Tutorial Organics for Beginners

[keico]

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?

Thank you for the reply

Right now I am using Blazeoneups soil recipe. Which was better than what i did during the first grow.

I used Miracle Gro Potting soil with moisture control, then added some perlite. I was also using the MG nutes.

The plants did great for vegging, but during flowering after about 5 weeks I got the dreaded eagle claw. I tried the flush but I think I overdid it with nutes.

I was also battling heat problems. To make a long story short, the buds were fluffy, and there was some serious nute burn going on.

Anyway now I am going organic. So far so good I have my temps under control. They are approaching 4 weeks in flowering and look good. Aside from some fan leaves showing that they are being consumed it is looking good

I am just trying to improve my growing methods and have noticed that organic is the way go

Like most people learning I am just trying to get my system of growing down pack

Luckily I have found a store not far from me that has worm castings at a great price.

Believe me when I start the third I will take all the advice here and apply it to my grow

I have bought some Neptune's Harvest Fish and used it during my last feed. Was just curious if I should use it every time water or alternate

 

[barletta]

Let the plants tell you how much to feed em. Usually a good starting point is 1/2 strength whatever the bottle says. For some nutes, you can feed much more, but I've found that 1/2 strength is plenty with most nutes (maxicrop, pbp, ej, age-old, haven't used the NH bottles). Try 1/2 strength every watering, and if the plants seem hungry, up the strength a lil. If they seem burnt/stunted, feed every other time. Just remember that if you go more than 1/2 strength, feed water only every once in a while, and be sure to let the pots go dry and go light (if anything) on the nutes the last ~10 days before you chop.

 

[mikemoister]

nute sensitive plants

nute sensitive plants

hello, does anyone know if recipe #1(blood & bone meal) would have to be altered if growing a strain that is nute sensitive like satori from mandala?

 

[Chief Rbud]

hello, does anyone know if recipe #1(blood & bone meal) would have to be altered if growing a strain that is nute sensitive like satori from mandala?

no, if you follow it correctly, the plant cannot burn because of the nature of organics. you will be just fine. i used recipe #1 on a very sensitive sativa and it was just fine.

 

[BurnOne]

hello, does anyone know if recipe #1(blood & bone meal) would have to be altered if growing a strain that is nute sensitive like satori from mandala?

The great thing about this recipe is that the plant will take up what it needs and everything it needs is in the soil.
Burn1

 

[mikemoister]

Thanks. That is exactly what i needed to hear.
Have a great day .

 

[mriko]

Has anyone tried his/her own pee ? I've seen quite a few references in the past days and it seems to work great on outdoor food garden.

Irie !

 

[BurnOne]

Has anyone tried his/her own pee ? I've seen quite a few references in the past days and it seems to work great on outdoor food garden.

Irie !

It's all over this forum. Do a search.
Burn1

 

[vonforne]

hello, does anyone know if recipe #1(blood & bone meal) would have to be altered if growing a strain that is nute sensitive like satori from mandala?

Satori and Mandela 1 are sensitive! My wife has some Mandela 1´s going and they do not like the nutrients in the soil. It just burns the bottom leaves is all not too bad.

If you are worried.........

Go with 1 TBS of N and 1 of P and leave it at that.

If the plant needs some N add fish emulsions.

But for flowering I would stick with the 2 TBS of P.

V

 

[localhero]

Question for you B1, i read this about crab shell :

Crab Shell is high in Chitin (Kite-en), which promotes the growth of Chitin eating bacteria in the soil. The exoskeletons of fungus and nematode eggs are high in chitin. Crab Shell helps to create a hostile environment for the fungus and nematodes by feeding the biological life that eats chitin and chitin based organisms.
An added bonus of Organic Crab Shell is it's affect on Japanese Beetle grubs. Grubs in general, have jaws made of Chitin, which is dissolved by chitinase bacteria, killing off grubs at the same time!


the npk is 2-3-1 and high in cal mag, i was wondering what affect using the crabshell would have on the amount of cal mag we get from using the dolomite lime, could it replace using lime? i'm using the 3rd recipe, guano/kelp tea.


thanks bro

 

[BurnOne]

localhero-
You can use that @ 1 cup/cu.ft. of soil mix if you like. But you still have to use the powdered dolomite lime.
Burn1

 

[barletta]

local hero, If you can get that crab shell GET IT!!! It's probably the only high$$ amendment that I'll spend on. I haven't had any in a mix in a while, and I miss it, lol. It's also like 20%+ calcium, and I think that it's ~2% magnesium. Plus, if it's the one I think it is, it comes in a handy 3 gallon with a handle and lid

 

[localhero]

thanks guys, im all for natural amendments that might kill pests. i got raped this year with pm, caterpillars that eat your bud from the inside, corn leaf aphids, thrips and this weird black spotted fungus that i think i contracted from the dead bamboo used to stake my plants.

