Tutorial Organics for Beginners

[tantrix]

Fist i want to say a big thank you! to all that have shared your knowledge in this thread. I have leart so much just by reading trough it for some hours.

I havent grown in 7 years and last time i did it wery simple with some organic soil and ice and shiva skunk strains , fed with canna nutes under a 400 w hps. The product was good, but with room for improvements...


So I have some questions about soil mix and nutes.

I want to grow as organic as possible and limit use of liquis nutes as much as possible , but due to space restrictions i also want to aviod making teas and keep it simple.

I have a 4x4x6ft tent for flowering with 600 + 400 w hps
pots are ca 45 litres gallons.
Veg / mother clone area is ca 1.5 x 3 x 5ft under 250 w cfl.


My plan is to make a rich soil mix and supplement with dry ferts on the top layer of the soil , and mabye some light biobizz mix in some waterings.

I found a eco certified soil with 1/3 cow manure and 2/3 peat at local nursery . It has been composted for 3 years and is odor free.
They also got bone and blood meal there. Im also ordering guano kalong and possibly some biobizz products.

So to fill the 4 x 45 liter pots im planning to use i have to make ca 180 L soil mix.

Soil mix :
40 liters hydropellets , 10L in the bottom of each pot
120 Liters of the 2/3 peat , 1/3 cow manure eco soil.
20 - 40 liters coco or vermiculite ?

Dry organic nute mix to blend into soil:
45 tbs of blood and bone meal. (ca 1 tbs of each per gallon?)
1 kg of guano kalong.

Will this make a balanced soil to transplant small plants and clones into?

For supplementing the soil some 3-4 weeks into veg and further into flowering i plan to sprinkle top layer of soil with guano kalong , how much should i use? Should I also supplement with some biobizz grow/bloom/root liqiuds?

Suggestions and corrections on my newb plan is appreaciated.

 

[dawghead99]

i've been using black gold organic soil + fox farm chunky perlite+ dolomite lime,

and recipe number 5...the easy fish/seaweed one.... and this shit works magic, a little smelly, but it's aight.

I used this on my last run and current grow, and the girls love it I'll probably try recipe number 1 next time, so i can just water plain water for the whole grow.

but thanks to all that shared their knowledge, my organic buds taste and look great!!!

 

[Brother Bear]

tantrix - go and read the very first post of this thread my friend
pick a mix, there are a few to choose from
and follow EXACTLY what is written

welcome back to growing

 

[iGro4Me]

Is there such a thing as allowing your soil-mix to "cook" too long ?

Is there a point when your ammendments become unavailable if not used before a certain point ?

TIA...

Gro

 

[jasonk]

Hey everyone, gonna be going with Soiless mix #2 and had a question about mixing the soil for seedlings.
First off, the Pro-mix HP I have is the Mycorise pro variety, is this alright Do i still need everything listed?
Do i need to let this mix sit wet for a certain amount of time before planting the seeds?

THANKS!

 

[happyhi]

hi,
is there a benefit to making the mix over something like fox farm or roots organic
soil? newbie to organics. thanks

 

[BurnOne]

Is there such a thing as allowing your soil-mix to "cook" too long ?

Is there a point when your ammendments become unavailable if not used before a certain point ?

TIA...

Gro

The amendments actually become more available (hotter).

Hey everyone, gonna be going with Soiless mix #2 and had a question about mixing the soil for seedlings.
First off, the Pro-mix HP I have is the Mycorise pro variety, is this alright Do i still need everything listed?
Do i need to let this mix sit wet for a certain amount of time before planting the seeds?

THANKS!

LC's Mixes can be used right away. Don't use any nutes (guano/meals/fish) with seeds or seedlings except maybe some seaweed/kelp. Straight LC's Mix is what you want to germinate seeds or put young seedlings in.

hi,
is there a benefit to making the mix over something like fox farm or roots organic
soil? newbie to organics. thanks

IMO there is no better organic mix than LC's Mixes.
Burn1

 

[3rdEyeWonder]

The amendments actually become more available (hotter).



LC's Mixes can be used right away. Don't use any nutes (guano/meals/fish) with seeds or seedlings except maybe some seaweed/kelp. Straight LC's Mix is what you want to germinate seeds or put young seedlings in.



IMO there is no better organic mix than LC's Mixes.
Burn1

If I've read correctly, the only thing in the LC's mix that has any sort of nute content would be the EWC...then what I do not understand is how a couple of my strains are dying at the seedling stage. Specifically, I've got some Wonder Haze and William's Wonder going, and a three of the seedlings have died while the remaining are exhibiting stunted growth. A couple of Mandala strains are doing very nicely, and were breaking the soil roughly at the same time...I know this isn't the infirmary, but I guess I'm wondering if any organic pro has run into any issues w/ them and might want to share any words of advice for dealing with these babies...I know they're some fire and would hate to pop more beans only to lose'em.They've only been fed a very slight dose of Neptune's 0-0-1 seaweed in attempt to combat whatever it is that's causing the problem. I've also got them about 18'' away from a 400 CMH. Water is filtered tap, bubbled for 24 hours before use.

