organic nutrient question

[Guest]

ok, im watering a soilless mix. it seems alot of it runs out the bottom... is this good or bad? it did it with my water with just molasses, but im not sure if its getting all the nutrients it needs? right now i have a pretty bad nitrogen deficiency and im wondering how long should i be waiting until it gets better... i had thoughts of killing my plant today because its about 3 and a half weeks old and its still very small and the nodes are very tight. im talking 5 nodes and its only about 4 inches tall...

 

[Suby]

It's running out the bottom maybe becayse the soil was left too dry before you water, soil compacts itself when peat dries, you can put the m in a apan and fill the pan with water, they will soak it up from the bottom.
What size container and how much water are you using?

Molasses isn't fertilizer, if you have yellowing of fan leaves then you need to feed them some N.
You cant add some worm castings to your water to boost the N for a small plant.

 

[Guest]

i put in blood meal... its high in n isnt it? its in my teabag right now so hopefully is helps...
i currently have only 1 plant and its in a 1.5 gallon container i believe and it uses about 2L of water every watering (2L = 1/2 gallon) i water every few days or when i put my finger inthe soil if it feels dry then i water.

 

[Suby]

Blood meal was an excellent choice, nice to see your getting the hang for this stuff.
Remember to add some worm poop to the tea also if you can.
Your watering technique sounds fine, I like using the old digit myself to test for moisture.

 

[Guest]

my plant is around 3 weeks old and its only about 4.5 inches tall and has 5 nodes.. im pretty sure its stunted but i dont know why...

also, there isnt really a buildup of foam at the top of my tub where im bubbling my tea.. is that bad? i have a very small airstone (1 inch) do you think thats too small? its only been one day since i started brewing this new tea so im not sure...

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

Curtis- I have two gallon pots myself and only give them 1 liter of water every 3-4 days. My pots are in saucers and the runoff is soaked back up inot the pot with a few hours.

Do you dispose of the runoff?

minds_I

 

[Guest]

no. what kind of trays are we talking about? really deep ones to hold the extra water or what?

 

[Guest]

im still wondering about my question above, and also is it bad that my tea doesnt have a foam buildup at the top? my airstone is pretty small. do you think its the culprit for not bubbling it enough to have foam at the top?

 

[Suby]

No sometimes theres lots of foam and sometimes there only a little, you could try a bigger airstone, the oxygen that bubbles in the water the better.
Don't sweat it it will be a good tea nevertheless.

the tray don't need to be really deep, about 2-3 inch, it's only to catch the runoff and let the plant absorb some of it, never let them sit in runoff water too long, an hour at mots the empty the pan.

S

 

[Guest]

ok thanks for the advice.

 

[Guest]

so im using a soilless mix and it doesnt seem like alot of the water is being absorbed... there is alot of runoff and i would say that out of all the water i pour around my plant about 3/4 runs off into the tray its sitting in... is this supposed to be happening?

 

[Suby]

C is you want to know exactly how much water they really need do this, put the plants in a tray, empty some water into the tray so as to fill it slghtly and wait an hour.
If they soak up all the water put more into the tray untill there is some leftover in the tray, empty what the plants don't soak up in your watering bottle and you'll be able to figure out how much they are really drinking.

Remember if they are already too dry or too wet still you'll get alt of runoff.
Too dry because the peatwill form a crus and push water to the outisde of the pot,
too wet because the soil is already saturated and it again just runs out the bottom.

Sub's

 

[Guest]

i'l have to try that.

what im also wondering is how much of each thing (spaghnum, blood meal, bone meal, dolomite lime) should i mix up for a 10 oz cup? this is what i start my seeds in and im not sure how much of each because all i have is the measurements for a 1 gallon container. is there anything else i should add to the components i listed above?

and for watering, should i dilute my tea for a new sprout?

 

[Suby]

use only perlite and peat, NO NUTES EVER with seeds or clones, they are too hot and will nutrient burn your seedlings or clones.
Your soil is rich enough to get the seedlings by until you transplant them.

50% perlite
50% Promix or peat

plain water for sprouts until the have a few sets of leaves.

 

[Guest]

i thought peat was very acidic... wouldnt that burn my plant aswell?

 

[Suby]

no peat is slightly acidic, alot of growers have good sucess with no lime, soil is a natural environment in itself and is self buffering, it's only when we feed nutes and teas that we can affect the ph with a nad effect and usually only if there is no dolomite lime in the mix.

 

[Guest]

this is what my mix is going to probably be:

5x spaghnum peat
3x perlite
1x earth worm castings

and this is the additives i will add:

1 TBS/gal blood meal for N
2 TBS/gal bone meal for P (flowering mix only)
1 TBS/gal kelp meal or ground seaweed for K and trace elements
2 TBS/gal dolomite lime

what should i use to measure each of my ingredients? i mean the spaghnum perlite and EWC.

and it says bone meal for P. should i leave this out of my 1 gallon pot and put it in my 3 or 4 gallon i forget when im gonna flower my plant?

 

[Suby]

Hey C, you'll want to add thr bone meal when you do the final transplant into the 4gal container for flowering, until that transplant your vegging you plant with 18hrs on and 6hrs off cycles.

Tell me how many pots and what size they are and I'll help you figure it out how much mix you'll need and the best way to measure it.

 

[Guest]

well i still need my hps and my 6" vortex to actually complete it, so im just growing one plant right now under 150w of CFL's.

 

[I.M. Boggled]

A few reference threads applicable to organic Tea Brewin'

A few reference threads applicable to organic Tea Brewin'

BAT GUANO

Worm Castings

MOLASSES...Types & Sugar Content (fyi)

Humic vs Fulvic

MrSoul's soiless mix & MrSoul's guano tea (recipe)

&
and a highly recommended online mailorder "mainstream" organic homesteaders farm and garden supply company with a very diverse selection of organic sourced growing goodies is
Peaceful Valley (Organic) Farm Supply
located in Grass Valley, California.

Happy Gardening ya'll