FoxFarm Feeding Schedule Question

[Pasch]

I currently have 7 one week old sprouts in plastic cups. The cups are filled with pro-mix soiless potting mix. I also have the full line of FoxFarms products. When it is time to transplant I will be moving to 4 gallon containers and using FoxFarm Ocean Forest organic soil.

For the most part, I am planning on following the foxfarms feeding schedule for my plants but have a few questions.

http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/SoilSystems_FF_Feed.pdf

On the foxfarms feeding schedule I have noticed that the additives change on a weekly basis. They also recommend feeding with every other watering.

In my experience I only end up watering my plants ONCE per week -- or every Sunday. I judge when it is time to water using a combination of the pot weight test & the finger/moisture test.

My concern is that if I follow my normal watering routine (once per week) and only feed with every other watering that I will miss some of the scheduled nutrient combinations on the FF feeding schedule.

So following my current schedule, if I am in the first week, and add the week 1 nutrients to my plants then during week 2 I would only add h20 and would resume feeding in week 3 using the week 3 reccommended ferts?...

What should I do? Should I just follow my normal watering plan and use only plain h20 every other week (skipping the reccommeded ferts on the schedule for that week) or do I need to develop another program?

Any help/advice will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pasch

 

[vonforne]

Less is better until you know your plants needs. I use FF and always start everything at 1/4 strength up to 1/2 until I know what that plant will need. Stay on your regular feeding times until the plants tell you different.

What is your soil make up? What amendments and amounts do you use. Which FF products are you using. More info would be great.

Von

 

[Pasch]

I am currently using pro-mix potting soiless mix as a soil medium but will be switching to the foxfarm ocean forest brand soil along with their line of fertilizing products. I am strongly considering adding 30-40% perlite to the mix, but have not done so at this time.

This includes:

Grow Big
Tiger Bloom
Big Bloom
Open Sesame
Beastie Bloomz
Cha Ching

I included a link to the suggested feeding schedule in the OP above. Of course, I do 1/2 to 1/4 all of the recommended dosages.

Is there anything I forgot to include?

 

[vonforne]

yes, dolomite lime @ about 1 tablespoon per gallon. The OF has lime already or otherwise it would be 2 per gallon and the 30% perlite is just right. I would add about 10% of your mix as worm castings. Go easy on the Grow Big it will burn the hell out of your plants. I havent used the later three. Actually I do not use any bottled ferts any more. But I had decent results out of the first three. The Big Bloom is the only one that is totally Organic.

Sorry it took me so long to answer but I was busy the last few days.

V

 

[Pasch]

yes, dolomite lime @ about 1 tablespoon per gallon. The OF has lime already or otherwise it would be 2 per gallon and the 30% perlite is just right. I would add about 10% of your mix as worm castings. Go easy on the Grow Big it will burn the hell out of your plants. I havent used the later three. Actually I do not use any bottled ferts any more. But I had decent results out of the first three. The Big Bloom is the only one that is totally Organic.

Sorry it took me so long to answer but I was busy the last few days.

V

No problem on the latency -- time is something I have lots of .

Anyway, I appreciate the advice. I've got some perlite and will go ahead and see if I can hook up some lime before I do my mixing.

This is probably a stupid question but do I mix the 1 tablespoon/gallon of dolemite lime in my soil or with my nutes in the H20?

Thanks,

Pasch

 

[vonforne]

Soil. Mix your soil and wet it. Let it stand for atleast 2 weeks. This will give the microbial population time to establish itself. The dolomite with start to buffer the soil in this time also.

V

 

[Pasch]

Thanks V, I can't wait to roll up my sleeves and start mixing the soil.

Pasch

 

[vonforne]

That's what is fun about Organics, all the shit you get to handle.....literally. And I think all new growers should begin with organics to understand a plants needs better and how to correct without killing them. Organic soil is more forgiving than hydro. You are able to see the problem over a period of time instead of, wham....they are dead.

 

[Pasch]

That's what is fun about Organics, all the shit you get to handle.....literally. And I think all new growers should begin with organics to understand a plants needs better and how to correct without killing them. Organic soil is more forgiving than hydro. You are able to see the problem over a period of time instead of, wham....they are dead.

That's good to know... i'm really enjoying the added benefit of a fun new hobby.

One more question a/b mixing the soil. I mixed my soil with some perlite yesterday in a large container for storage. The large container does not have any drainage. This container also has a lid.

Do I add the lime and water straight to the storage container with no drainage and the lid? -- or should I fill individual pots with soil, mixing in the lime and water and then allow those to sit/drain for the 2 week period?

Thanks for the help, btw. I thought that I had most of the bases covered through reading various guides, watching movies, browsing the forums etc... but now that i'm actually gardening I think of something every day that I haven't *seen* covered.

 

[vonforne]

This comes from page 2 of the OFC
It is kind of a hot mix. If you think your plants are not cut back on the amended nutes because the OF is fortified with nutes already. I was growing Grapefruit by Female seeds with this mix.

Hello everyone, first I would like to state that my soil mix and the ingredents may change over time due to the fact that I always try new products and try to improve. With that said here goes.

