Tutorial Organics for Beginners

[Chevy cHaze]

Hey Organic Friendly People,
Can anyone help me with the following:

I still have a bag of Biobizz Allmix sitting around.Anyone familiar with this one?It says it's (heavily)pre-fertilized organic soil and should last for the first couple weeks of the grow cycle with only water added.
Now the question is can I amend this soil with blood meal, bone meal, Kelp and powdered lime, like in the recipe on page 1 of this thread, so I have to feed only water until harvest, or will this make the mix too hot right from the start ?
Any info much appreciated !!!

CC

No one here familiar with Biobizz allmix or pre fertilised soils in general ?

 

[heady blunts]

chevy chaze

i've never attempted an LC's mix with a fortified bagged soil like FFOF or the BB allmix you're describing. in the original recipe it says to use either promix or FFOF which always struck me as crazy considering the complete lack of nutrition in the former and all the extra goodies in the latter.

anyway i've seen both successes and failures posted on the boards from using FFOF as a base (should be comparable to the BB allmix).

i think it will depend onthe environmental factors in your garden.

with a proper "bake" time to allow the more soluble elements to be tied up in the biological soil food web, a FFOF base can work for a flowering mix under the sun or intense lighting (600w minimum, 1k+ would be better).

i'd guess if you tried to flower out that mix under a 400 or less you'd see burning and nute toxicity because the plants won't be able to metabolize the nutrients at the rate they are made available.

again, no personal experience using a mix like that, but i didn't want to leave you hanging.

IME those "fully fortified" "water only" soil mixes vary widely from brand to brand, and it will require some trial and error to gauge how much crap they actually put in there.

when working with unknown variables like that i always follow the advice "less is more." it's way easier to supplement with soluble fertilizers when watering than to watch your crop crisp up and die from a too hot soil mix.

 

[Chevy cHaze]

Thanks for the feedback HB,
You're right and I have never looked at the interdependency between strong nutes and strong light. Sounds logical.
I giess I'll just the Allmix with BB nutes for this time, and maybe try LC's recipe next time with either a fresh start or to amend the old Allmix!
Thanks anyways, I appreciate it !
CC

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Won't regret using lcs mix. So far it's been nothing short of awesome for me.

 

[Hogger69]

Hi all, new to the forum and would just like to say thanks to all who have contributed to this thread as it a wealth of information for the new grower.

After reading 100's of posts I have not seen anything mentioned about autoflower strains and if these soil recipes are compatible with autoflower strains and their finicky feeding nature.

I have 3 autoflower strains which due to my geographic location and the weather that comes with it, I will be starting indoors and was planning on using LC's mix #2 for the germinating and seedling stage at which time I will transplant into 5 gallon pails and move into the greenhouse for the remainder of their lives. I had intended to use LC's Recipe #1 for the soil amendments (5 Gallon pail not seedlings) and I am wondering because these are autoflowers should the soil amendments be mixed in at full strength as per the recipe or in a lighter dose and supplemented with feedings later on in their life cycle when they seem to be more exceptive of nutrient feedings.

Sorry so the question is can I use Recipe #1 at full strength with autoflowers?

Thanks
Hogger69

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Don't see why not. I just transplanted roughly 3 week old seedlings into the mix and noticed 0 transplant shock, let alone nutrient burn.

 

[Hogger69]

Thanks Riddle ... good to know

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Thanks Burn1

Thanks Burn1

Grow journal started, pics added at 1 month from seed (see sig below).

True testament to the quality of the LC mix and recipe outlined in the OP.

Plants will be transplanted into 5 gal grow bags of the mix just prior to flower (currently in 1L)




Thanks again for all of the help along the way guys.

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Gonna reiterate how damn good the mixes burnone provided in this thread. In my handful of years growing, I have never had plants stay this healthy (aside from the plants getting rootbound early, my own fault). Absolutely no burning, no deficiencies, perfect, happy, vigorous.

 

[BurnOne]

Although I posted the mix, Lavender Cowboy actually came up with it. Thus LC's Mix. He also named this forum. I miss him bad.
Burn1

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Well you're certainly doing good by him by providing us with this wealth of knowledge and resources in this thread.

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Vonforne

My MMJ garden has had 3 applications of the K-Mag product as a tea which was applied as both a soil soak and as a foliar application.

I'm stunned. Amazed. Impressed. Happy. Glad. Etc.

What an amazing amendment. I'm not one that generally believes in this or that product as something that is a 'must have' but I'll be breaking my own rules - get this product. Use it. Benefit from this amendment.

Wow!

CC

Just ordered some.

P.s. yes I know this is 6 yrs old. Slowly making my way through this thread.

B1, what all do you use in your foliage spray currently, and how often? I read you apply it until budsites form, makes sense. Do you add any to the soil or teas, currently?

 

[BurnOne]

Just ordered some.

P.s. yes I know this is 6 yrs old. Slowly making my way through this thread.

B1, what all do you use in your foliage spray currently, and how often? I read you apply it until budsites form, makes sense. Do you add any to the soil or teas, currently?

