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Tutorial Organics for Beginners

Jstone

New member
The lime I have says "A finely ground dolomitic lime (magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate) formed into a prill for fast and easy application"
They are roughly a normal seed size "prill" which feels like a hard rock but is water soluble.

I don't have anything to grind it up with at the moment and was wondering if it is OK to dissolve it into the water I wet the mix with instead.
 

cadkins66

New member
i have a bunch of recently rooted cuttings and i transplanted all of them into LC's mix #1 with peat except for 2 which i transplanted into LC's mix #1 with coco.

all of the plants in peat have taken off and all of the plants in coco have stalled and look very sickly. i don't check ph ever which i suspect to be the problem but i thought with organics it wasn't necessary to check ph? can anybody offer any advice? these plants have been subjected to the exact same conditions except some have 5 parts peat and some have 5 parts coco and the ones that have 5p arts peat are much more green and approximately twice as tall...

any advice is appreciated...
 
V

vonforne

i have a bunch of recently rooted cuttings and i transplanted all of them into LC's mix #1 with peat except for 2 which i transplanted into LC's mix #1 with coco.

all of the plants in peat have taken off and all of the plants in coco have stalled and look very sickly. i don't check ph ever which i suspect to be the problem but i thought with organics it wasn't necessary to check ph? can anybody offer any advice? these plants have been subjected to the exact same conditions except some have 5 parts peat and some have 5 parts coco and the ones that have 5p arts peat are much more green and approximately twice as tall...

any advice is appreciated...

What brand of coco?
Did you rinse it?

V
 
RECIPE #2
If you want to use guano in your soil mix...
Bongaloid's Guano Mix.
Use all these items combined with one gallon of soil mix.
1/3C hi N Guano (Mexican Bat Guano)
1/2C hi P Guano (Jamaican or Indonesian Bat Guano)
1TBS Jersey Greensand
1TBS Kelp Meal





Hey burn.. in ur one recipe you say:

1tbsp blood
2tbsp bone
1tbsp kelp
1tbsp greensand

Now im curious as to why there is so much bonemeal in there?
I'm plannin to make a veg mix to put freshly rooted clones into..

Do you think this would work better for them?

1tbsp blood
1tbsp bone
2tbsp kelp
1tsp crushed rock powder

Thanks man.




Skunkface-
If you want to veg only in that mix, I guess it would be okay. I've never used powdered rock phosphates. But if you plan on flowering your clones in a week or two after planting, then you'll need the phosphorous from the bone meal. And that is the recommended dose.
Here's how I do mine. I'm not much of an up pot guy. I start my seeds in Rapid Rooter plugs. Each one pushed into a single five inch square nursery pot full of one of those soiless mixes I posted. I make my mix of blood/bone/kelp at the same time. When the seeds sprout and get about an inch or two high, I push the Rapid Rooter plugs down deeper into the soil mix. Then I push the mix up around the stem of the plant up to the first leaf set. This keeps the seedlings from falling over. There they will stay under 24 hour light until the nute filled soil mix is ready (about two weeks). I put the mix into three or five gallon pots and up pot into them. That's it. Now just water with worm casting tea and molasses until harvest. I don't like to veg very long (if at all). With clones, I go to 12/12 as soon as they root.
Hope that helped.
Burn1





I want to use LC mix #1 with recipe #2. Is ur recipe #2 good for long time veg for bonsai mums or should i take skunkface mix for long time veg for moms. With that said can i just feed them water till i rootprune and place new LC mix #1 with recipe #2 and just water till the next rootprune?

And with your recipe #2 all i do is water till harvest?
 
cool, do you just use water for veggin moms?

also with recipe #2 wit lc mix #1 can i use it for flower too? and just water also?


lastly, in your own opinion which is better recipe #2 or recipe #5

Thanks.
 
i recently transplanted 8 freshly rooted clones. 4 went into LC's mix with peat and 4 went into LC's mix with bcuzz coco. this was about 2 weeks ago. i've given regular water (ph 6.4) except for one watering that contained a little bit of humic/fulvic acids and another watering that contained 1/4 strength nutrients the coco ones have been watered a bit more because i read it was most effective to keep the coco moist.

the 4 peat plants look nice and green and healthy. the 4 coco plants on the other hand are only half as big and have yellowing, burnt tips, and twisted growth.

i never PH my water so i suspect that is the problem but there are others who post in here that dont check ph and have excellent water.

does anybody have any advice?
 