Veg. mix: I measure everything with the 5 gallon bucket method. Tbls is
actually a round soup spoon. Measured just over level not heaping.

1. Spread out a tarp. I use a 8x8 in my garage. If you don't have that use a
35 or 50 gallon container from wally world.
2. I then pour out my base mix which is FoxFarms Ocean Forest. It is about 2
and 1/3 buckets. Break up all the solid material and spread out evenly.
3. Pour in 2-5 gallon buckets of "Big and Chunky" perlite from Fox Farm.
4. Then I add a 16 litre bag of Black Gold worm castings. Maybe just short of
that to save a little material for making teas with.
5. I then add some more peat moss. Lamberts brand or something similar,
just plain old peat, no wetting agent or anything.
1 completely full 5 gallon bucket.
6. Mix together thourghly. It takes around 5 gallons of activator liquid for this
mix. Squeeze with your hand until it compacts with no water run off. Cover andTurn daily.
My "activator" is a 5 gallon of bubbled teas mix.
This mix is 5 gallons of clean water, 4 cap fulls of Maxi Crop Liquid
Seaweed, 5 teaspoons of Liquid Karma and 5 tablespoons of Tree of Life
Molasses. I have bubbled this for 24 hours.
7. Let stand for 1-2 weeks, covered and turn daily. If you are pressed for
time and want to start the soil faster, you can add 1/2 of another mix
that has been "cooking" already.
This allows all the micro kiddies to get going in the soil so it will be
ready for the babys.
8. Pick the size of container you will use. This time lets say 2 gallon.
9. Now, I add my mix about 1/3 or the container.
10. At this point I add some admendments.
1 tbls dolomite
1 tbls of fossolized guano FF Peace of Mind 7-4-5 Tomato & Vegetable
formula is pH-balanced with premium organic ingredients like bat guano,
kelp meal, alfalfa meal, fish meal and humic acid, a naturally occurring
organic material that is formed when organic matter decomposes. Humic
acid helps with seed germination and may increase the uptake of
important micronutrients.
11. 1/2 tbls of FF Peace of Mind Fruit and Flower 5-8-4, mix good. I split my
mix like this so the roots will have nutes where ever they go.
12. Add baby.
13 Add a little more or your mix.
14. Add to the top part of the mix the rest of your admendents. 1 more tbls
of dolomite, 1 spoon more of 7-4-5 and 1/2 more of 5-8-4.
15. Top of container with mix.
16. Water in your bubbled solution. I dilute mine to about 1/4 strength at
this time and evenly wet the container to ensure even moisture.
17. And that is how I have been doing my mix so far. I have been messing
with soil regeneration and will add all the ingredents in the Ocean Forest
my self for the next run but the base mix will remain the same.

Flowering mix into 4 gallon pots:

1. #1 through 9. are the same
10. Now add admendments. 1-dolomite lime, 1 FF Peace of Mind 7-4-5,
and now I switch to Indonesion Guano (0.5-12-0.2) for flowering
11. Add 1 heaping tbls of the Indonesion guano and mix.
12. Add baby.
13. A little more mix.
14. The rest of the admendments only 1/2 spoon of the 7-4-5 (the soil has
the rest of the nitrogen, if not you can top dress later). 1 of the
Indonesion guano (0.5-12-0.2) and another spoon of dolomite.
15. Top with mix and water evenly with 1/4 strength bubbled solution of LK,
molasses and Maxicrop Seaweed .
16. You can add other admendments later as a top dressing if you feel the
need. With this mix I only water at 1/4 strength solution from a tea. The
mix seems to have every thing the plant needs. About 3 weeks into
flower I top dress with another spoon of Indonesion guano. I do consider
this one to be the best for flowering but you can use which ever you
prefer.

You can substitute the grow and flowering admendments with Blood or Bone meal but you would loose the added things in the Peace of Mind that I mentioned before but you could add them yourself if you want or just leave them out and water in. Remember this is an evolving mix so feel free to add ar delete anything you don;t like or would prefer to use. I have been having good results with this mix so far.

Bubbling Tea Mix for veg.

I simply add 5 gallon clean and chlorine free water from my tap. PH adjusted to about 6.0. Actually its about 4.5 gallons. I then add 1 tbls 7-4-5 guano to every gallon of water, 1/2 tbles of Phos. per gallon and 2 or 3 cups of wormcastins with 5 caps of Maxi crop Seaweed and 5 teaspoons of Liquid Karma per mix 1 cap per gallon and bubble for 24-48 hours. I then dilute the mix to about 1/4 to 1/2 and add to bubbling clean water. And water in.

For flowering I simply cut back on the grow guano and increase the Phos. guano. Keep the wormcasting all the time. In my teas I use FF Peace of Mind 5-8-4 for veg and switch to Indonesion (0.5-12-0.2) for flower, the same as my soil mix.


Note: all of this could change tommorrow if I feel it could be improved on. I use the Fox Farm Ocean forest for the substrate and the admendments, which can be reintroduced again later. All of my mixes are taken from other growers tried and true mixes and built on or taken away by me to meet my needs. Feel free to do the same since no one's mix is exactly the same. I like to add admendments to the soil to cut down on my tea solution. My watering schedule is Solution every third watering or as a booster. Usually I only use 1/4 strength of my tea. If I feel they need more I increase slightly. Every now and then I will add Epson salt to the tea but generlly try and let the dolomite do the trick for the calcium and Mg.