 

[barletta]

I wouldn't recommend using crabshell in the bush IME, any animal based (and ESPECIALLY fish) product inherently encourages savaging mammals to dig at your roots.

I used a product 2 summers ago that was recco'd to me by the old farmer/owner of the local farm/feed store. I asked for something for slugs (not deer), and he gave me this bottle, and smiled big. deerout.com I had NO bug/deer damage on the plants that got treated before they went out, and the plants that were treated in the bush seemed like they liked it also. By the time they got sprayed, the established plants (that hadn't already been munched) were 3'+, so I dunno if the spray helped them so much.

For ferts, I had the best luck with straight compost, and guano topdress ~August, but I also have the luxury of dank native soil.

 

[vonforne]

To help your plants wth insect resistance you could folair with Neem oil or use it as a soil drench.

V

 

[ambr0sia]

I've been using LC's Mix #1 + the guano teas now for some time with great results - Thanks for all the incredible info!

My first question has to do with the teabag itself - How much do you all agitate your nylons? I've noticed if I don't do some significant agitation right when I start a batch and right before I serve it, the (Sunleaves, fwiw) Peruvian Seabird Guano pellets don't break up very well. Should I avoid using the pellets because of this? What is a non-pelletized alternative?

Second, I've read this thread over and over and can't for the life of me extract exactly what dilution this tea should be served at - Can most plants handle it full strength? Should it always be served dilluted? I know that it's going to depend on the strain, but there's gotta be some sort of baseline I can work with without worrying that I'm way over / underfeeding.

Finally, I've got a strain (Purple Dragon, in particular) that for one reason or another is really yellowing up on me about 3 weeks into flower - An extra application of MaxiCrop powdered seaweed extract @ 1tsp/gal seems to have resolved the problem. Would anyone suggest using more than the tea mix calls for, or is that asking for trouble?

 

[rupertb]

-

 

[solarz]

I've been using LC's Mix #1 + the guano teas now for some time with great results - Thanks for all the incredible info!

My first question has to do with the teabag itself - How much do you all agitate your nylons? I've noticed if I don't do some significant agitation right when I start a batch and right before I serve it, the (Sunleaves, fwiw) Peruvian Seabird Guano pellets don't break up very well. Should I avoid using the pellets because of this? What is a non-pelletized alternative?

Second, I've read this thread over and over and can't for the life of me extract exactly what dilution this tea should be served at - Can most plants handle it full strength? Should it always be served dilluted? I know that it's going to depend on the strain, but there's gotta be some sort of baseline I can work with without worrying that I'm way over / underfeeding.

Finally, I've got a strain (Purple Dragon, in particular) that for one reason or another is really yellowing up on me about 3 weeks into flower - An extra application of MaxiCrop powdered seaweed extract @ 1tsp/gal seems to have resolved the problem. Would anyone suggest using more than the tea mix calls for, or is that asking for trouble?

As far as the pellet form of the PSBG....what i do is use a coffe grinder. ZI place a few seeds in there, grind it up, put more seeds in, grind it up, until i have the amount i need for my tea. It wors well and those grinders are pretty cheap and easy to clean.

As far as the strength to feed the teas...i won't say that this is the gospel...but it is what *I* do. I will take my dry mix, for whatever amount of tea i plan to make. I then just bubble the tea with the dry mix (either in a "teabag" or thrown directly into the bubbling water) and feed. I've never really diluted mine unless i just wanted a weak feeding...like today. I have some plants that are already in amended coco, but they are showing signs of slight N deficiency in early flower (<day 15) and i'm going to give them about a 50% solution of the mix. To do this, i'm just making the normal strength flowering tea mix, and cutting it with an extra 5 gals of h20. Hope that makes a bit of sense.

solarz

 

[BurnOne]

No need to grind up the guano.
Burn1

 

[ambr0sia]

No need to grind up the guano.
Burn1

Is that to say that the un-dissolved PSG pellets are ok? Doesn't un-dissolved mean that they're not in solution? Wouldn't that mean that, for the most part, adding it at all is superfluous?