The purpose of this thread is to make availible a simple yet very effective soil mix and nutrient program that will keep your plants green from seedling all the way through harvest.This should be very helpful for new growers or growers having problems settling on a final soil mix and nutrient mix.
Far to often I see plants in the early to middle stages of growth that are yellowing and/or losing their leaves.I see plants that are overwatered and overfertilized.
If you want to get all that your plant/strain has to offer ,you must keep it growing as rapidly as possible from the beginning till the day you chop her down.
If your plants are yellowing or are in poor health in general,they are not able to grow and perform at their maximum levels.
The biggest problem that I see and read about is people getting booged down with all the new fancy products.Almost all of these ammendments promise the world,yet seldom deliver ,especially when a garden isn't at maximum levels in the first place.
If you will give the following soil mix and nutrient program a try,you should be able to grow beautiful green plants from seedling through harvest.
SOIL MIX
This mix only has 3 components to purchase .
1.Bale of Pro-Mix
2.Bag of worm castings-15 to 30 lbs(wiggle worm comes in 15 and 30)
3.Bag of perlite(most are 8 quart bags)
NUTRIENT MIX
Only 3 nutrients to purchase,consisting of General Hydroponics new nutrient called the Flora Nova Series.(These are one part mixes and require NO mixing!!!)There is one bottle for Grow and one bottle for Bloom.To add an ORGANIC kick I use Original Pure Blend.This is a thick organic tea solution.
I'm going to post pics of the soil ingredients and nutrient bottles.
OK,now to mix the soil.First you are going to need a kiddie pool or something of equal size for mixing your soil.If you don't need a whole bale as in a small grow,just break it into quarters and plan on splitting your worm castings and perlite at the same ratio.(if you are going to use 1/4 of the soil,be sure to add 1/4 of the castings and 1/4 of the perlite.)Throw the three ingredients together in the kiddie pool(or a container to fit the size of your project),being sure to go easy with the perlite,the dust is very bad for you,it's fine when wet.For the whole bale it will take at least 5 gallons to wet the mix,probably 6 gallons.You will want to use a 5 or 7 gallon bucket for mixing your water.You will need to add 1 tablespoon of Flora Nova grow and 5 tablespoons of Pure Blend (grow or bloom) to your water to wet the soil.You must mix the soil well,until it is uniformly wet and mixed.It will take some time and energy to do this job well.You can transplant your seedlings or clones into this mix.I use 1 gallon pots for vegative growth and then move to 3 gallon and the to 4-1/2 or 5 gallon to finish big plants.If you are growing smaller plants you can use smaller pots.The key is to let the soil in the pots dry out pretty well.You want the whole top layer dry and down a couple of inches dry also before you water.This is very,very important!The plants need oxegen and can't get it from soil that is constantly wet.I like them to be almost dried out,but you can still see that the leaves have not started to droop indicating that they are out of water.This is a little to far.This is something that you have to learn to judge by the feel of the pots and soil.I like to water until 15-25% of the solution comes out the bottom insuring that all the excess nutrients get washed away.This is also very important!You will use the same nutrient mix for growing plants,except if using only a 5 gallon bucket,you will have to back off the Flora nutrient to 3/4 of a tablespoon and 5 tablespoons of Pure Blend.If growing pure sativa's,you will have to drop to 1/2 to 1/4 of a tablespoon of flora nutrient as it is extremely concentrated.For every 4th or 5th watering ,I use plain water and drain at least 25% out the bottom of the pots.This gets rid of accumulated nutrients and keeps the PH stable.
When it's time to bloom,you will switch to bloom flora nova after you have been in 12/12 for 10 days or so.I switch when flowers start appearing well.You may have to use a little less bloom mix than you used during grow.Start with only 1/2 of a tablespoon of flora nutrient and keep an eye on the tips of the leaves.If they start to get a little burn,you know you need to back off a little and use plain water for the next watering.
When you get 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through flowering,you can discontinue the Flora Nova and use just Pure Blend so you will have awesome tasteing organic buds.This gives the plants plenty of time to use up the chemical ferts.Be sure to flush with plain water for at least 2 waterings and more if possible.The more flush you give them the more flavor and color you will be rewarded with.
If you have any questions,feel free to ask.