M

mrred

what nutrients? somebody

maybe youre watering to much, i treat the coco just like the peat, no difference in watering
 

Chief Rbud

Active member
cheif, super buds. how do you prune your fan leaves? do you "set" them with set spray? what made you switch to mushroom compost from regular organic? i am experimenting now with 1/2 mushroom 1/2 organic, as well as all mr and all straight compost, mixed into my lc#1. two weeks in, too soon to tell

i usually cut mine when they start to yellow, or when they get injured in some way like a light burning them or drying them out real bad. im always looking for something to smoke, so if they start looking bad i just chop them, i dont really do any pruning once flowering starts other than above mentioned and about 4 weeks or so into flower i "lollipop" the budding branches, unless a fan leaf is covering a good bud sight, if it cant be bent out of he way i will cut it. im a firm believer the fan leaves at a node help feed the bud above it so i dont like cutting them unless absolutely necessary. and to answer why mushroom compost, it was one of the mentioned compost sources in LC's mix #1, and they had it at the local lowes. i don't order anything from hydro shops or specialty stores that cater to growers.
 
what nutrients? somebody

maybe youre watering to much, i treat the coco just like the peat, no difference in watering


the nutrient company is Blue mountain organics, they are a local company. i've used them in the past with great results. i fed the veg fert, grow it green.

overwatering is definitely a possibility... they have all the signs: no growth, droopy leaves, yellowing leaves, etc.

i watered much more frequently when they first were transplanted and when they didn't ever grow i cut back the frequency of the watering so i guess time will tell.
 

keico

Member
Have a question

In LC’s Soiless Mix #1:

Can foxfarm Ocean Forest be used instead of the wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
 

maryjohn

Active member
Veteran
Compost is fundamental. That means there are no alternatives. But considering that every othe organic gardener nearby needs it, it must be around. Look harder and a bit smarter.

And start composting! Bokashi, worm bin, pile, all of the above.
 

keico

Member
Compost is fundamental. That means there are no alternatives. But considering that every othe organic gardener nearby needs it, it must be around. Look harder and a bit smarter.

And start composting! Bokashi, worm bin, pile, all of the above.

Actually I do have a worm bin I just started. I wanted to recycle some MG soil I had used on a grow.

I am not sure if I am feeding them enough though they seem to eat a lot.

From time to time I grind up stuff like egg shells used coffee grinds banana peels, and put in there

The thing is I still have about 2cu feet Of Foxfarm Ocean Forest soil and don't want it to go to waste

I even went to the beach and collected some seaweed and am in the process of rinsing and soaking to remove the salt. Once I am satisfied all the salt is off I will dry it out ground it up and add to my worm bin

The only thing I haven't figured out is I have a bunch of Oyster Shells I want to add, but haven't figured out how to pulverize them (Any thoughts on this would be appreciated)

One final note I have found a place that sells earthworm castings not far from me http://www.ourvitalearth.com/worm-castings.htm
The prices seem good
 

maryjohn

Active member
Veteran
Do a search a few guys use fox farms and mix it with perlite I think.

Sounds like you are on your way. Feed the worms as much as they eat. Just make sure you have enough bedding as you go so it doesn't go sour.

Oyster shells are ubiquitous, but machines to grind them aren't. It's a product worth buying rather than making.
 

barletta

Bandaid
Veteran
keiko - Before I 'knew too much', I used ffof cut with perlite and vermiculite. I had good success, but the roots weren't really filling out the pots. Then I started adding wiggle worm (generic, widely available) castings, and had happier plants. Then I started cutting my 'fresh' soil with re-used soil, coarse coco, and Light Warrior, and I hit the sweet spot. But it cost a lot of money to get there.

Now I have a coffee/banana/eggshell worm bin and a compost pile that eats reused soil, yard/grow scraps, and pee. My soil mix is pretty much an LC mix using screened compost as the humus, and I throw the castings around on transplant and as a topdress. My soil bin occasionally gets a fresh brick of coco/bag of peat, and a cup or 2 of biotone and limestone. Same results, pretty much 'dirt cheap', and it's sustainable.

Have you considered wrapping the oyster shells up in towels and hitting them with a hammer?
 

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