If you see something I could improve on, feel free to add your input. As, I am always looking to improve. With this I have eliminated use of all "pour" in additives which were not 100% organic. And I know for sure what is in my tea and it is always fresh.

 

[Pasch]

donkuvel

donkuvel

Wow! Your're my hero -- this is exactly what i've been looking for.

I had never heard of 'activating' the soil -- Even thought I read numerous grow guides and watched most of the videos on the net. I wish I would have heard of this technique earlier, as it makes complete sense.

Unfortunatly I don't think I have a 2 week period before the first transplant, so I will have to make due -- but i've started the process so that my soil will be ready for the final move.

I am having some trouble finding a decent PH meter. I didn't want to drop a whole bunch of cash on a really nice digi meter so I have now purchased two different PH meters that both suck . They are telling me my soil is exactly 7.0 before I added anything (which I know is probably not the case). I dropped the meter in a jug of vinegar and the reading came out to 6.3 -- so I know it is not correct.

Can you, or anyone reccommend a PH meter that works? At this point I might be willing to just break down and get a digi, but I'm hoping that I don't need the top of the line equipment just to get a decent reading.

Oh -- here is a link to an album from my first attempt. It turned out better than expected. Just in case you are interested or bored...

http://www.weedfarmer.com/pictures/v/zoopnfunk

I grew these in pro-mix with very little nutrients added throughout the process. (I read that a common mistake for first timers is over doing it, so I was erroring on the side of caution) I just used a small amount of epsom salts and a little bit of Ecogrow "M" (20-6-12) during vegging (Very little) and even less Ecobloom (3-35-10) during flowering.

Thanks again for all of the advice/consultation. I've started a new diary but have not had the chance to upload it yet. Hopefully by next week I will have the chance to make it digital and upload a few pics.

Peace,

Pasch

 

[Guest]

pH meters are a thing that are almost at a get what you pay for status. Hannah's dual pens have a habit of losing the calibration. At the price they retail $60+US, compared to say, Milwaukee's single probe in that same price range that can withstand more than a minor bump and maintain the calibration.

Reliable low end single probes are to be found as well. They're not the Cadillac of probes, but being as two decent ones cost as much as just replacing the probe (which damage and or simply in need of replacement, like a light bulb) on my Milwaukee. Are ya picking up what I'm putting down here?

About dolomite or liming in general...
Firstly, dolomite is for soil, the finer the better too. Hydralized lime is a powdery chalk. And more appropriately used when added to water, or a non-organic feeding, to up the pH. It is also a good way to rid the soil of lil buggy egg laying critter things. (followed soon after by a thorough flushing)

Second, too me, dolomite is best suited to outdoor in ground grows. With the product line you use, growing indoors, as well as investing in a pH meter, any liming, especially dolomite in the soil, is going to cause your feed's pH, and the soil's pH, to fluctuate. Dolomite itself has a fairly high pH. (recall that hydralized lime can be used to raise a solution's pH) When roots happen to come into direct contact with a particle of dolomite, that contact causes a localized fluctuation. That's a stress.

If you do go the dolomite route, I suggest using half to 2/3rds the recommended application. As well as, vegetating mj does better (in general) with the pH beginning on it's low end, and transitioning in .1 increments as the weeks go by while a plant matures into flowering and finishing where they do better (in general) on the high end of their pH window. That is, if you prefer growing with a plant's life cycle in mind.

This is a grower's perogative sort of matter. Folks have their reasons for using liming, me, I believe they could be doing better by the plants to skip the stuff and fork out some bucks on a pH meter. That or they haven't yet given any thought to why not to use it.

So yea, thats me and my two bits on liming...

~cheerz

 

[Pasch]

Are ya picking up what I'm putting down here?

I can dig it! I'm hooking up a Milwaukee ph56 tester from http://cgi.ebay.com/Milwaukee-pH56-...8608QQcategoryZ117435QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem ebay. It seems like an okay deal from what i've seen around. I'll be much happier knowing my PH with some degree of accuracy.

I've made the decision to wait on adding any lime until after I know the PH of my soil. I've had some success w/o adding anything to the mixture and don't want to overdo it.

I have to admit that I'm not positive on the difference b/w hydrated lime and dolomite lime. I am going to have to do some research -- I guess wikipedia is as good a place as any to begin for some general definitions. At any rate, i'm going to take it slow and will keep in mind the part a/b dissolving the lime in h20 and then adding to the soil mixture if I decide to go that route.

Thanks for the charts, btw, I found them very useful and had not seen them before. I'm a little disappointed my local garden center did not carry the equipment I was looking for -- but I guess that happens sometimes.

I'm always open to advice and am willing to read anything that might help my understanding of this process -- so keep it coming . Seriously though, thanks for the advice. I registered some accounts on various forums but I have found this one to have the best community.

I think this place is going to be 'home' for a long time.

Cheers,

Pasch