I intend on using the last, easiest recipe(fish/seaweed), with the occassional guano tea boost. Any tips or suggestions are welcomed.

 

[BurnOne]

Something else is wrong with your grow. LC's Mixes contain nothing that will harm your plants in any way.
Burn1

 

[BorkBorkBork]

The amendments actually become more available (hotter).

Say one was a little over-eager in prepping his next mix, and it had already cooked for two weeks, and one ain't anywhere near ready to drop beans yet.

In fact, let's say it's going to be cooking for a total of 6-8 weeks, instead of two.

Is the soil hot enough to burn the plants at that point?

What, if anything, can be done to save the soil? Dilute it with plain LC's mix at time of potting? Let it dry out, and re-moisten two weeks prior to potting? Keep it cold? Anything?

/kicks self

 

[Vetus Fossor]

Bork, if you follow the directions, if you aren't germinating seeds then the formula mixes shouldn't be too hot. Stray off the reservation though and you're your own guinea pig.

 

[BurnOne]

Say one was a little over-eager in prepping his next mix, and it had already cooked for two weeks, and one ain't anywhere near ready to drop beans yet.

In fact, let's say it's going to be cooking for a total of 6-8 weeks, instead of two.

Is the soil hot enough to burn the plants at that point?

What, if anything, can be done to save the soil? Dilute it with plain LC's mix at time of potting? Let it dry out, and re-moisten two weeks prior to potting? Keep it cold? Anything?

/kicks self

You'll be fine. It isn't that hot.
Burn1

 

[BorkBorkBork]

Bork, if you follow the directions, if you aren't germinating seeds then the formula mixes shouldn't be too hot. Stray off the reservation though and you're your own guinea pig.

Myeaah, I know, and I was going to drop beans when I made the soil, but I reconsidered during the process, and on further review of my schedule have to push it out even farther. Best intentions and all that.

You'll be fine. It isn't that hot.
Burn1

Score! That saves me a trip to the store for a little while.

 

[vonforne]

The soil I am using....which is kind of a LCs mix sat for 4 months with various release times for N and I have no problems. My flowering mix has been sitting for the same amount of time also. No worries.

V

Hey B1 whats up?

 

[BurnOne]

Hey V-
Not much. Thank you for helping. I've been swamped!
Burn1

 

[Huey69]

Hey burnone,
I'm just wondering, I need about 10 gal. more of soil to be able to transplant into the pots i'm using, but I don't have the time to mix up another batch(I used recipe 1), can I get a bag of fox farms or black gold and use that to make up for any soil I need to add when I transplant? I would use it for the upper layers of soil if that makes any difference.
Thanks.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

BurnOne

Before you answer Huey69's question, I wanted to interject that the 'Black Gold' soil that he mentioned is manufactured by the same company which does the whole 'Sunshine Mix' series, i.e. it's made from very good products. Their packaging plant is about 5 miles up the road from where I live where they pack all the various Sunshine mixes, Black Gold, and other products sold at HomeDepot & Loews.

So he's starting out with a very nice mix product - light years ahead of FFOF, IMHO.

HTH

CC

 

[vonforne]

Hey burnone,
I'm just wondering, I need about 10 gal. more of soil to be able to transplant into the pots i'm using, but I don't have the time to mix up another batch(I used recipe 1), can I get a bag of fox farms or black gold and use that to make up for any soil I need to add when I transplant? I would use it for the upper layers of soil if that makes any difference.
Thanks.

I have run short also before and used EWC and perlite I had laying around to stretch it to what was needed. Don#t forget the lime.

And like CC said. BlackGold is very good.

V

 

[Clackamas Coot]

BurnOne

The only reason that I explained 'Black Gold' is that back in the 1980's (long before the whole FFOF deal), this 'soil' was the 'pot grower's soil of choice' and they were based here in the PNW.

I'll say this - when the corporation which owns Sunshine Mix bought the 'Black Gold' operation - they definitely improved this product.

As you know, I mix my own soil and I'm pretty 'anal' about the ingredients in my mix. Having said that, the 'Black Gold Soil' product line is a very good soil mix. Like the LC mixes I'd add the nitrogen and phosphorus amendments like the LC mixes, but basically you're starting out with a top of the line product and for cheap money. The current price around Portland is $10.00 per 2 c.f. for their organic mix - not a bad deal all in all.

HTH

CC

 

[somebody041]

BurnOne

Before you answer Huey69's question, I wanted to interject that the 'Black Gold' soil that he mentioned is manufactured by the same company which does the whole 'Sunshine Mix' series, i.e. it's made from very good products. Their packaging plant is about 5 miles up the road from where I live where they pack all the various Sunshine mixes, Black Gold, and other products sold at HomeDepot & Loews.

So he's starting out with a very nice mix product - light years ahead of FFOF, IMHO.

HTH

CC

hey CC, i was at my local hydro store today to pick up another bag of FFOF and saw the black gold soil. i thought about picking it up but decided to stick with FFOF since i have experience with it. i've been making a soil mix of 1/3 perlite, 1/3 peat, and 1/3 (FFOF+EWC 50/50) along with dolomite lime @ 2tbls per gallon. would you recommend that i switch over to the black gold? appreciate your input...