Remember, I wrote this thread for BEGINNERS who have never grown an organic garden before. I did this so the beginner would have a great chance at success on their first grow IF they followed the recipes as directed.
You seem to have a fantastic and successful grow going on. WHY would you want to throw an UNKNOWN in the mix and take a chance at screwing it all up?
Less is ALWAYS more in this type of growing. Get a few grows under your belt before deviating from the recipe.
If you want to try something new, do it on one or two plants. If it fails, you still will have a good harvest.
I grew in a 5 foot by 5 foot closet with fresh air coming in using four 400 watt HPS lights. I had a small area to keep a few mothers and a bubble cloner in so I could keep a perpetual harvest going. I used LC's Mix #2 with ProMix HP. I used alfalfa meal instead of dried blood and it was crazy easy. I had so much that I had to throw a bunch of it away. That's because I never show, sell or tell. I turned my friends on and they all begged to know where I got it or if they could buy some. My answer was always NO.
You have a good garden going on and I believe if you're lucky enough to not have any bad insects or spider mites you will have a great grow. Why would you want to change things now?
Stay on course to the end.
Burn1

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Fair enough! One of those things where I'm just trying to be prepared if something starts to go wrong, e.g., calcium or nitrogen deficiencies. But you are right, it's stupid easy thus far, and perfect, healthy happy plants.

 

[RiddleMeThis]

OK, here we go........

Watering your plants IS very important in many ways.

1. Water each and every time EVENLY. Now a good way to do this with out the water running through like we run red lights is to `Scratch`the top of the soil first. Water a little (1\2 liter or so) to moisten the soil. Wait another 15 minutes and water as normal but SLOWLY. You will notice the water passes slower through the medium and thus being more effective. I will usually water in two stages. It works for me well.

2. NEVER let the soil dry out! Not even on the surface. The reason being that the soil microbes will die or go dormant and the process of the micro organisms are broken. And not to mention root damage to the plant. The roots will develop faster if the medium is kept moist.....evenly moist. Not wet or sopping but MOIST. It is hard to say how much is too much. Everyone has a slightly different soil make up as far as materials go s using your best judgment comes into play.

How to keep the soil surface moist......... I keep a pump and spray bottle in the grow room. Each day I will mist the surface of the soil to maintain an even moistness.
IF I do not have time to do this each day, I MULCH the surface of the containers. The mulch material will dry out first leaving the soil surface and the micro organisms intact doing their duty.

And another point to remember is that if you top dress your containers and you let them dry out the the material meant for the plant just sits there and is not processed by the soil organisms. If it is not processed by the soil organisms then it will not become available to the plants in the ionic form. Yes, I know that some of the material we use are water soluble but only in a small percentage.

It takes a while to learn YOUR containers weight. Like I said before it is slightly different for us all. So, use your best judgment.

1 Scratch the surface.

2. Water lightly and wait 15 minutes.

3 OR mist the surface and scratch.

4. Water as normal but in 2 stages. If you use 1 gallon then apply half and wait and then apply the other half.

5. You should have a small amount of water run out the bottom. I use a catch pan and leave the containers sit in them for a period of time to absorb.

6. AFTER you have watered pick the container up and note the weight. Do this each time until you water next. Do it every time until you know it instantly.

HTH gang. That is the way I do it.

V

Pure gold.

Any recommendations for mulch? Lava rocks? Having issues with pots drying/ crusting in the top 1/3. Fairly busy schedule, at least busy enough to not be able to constantly keep the top layer moist.

 

[nameless]

so ive been reading alot about what to mulch with. id advise against the pumice. i mix that in as a pearlite sub. im moving towards cover crop and smother approach. have a friend who swears by using hay to mulch and thinks im crazy to use anything else but i admit im hesitant. i dunno ill probably try it on a bed for a round and see how it goes

 

[nameless]

also to whoever asked last page, i ran a couple rounds of autos in a closet under a 400 in 3gals with a heavily amended/recycled/modified organic peat mix similar to lcs with no issues whatsoever. autos were mostly barneys gear

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Any opinions on grow stones hydro stones as a top layer to help retain moisture?

Or barley/alfalfa hays?

Will start a leaf compost pile this year, but in the mean time...

Will likely need to be an item I can purchase online

 

[RiddleMeThis]

Update

Update

Well, I probably should have taken the pictures prior to hacking, twisting and contorting them. All in all, I think theyre looking pretty damn good. Have some high N bat guano and PSG at the ready if they get hungry prior to transplant. Plants have received nothing but water, molasses, ewc, and 2 waterings with a bit of liquid seaweed mixed in since transplant. Should be pretty bushy in about a week. Would help if I had proper veg lighting for them...

 

[bigjdawg]

Have a quick question for anyone with experience to guano. So I have been getting sunleaves Indonesian bat guano 0-7-0 and I was getting it in the 2.5 pound bag from my grow store. Well I went back two days ago and they were now selling it in a plastic 5lb tub. Same exact guano 0-7-0 but I noticed a difference the one in the bag was a brown color and this new batch I got in a tub is a tan color. Why would the same brand and same kind of guano be different colors? The other thing I noticed with this new guano is when I put it in my 400 micron brew bag that it's such fine powder that it doesn't stay in the brew bag it all seeps through the 400 micron screen. The last three plants I watered even have a layer of guano on top of the soil. Is it a problem that the guano is not staying in the brew bag? I know that not all of the guano is going to stay in the brew bag but none of this batch of Indonesia guano stayed in the brew bag. The batch before this that was more brown did stay in the bag though. If it matters I'm using lc mix #1 and the flowering guano tea recipe