I'm going to add pics of soil mix ingredients and nutrients.This may not be the best mix out there but I assure you it is one of the most simple .Very few ingredients and excellent results.
Take care....................CC
Far to often I see plants in the early to middle stages of growth that are yellowing and/or losing their leaves.I see plants that are overwatered and overfertilized.
If you want to get all that your plant/strain has to offer ,you must keep it growing as rapidly as possible from the beginning till the day you chop her down.
If your plants are yellowing or are in poor health in general,they are not able to grow and perform at their maximum levels.
The biggest problem that I see and read about is people getting booged down with all the new fancy products.Almost all of these ammendments promise the world,yet seldom deliver ,especially when a garden isn't at maximum levels in the first place.
If you will give the following soil mix and nutrient program a try,you should be able to grow beautiful green plants from seedling through harvest.
SOIL MIX
This mix only has 3 components to purchase .
1.Bale of Pro-Mix
2.Bag of worm castings-15 to 30 lbs(wiggle worm comes in 15 and 30)
3.Bag of perlite(most are 8 quart bags)
NUTRIENT MIX
Only 3 nutrients to purchase,consisting of General Hydroponics new nutrient called the Flora Nova Series.(These are one part mixes and require NO mixing!!!)There is one bottle for Grow and one bottle for Bloom.To add an ORGANIC kick I use Original Pure Blend.This is a thick organic tea solution.
I'm going to post pics of the soil ingredients and nutrient bottles.
OK,now to mix the soil.First you are going to need a kiddie pool or something of equal size for mixing your soil.If you don't need a whole bale as in a small grow,just break it into quarters and plan on splitting your worm castings and perlite at the same ratio.(if you are going to use 1/4 of the soil,be sure to add 1/4 of the castings and 1/4 of the perlite.)Throw the three ingredients together in the kiddie pool(or a container to fit the size of your project),being sure to go easy with the perlite,the dust is very bad for you,it's fine when wet.For the whole bale it will take at least 5 gallons to wet the mix,probably 6 gallons.You will want to use a 5 or 7 gallon bucket for mixing your water.You will need to add 1 tablespoon of Flora Nova grow and 5 tablespoons of Pure Blend (grow or bloom) to your water to wet the soil.You must mix the soil well,until it is uniformly wet and mixed.It will take some time and energy to do this job well.You can transplant your seedlings or clones into this mix.I use 1 gallon pots for vegative growth and then move to 3 gallon and the to 4-1/2 or 5 gallon to finish big plants.If you are growing smaller plants you can use smaller pots.The key is to let the soil in the pots dry out pretty well.You want the whole top layer dry and down a couple of inches dry also before you water.This is very,very important!The plants need oxegen and can't get it from soil that is constantly wet.I like them to be almost dried out,but you can still see that the leaves have not started to droop indicating that they are out of water.This is a little to far.This is something that you have to learn to judge by the feel of the pots and soil.I like to water until 15-25% of the solution comes out the bottom insuring that all the excess nutrients get washed away.This is also very important!You will use the same nutrient mix for growing plants,except if using only a 5 gallon bucket,you will have to back off the Flora nutrient to 3/4 of a tablespoon and 5 tablespoons of Pure Blend.If growing pure sativa's,you will have to drop to 1/2 to 1/4 of a tablespoon of flora nutrient as it is extremely concentrated.For every 4th or 5th watering ,I use plain water and drain at least 25% out the bottom of the pots.This gets rid of accumulated nutrients and keeps the PH stable.
When it's time to bloom,you will switch to bloom flora nova after you have been in 12/12 for 10 days or so.I switch when flowers start appearing well.You may have to use a little less bloom mix than you used during grow.Start with only 1/2 of a tablespoon of flora nutrient and keep an eye on the tips of the leaves.If they start to get a little burn,you know you need to back off a little and use plain water for the next watering.
When you get 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through flowering,you can discontinue the Flora Nova and use just Pure Blend so you will have awesome tasteing organic buds.This gives the plants plenty of time to use up the chemical ferts.Be sure to flush with plain water for at least 2 waterings and more if possible.The more flush you give them the more flavor and color you will be rewarded with.
If you have any questions,feel free to ask.
I'm going to add pics of soil mix ingredients and nutrients.This may not be the best mix out there but I assure you it is one of the most simple .Very few ingredients and excellent results.
Take care....................CC