Fox Farm Ocean Forest PH stabilization

[Younggunz43]

Alright guys as you may know ffof is a great soil, but it can lose it's ability to buffer ph over time.

There are a couple easy fixes to this that I am aware of.
1.mixing additional oyster shell into the soil
2. Adding dolomite lime

I'm leaning towards some ground organic oyster shell flour but not sure how much to use per 1.75sq ft bag? Was thinking about 3/4 cup of ground oyster shell. However I have never done this before and I don't want to add too much calcium to the soil and was wondering what amounts some of you guy use to stabilize OF

 

[DemonTrich]

add 1 cup powdered dolomite lime PER bag of FFOF. mix well. let sit for about a month to allow the DL to break down. most of the time I don't have the means to mix up 6 bags of OF, so I make my mix and use it immediately. about week 5-6 I start adding some cal-mag in a watering (1x) until I start adding nutes at week 7 (flip time).

I bought a 50lb bag of dolomite lime from my hydro shop for 11.00.

 

[ct guy2]

You lost me at "ffof is a great soil."

 

[Younggunz43]

add 1 cup powdered dolomite lime PER bag of FFOF. mix well. let sit for about a month to allow the DL to break down. most of the time I don't have the means to mix up 6 bags of OF, so I make my mix and use it immediately. about week 5-6 I start adding some cal-mag in a watering (1x) until I start adding nutes at week 7 (flip time).

I bought a 50lb bag of dolomite lime from my hydro shop for 11.00.

I know lots and lots of people the line for this vs the oyster shell, wonder which one is better. Have you compared?

And that is 1cup per 1.75 cu ft right? The bigger bag of OF are the ones I have.

 

[Younggunz43]

You lost me at "ffof is a great soil."

Fox farm ocean forest soil, pretty hot soil it has enough nutrients to get thru veg with minimal or no nutes added, it's just a little hot for some plants and the ph drifts after a littl while getting more acidic as time goes by

 

[DemonTrich]

yup, the big bags, 1cup/bag of dolomite lime (powdered, not granular). granular will take months and months and months to break down.

 

[Younggunz43]

Thanks. I'm gonna use lime in some of my pots and oyster shell flour in the other to see if I can tell a difference from my run offs between the two.

Seems like most people think hydro is more complicated but so far I'm having more troubles with soil grows

 

[Snype]

Thanks. I'm gonna use lime in some of my pots and oyster shell flour in the other to see if I can tell a difference from my run offs between the two.

Seems like most people think hydro is more complicated but so far I'm having more troubles with soil grows

Hydro is so much easier to me! LOL!

 

[DemonTrich]

ive never checked run-off in 3+ years. ph going in, forget the run-off.

hydro setups, one plant gets sick, they ALL get sick. soil one plant gets sick, toss one plant. easy peasy.

its the new growers that make growing seem so damn hard. read up on growing BEFORE you think about growing. I researched for 6 months before I bough a single hard part or seed. now I pull well over 1g/watt on every single grow.

 

[Younggunz43]

nothing wrong with soil. im just easily frustrated over minor things..like the fact i have to add stuff to an already expensive bag of soil..

 

[BurnOne]

Dolomite, oyster shell, etc are for adding calcium and/or magnesium. Living soil and humates are what "buffer" pH. We've been through this hundreds of times.
Burn1

 

[DemonTrich]

nothing wrong with soil. im just easily frustrated over minor things..like the fact i have to add stuff to an already expensive bag of soil..

if your getting "easily frustrated" over SOIL, then your in for a very rude awakening buddy when it comes to growing. I just blew 3 brand new bulbs AND 3 brand new ballasts with in 30 mins of turning them on (not compatible). talk about a WTF just happened moment. or wait till a plant hermies on ya and pollinates your crop. WTF just happened. get used to shit like this, or don't bother growing, or your gonna have grey hair or no hair at all from pulling it out. and your worried about the extra 11.00 to amend your "expensive" soil, I have $15k invested in my grow. so 11.00 isn't shit in the world of growing.

 

[Younggunz43]

This isn't my first rodeo lol. Will post up some pics of the op soon when I have time.

 

[Younggunz43]

I've never been taught that so thanks. Like I've said I'm new to soil grows

 

[ct guy2]

Fox farm ocean forest soil, pretty hot soil it has enough nutrients to get thru veg with minimal or no nutes added, it's just a little hot for some plants and the ph drifts after a littl while getting more acidic as time goes by

You caught me on an off-day with your post. I should have been more helpful. I've run trials with FFOF just for kicks and found it to be inconsistent and lacking in sufficient nutrients for good fruit and flower development with tomatoes.

That being said, soil is WAY easier. BUT....and here's the important part...you have to have good soil. That means proper levels of porosity and drainage, good CEC, biological activity and biomass, etc. For me, FFOF doesn't meet that bill.

With a good soil, you don't have to pH, flush, add nutrients, can re-use it, etc....the benefits are endless.

That means making your own soil or going with a company that has a good soil mix or nutrient pack for mixing your own soil.

 

[luvtogrow]

I've tried numerous prebagged soils and FFOF works best for me. I add dolomite lime at makeup.

 

[vostok]

SECOND: ...You lost me at "FFOF is a great soil."

...and how exactly can you accurately measure the 'potential hydrogen', of FFOF shit,
as it acts between the rootzone and the nute source, in the first place,
even runoff is just that runoff water ....lol

 

[Younggunz43]

If I choose to do soil again after this, which I think I will, then I'm gonna mix my own soil. Having a soil that you don't have to add anything to would be nice.

I'm gonna do my research on soil mixes and admendments. If anybody wants to post up some soil recipes feel free! I know Sub cool has some soil recipes that might be good to try.

My reasoning for switching to soil is just simply to be more organic with this grow.. And improved flavor. Also I had like 50 air pots sitting around and I had never tried them out so I wanted to give them a shot.

 

[Younggunz43]

SECOND: ...You lost me at "FFOF is a great soil."

...and how exactly can you accurately measure the 'potential hydrogen', of FFOF shit,
as it acts between the rootzone and the nute source, in the first place,
even runoff is just that runoff water ....lol

I get it now. Lots of fox farm haters on here. Haha and that's fine with me. I'm open to any and all suggestions regarding grow mediums..

 

[Younggunz43]

Dolomite, oyster shell, etc are for adding calcium and/or magnesium. Living soil and humates are what "buffer" pH. We've been through this hundreds of times.
Burn1

I know you have some soil recipes you wouldn't mind sharing right? Ha judging by your sigs you're all about that stuff