Best Additives for your $

[Guest]

I haven't posted much lately and I'm way overdue on pictures of new strains, but I wanted to start a thread on additives. There are assloads of them on the market. Some good, some not so good. I am looking for the best bet for the money. For example, the best rooting hormone I can find is Dip-N-Grow as it contains the most active ingredients, but I buy Hormex cause it is a close second and cheaper. Also, I love Earth Juice, but I use Pure Blend Pro for Soil as it contains all the good stuff plus Humic Acids which are missing from EJ. The other bad thing about EJ is I have to buy 6 different bottles to make a resevoir and that just gets ridiculous.

SOO, right now I am looking for the best Bacterial / Fungal innoculant and am not sure which product gives the most "bang for the buck"? AN's Piranha? Plant Success? Root Maximizer?

So folks, please list your personal "best bang for the buck" additives. Preferably organic as this is the organic soil forum. Where to buy is also helpful. I buy most of my stuff local, but Worms Way is good on Hormex.

Lets help eachother out!

 

[BurnOne]

Worm castings
Guano
Kelp
Molasses
Worm's Way

Start with a good organic soiless mix with plenty of humus...

Here are two very good organic soiless mixes...

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Check the link in my sig line below for cheap earthworm castings. Free shipping to the eastern USA.

Or, if you use Pro Mix or Sunshine Mix...
LC's Soiless Mix #2:
6 parts Pro Mix BX or HP / Sunshine Mix (any flavor from #1 up)
2 parts perlite
2 parts earthworm castings
Powdered dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
If you use a 3 qt. saucepan as “parts” in the amounts given above, it equals about 1 cu. ft. of soiless mix and you can just dump in a cup of powdered dolomite lime.


Guano Tea and Kelp:

Seedlings less than 1 month old nute tea mix-
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
1-cup earthworm castings/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering

Veg mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 tsp. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
5 tbs. Liquid Karma
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
@ 1-cup mix/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering.

Flowering nute tea mix:
2/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano
2/3 cup Earth Worm Castings
2/3 cup High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican)
5 tbs. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
@ 2 cups/5 gallons of water EVERY watering.
You can use queen size knee high nylon stockings for tea bags. 3 pair for a dollar at the dollar store. Tell 'em you use them for paint strainers. Put the recommended tea in the stocking, tie a loop knot in it and hang it in your tea bucket. The tea should look like a mud puddle. Agitate the bag in the water vigorously. An aquarium pump and air stone will dissolve oxygen into the solution and keep the good bacteria (microherd) alive and thriving. Let it bubble a day or two before you use it. If you find you are making too much tea and having to throw it out, use 2 1/2 gallons of water and cut the nute amount by half.

Burn1

 

[Guest]

The best additive to my grow has been my air pump and air stone. This allows me to make teas and bubble my ferts so I don't need any high priced bottled bacteria and fungi

2-4-1 Fish emulsion
molasses
kelp extract
organic humus or compost
alfalfa meal

This is the basis for my tea depending on what plants I'm using it for.

 

[FunkBomb]

The best additives, hands down, are the simplest of the organics - the shits and the meals.

Bone meal
Blood meal
Cow manure
Wormcastings


I fertilize my peppers and tomatoes with just a few teaspoons of blood/bone meal every few weeks and they go crazy. You can mix any of them into the soil or just apply to the top and water it down. Either way you'll be sucessful.


-Funk

 

[irie-i]

my tea recipes are very similiar to Burn1's. (thanks for the inspiration, i remember a the paint strainer tip from a long time ago in a CWorld far far away) i dont use PSG (although maybe i'll try it) i do use alfalfa meal.
as for additives: hygrozime enzymes @ CDN$125 per gallon, but it lasts me a while using it in my 50gal resi.
liquid humus, ramsbridge black crystal brand
brewers yeast from the health food store
AN piranha and tarantula (i got a pile of it for free awhile ago, but its running out.)

i cant say that this is more bang for my buck, but i can buy the fertilizers pretty cheap so just the additives cost.

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

Not to pee on your methods Irie-i, but yeast and the sugars from the molasses will create alcohol and co2- both are lethal at root level I would think.

Perhaps the bubbling keeps the alcohol level and co2 level in check?

minds_I

 

[Neptune]

I will support

alfalfa
kelp
blood
bone
agricultural lime

mix this into your medium, water the medium, and let it marinate for 2+ weeks.

bone meal does not break down quickly.

