estimations are that at best. Each plant is an individual and needs it's own special care. The medicine comes from the plants, not your plan for the plants. Take care of the plants better=better or more medicine.
Thanks. What organic soil, perlite would you recommend and nutrients would you recommend I get to put in the water along with the worm casting, molases, and kelp to give the plant all it needs to grow. Would I need anything else? Would I feed the plants the same things all the way through now that Im not going to be feeding them through the soil for my first grow.
search this forum for soil mixes and read what other people have put together to grow out some plants. People will post their mixes readily, they aren't secret and people share, do some searches with the search button. soils mix, soil mixes, soil, and they will all return lost to read on the mixes people are using. Lots of different additives in small amounts is best, and it can be free amendments for the soil too, like bashed up peices of granite, quarts, onxy, slate and such from rock and landscaping places... minerals that help soil and free for the taking or really cheep. doesn't all need to break the bank. compost is cheep. read about the things people are talking about when you do a search on the soil amendments. There is no specific formula and the amendments are area specific. it is you who has to develop a soil plan for you, based on what you can get and what you can't. Basically dirt is dirt, but good dirt grows fantastic weed
Also Skunk, Ill be using those pots that you said wouldnt wet the soil to feed nutrients that way. So all the nutes would be from the water. Is it still important what else goes with the soil? Doesnt that start making it not so organic lol?
Hello! Just came back to life tonight! WOOT. O.k. I have posted a list of soils etc. Here is what i am using this time around: 3- FF Ocean Forest 3- FF Planting Mix 4- FF Light Warrior 1- 4cu chunky perlite 1- Happy Frog Steamed Bone meal 1- Algamin Kelp meal 1- Espoma Dried blood 1- EsposGrow 1- Greensand 1- 15lb bag Earth Worm Jim Castings 1- Indonesian Bat Guano 1- Hi-Brix 14oz (for Molasses)