which nutrients to use?

whatever you do, don't buy chemical fertilizers. At least look at the product's MSDS first and recognize how toxic it is before buying.

IMO items no plant should grow without- EWC (erth wirm compost) or chicken compost, Kelp meal (alginic acid, mannitol, etc.), alfalfa meal (possibly the most environmentally beneficial plant).

then round it off with some pumice and sphagnum peat or coco- neem meal and rock dust and that's it. easy no?

 

BB-
People are like their nutrients like they are about their significant others - pretty attached and opinionated. Organic peeps like their organics, right hope2toke? Hope you're laughing, no offense intended, I'll just say jokingly that I don't want earthworm and chicken poop in my weed (I know, it really DOES work but that's not as funny)! And, there's the old saying, "Better living through chemistry".
As you begin to gain experience, you can't go wrong with the old gold standard General Hydroponics Flora series. Not the cheapest, not the most either, but this stuff has been to Antarctica and the space station. It's what virtually all research facilities use, and the one used as the control when testing any others. I've used others and keep coming back to this. You can get a starter kit consisting of one quart each of grow, micro and bloom, for about $40. Easy to follow directions printed on the bottle, for each stage from seedlings, veg, transition, bloom. The starter kit should get you through your first grow. Just be sure to ALWAYS dilute the micro first, before adding the other two ingredients. Mixing undiluted portions will result in nutrient lockout.
Go half to 3/4 strength of the bottle formula for the veg stage. Start the bloom stage at 1/2 strength but as soon as your buds start to set go to full strength. Finish off your last week to ten days with pure water to flush away any excess nitrogen & you'll have some tasty buds.

 

I'm am going all organic this time after using cem's before. I'm using 2teas GO Biothrive, 2 teas. Peruvian gold, and drop super thrive ingl water. Roots organic soil with some added earth worm cast and Jamaican bat guano. Plants are looking very healthy

 

Organic is just as simple, if not more so than cem. With organic if you have a good soil you real don't need much in the way of nut's, just one good veg or bloom addition. With cem's they can be very heavy in one facet of the plant nutrition, but be lacking others. Ultimately raising you NPK in one detection or another and be extremely devisting to your plants health. All this can also be an issue for organics too, don't get me wrong. IMO, you can beat organic for taste and smell, but if your looking for just yield then cem's will work for you.

Which ever way you decide to go the key to success is SIMPLICITY.

 

Correction: you can't beat organics for..........

 

Most excellent point, Joker, keep it simple until you get the feel for it.
I've got to figure out how to post links to other threads on here....

Bringbackup, to Joker's reference on the Lucas formula, here's a copy of one I did earlier tonight. This is especially effective for auto-flowering strains that as a general rule are very sensitive to overfeeding.
Lucas formula, cliff-notes version:
This is simply eliminating the grow (high nitrogen) portion of your nutrient mix from your formula. It's more prevalent in hydro, but can be used in dirt as well. Everyone I know who's used it (myself included) uses it with General Hydroponics 3-part Flora series of nutes. The theory is that plants in bloom don't need the additional nitrogen beyond what is included in the micro portion of your nute mix.
To be more specific, with GH-Flora, the traditional bloom formula is 5mL-grow, 10mL-micro, and 15mL-bloom, per gallon of water (5mL is one teaspoon).
The Lucas formula uses no grow, 8mL-micro, and 16mL-bloom per gallon. There are other variations but this one seems to be most prevalent. It works fine... not better, but not worse. And while I haven't tried controlled measures, I've seen no discernible difference in yield over the traditional 5-10-15mL formula.
Personally, I switch to Lucas for at least the last 3-4 weeks of my bloom cycle. The plants continue to thrive, and flushing to eliminate unwanted nitrogen in the finished product is not as critical.

Hope this helps. BTW, even if you decide to go Lucas formula, get the grow as well, you'll need it during your veg cycle.

 

Hey Dyse, you really use that????? Worm poop, chicken poop, ohhhh I almost forgot, bat do-do....
Sorry friend, I can't help myself some nights. Guess I'm just jealous cause I can't do that in hydro!

 

I'd keep it simple and post a quote from the products your recommending's Material Data Safety Sheet. Let's just skip quoting other sites and agree it's not safe.


"I don't want earthworm and chicken poop in my weed "
that's simply preposterous. how else do you suppose food crops should be grown? no offense but it's second grade knowledge that compost doesn't "get into" food. you obviously don't grow any thing besides weed because you'd realize that compost makes for better plants if so. Of course Plants do best when they can root very well into compost- this will alter it's flavor. I'm not saying you should transplant into fresh chicken manure a month before harvest.

(I know, it really DOES work but that's not as funny)! And, there's the old saying, "Better living through chemistry".
there's also the saying, "were all fucked." Rising cancer and rare disease rates and the domination of petro chemicals over industry and our daily life. We even grow weed with the very same industrial pollution and extol it's value in curing our ailments. Just look at the MSDS for your beloved Flora micro. Now wikipedia those ingredients. Irony stings, no?

any ingredient used in organic soil should be composted first including guano's- in fact Guano's are a major hype with lots of misinformation surrounding the amendment's effects. Not that you're interested. But I believe Guano's history is as interesting as trends in current applications of it. TO me the notoriety of guano only indicates the need for more minerals, one's that are much cheaper than guano, and more effective IMO. remineralizetheearth

 

Hey, hopetotoke, I wasn't EVEN being serious when I posted the poop comments, just looking for a little laughter. I have no doubt as to your method's effectiveness, seriously. Just every now & then I can't help myself.
I'll take the rest of you comments as being insulted when that wasn't my intention. But I still think bat do-do is funny. Always will, whether it works or not!!!
Peace.

 

BB-
I use the same water I drink with no problems. Distilled water's fine. Many hydro growers invest in reverse osmosis systems & that's fine too. But for your first grows in dirt regular old H2O is completely normal.
I'm not clear how far you are into your first grow. If you are still in the long-day vegetative stage of growing (18-24 hours lights on)you'll need to use the full three part formula.
The GH formula for vegetative growth is 15mL-grow, 10mL-micro, and 5mL-bloom (5mL = 1 tsp; 15mL = 1 Tbsp). That's 100% strength. The easiest way to mix 50% is to use the same amount of nutrients but in two gallons of water. Once mixed, just pour it in as you would water, until some of the nutes run out the bottom.
There's a transition formula on the bottle, 10mL of each three parts per gallon, which is intended for when you switch to the 12 hr. bloom light cycle. You can typically skip this formula when growing in dirt, especially if you've veg-ed your plant for an extended period. Skipping this phase helps prevent "stretch", which is when the plant tries to take off through the roof when you switch to bloom. This can be problematic when you have limited head room in your grow area, and when using fluorescents like you indicated.
Once you've switched your lighting to bloom / 12 hour cycle, I'd recommend using the a 50% strength of the full bloom formula for the first couple of weeks.The bloom formula simply reverses the ratios of grow and bloom - 5mL-grow,10mL-micro, and 15mL-bloom. When your plant starts setting buds, go to the Lucas formula for the rest of your grow.

Now, I've got to ask, is it just me or do you think bat do-do is funny too?