 

[irie-i]

Not to pee on your methods Irie-i, but yeast and the sugars from the molasses will create alcohol and co2- both are lethal at root level I would think.

hmmm...
my yeilds have been good, but the roots are never pretty. i thought LK has yeast and people use it with mollases. i only bubble for about 48 hours and then feed it to my plants. maybe it doesnt brew long enough to create alcohol. i suppose i could try a cycle without yeast and see if the roots are white-er

 

[Guest]

I use LK and mollasses too with great results. Keep in mind that LK will turn your roots really dark in color.

Seed

 

[crunkinshoe]

For veg I'm using:
Per gallon of water...
1 tbsp mexican bat guano
1.5 tbsp ewc
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp alaska fish fert
3-4 drops superthrive
1 tsp maxicrop kelp extract added later
vinegar to adjust high ph

What you guys think?

 

[Guest]

Hello all,

Not to pee on your methods Irie-i, but yeast and the sugars from the molasses will create alcohol and co2- both are lethal at root level I would think.

Perhaps the bubbling keeps the alcohol level and co2 level in check?

minds_I

i think the kind of brewing you're talking about is an anaerobic process

 

[crunkinshoe]

i think the kind of brewing you're talking about is an anaerobic process

The bubbles (air) keep the good bacteria alive....

 

[Guest]

What do you guys think of using Espoma's Compost Bio-Activator vs AN Tarantula? The Bio-Activator has a lot of nitrogen fixing bacteria and stuff in it... but I'm not quite sure of the amounts, quality, etc. The price is like $5 a 5lb bag, which is assloads cheaper than Tarantula...

 

[irie-i]

id sure like to know more about that too

 

[Closet Funk]

I think so far the best ferts for cheap and that fit my budget is Maxi-Crop products. The liquid seaweed works great giving plants much needed K and micronutrients. I also got some liquid fish but haven't used it yet. It's rated at like 5-1-1 which would be good for veg and clones. Other then that worm castings I bought were cheap as hell and I got a big fresh bag too. The most expensive fert I've bought is probally Bio-Bloom.

 

[Omega Rasta]

What do you guys think of using Espoma's Compost Bio-Activator vs AN Tarantula? The Bio-Activator has a lot of nitrogen fixing bacteria and stuff in it... but I'm not quite sure of the amounts, quality, etc. The price is like $5 a 5lb bag, which is assloads cheaper than Tarantula...

I don't use Espoma....but just about any and everything is cheaper than AN...Im not knocking their very specific breakdown of almost each and every one of the needs of a MJ plant....but Im sure a couple of those things could be combined ....and they know it.....but if they were in my range of $$$ for a garden I'd buy them too.....

So folks, please list your personal "best bang for the buck" additives. Preferably organic as this is the organic soil forum. Where to buy is also helpful. I buy most of my stuff local, but Worms Way is good......

I use Bio-Genesis Synergy 1 teaspoon per gallon of water....every feeding too....a totally organic plant stimulant.

Neem Oil spritz every lights out weekly....mixed at 3 teaspoons every gallon of water with 3 drops of a non anti-bacterial dish soap....for protection from pest.

I get my supplies from WWW DOT HTG Supply DOT com and WWW Alt Garden DOT com....very easy on the pocket yet reliable and fast.

 

[trikromeking]

I paid 15 bux for bio-grow...what a waste of money, it lists molasses as the only ingredient... when I have a bottle of blackstrap molasses for 1.29 and seems to be stronger than the bio-grow. If anyone can say anything positive about bio-grow please let me know.

 

[Mikey]

I got superthrive on sale at wally world for like 3$...usually 10$

And most organic users use it although it's not 100% organic it is like 90% or so and is a great additive in veg and seedling stage...

 

[Legit_User]

Dark Energy and Home and Gardens root stimulator.
It has the most powerfull concentration of bacteria.
So much so that they tell you not to use an air stone or they will over populate.
120.00 a bottle but it's 1ml per gallon.
And Dark Energy just kicks ass......
Stay peacefull

 

[monkey5]

icers, at : www.gardenselegante.com click on catalog ,on the left hand side of page, then garden supplies...you want rootzone 8OZ jar for $9.99 great stuff...cheap!!! monkey5