Soil questions.

[sunny747]

So I have completed 3 grows and am about to finish my 4th. With each grow I have encountered many problems. This has been the worst I do believe. I always end up with lots of yellowing leaves after a month of veg. (I grow Indicas from seed) With this grow the plants were stunted and the buds are small. I think it's a cal/mag issue.

Mostly, I think my water has been the main issue. I have been using tap water. I know some people do great with tap water, but it's a regional issue. I think that the PPM and hardness in my area just messes up everything. I think the water gets crowded and not allowing the cal/mag to do it's thing. Recently in an attempt to save my grow I switched to bottled RO water. It's a pain to lug it around, but the plants are looking better and yellowing less.

Next grow I want to get things right. I will only use RO water and supplement with Cal/Mag. Now I need to decide on grow medium and nutes.

I have a big bag of Roots Organic out back. I like this mix, but my main question is " Is this to be treated as hydro or more like soil"? Do I PH my nutes to 5.8 like hydro or higher like soil? Should I add lime? I should add that I currentl use GH Floranova nutes. Not because I like them, but that's what I initially bought. If I use the Roots Organic would it be best to buy their nutrient line to rule out variables?

I also hear people talking about organic grows with no need to PH or fertilize. Where can I learn about this method? They say that all they do is add water throughout the grow. I have been digging around, but can't find exact instructions. I do not have space to cook my own soil.
Another option would be to just use Fox Farms and use their nutrient line. This would help me to rule out certain variables and unknowns.

With this next grow I want to rule out as many variables as possible and want the simplest method with the least room for error so I can grow one 4ft healthy, happy beast. Using RO water will be my first improvement. Now I just need help choosing soil and nutes.

Thanks for the advice.


See how small the leaves are and the yellowing? The buds are small also, but it will finish out ok. All three plants in my current grow look pretty much the same.

 

[Diabolical666]

Thats why I use FF. Its very low maintenence. I been using soil and line for 3 yrs now. I think I got it down now Learned over the years that it takes a minute to figure out nute lines, and FF was the easiest.

 

[sunny747]

Thats why I use FF. Its very low maintenence. I been using soil and line for 3 yrs now. I think I got it down now Learned over the years that it takes a minute to figure out nute lines, and FF was the easiest.

Yes, it would seem to me that the nutes are made for the soil. Use it as a system.

 

[sunny747]

Thats why I use FF. Its very low maintenence. I been using soil and line for 3 yrs now. I think I got it down now Learned over the years that it takes a minute to figure out nute lines, and FF was the easiest.

Do you PH your nutes and waterings? What type of water do you use? Do you add Cal/Mag?

 

[Diabolical666]

I ph'ed once 3 yrs ago when I started this line, havnt since. Yes, the line lacks cal/mag. I supplement with calimagic every feeding @ once a week indoors (2x's a week feed outdoors). I dont use the sledgehammer flush or the bembe (their version of molasses). I use the flowers kiss foliar spray only when they need it (harldy ever). They have 2 new products called Kelp Me and Holy Mackril. I'll try the 2 new products when I can get ahold of them, if they dont make a diff I wont use them again. The soluables are also very important to have as well (open sesame, beastie bloom, cha-ching). I almost dont want anything that will make them grow faster lol
edit: oops sry... I have well water @ 7.

 

[sunny747]

so your ph of well water is 7 and you don't pay attention to what the ph is after you add nutes? I notice that when I use RO water with nutes the ph drops quickly to around 5.0, but supposedly the nute lines have ph buffers..

 

[Diabolical666]

nope, havnt checked it since forever

 

[sunny747]

What feeding schedule do you follow? There seems to be a lot of conflicting info out there. Some say the online feeding schedule burns the heck out of their plants, others say it's just right, others say it's too weak.

I was planning on just using grow big/bigbloom/tigerbloom combo

Here is their recommended schedule.
http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/images/pdf/Soil2015USA.pdf

 

[Smokenpassout]

I have always used fox farm ocean forest, or happy frog mixed with about 30 perecent perlite. I use distilled water, or ro water, if thats all they have. I have never had deficiencies or yellowing. Although now I add a little calmag to each watering to be on the safe side. I also prefer the happy frog as it seem to have a bit less big logs and chips in it.

 

[sunny747]

I have always used fox farm ocean forest, or happy frog mixed with about 30 perecent perlite. I use distilled water, or ro water, if thats all they have. I have never had deficiencies or yellowing. Although now I add a little calmag to each watering to be on the safe side. I also prefer the happy frog as it seem to have a bit less big logs and chips in it.

Awesome thx..

What difference do you find between RO and distilled?
Do you PH ?
Do you feed in the quantities suggested on the FF feeding schedule?

 

[Smokenpassout]

I dont like too much confusion. I have never PH'd or PPM'd water. I find no difference between distilled and reverse osmosis water. I just add the nutrients to either. Also I do not use fox farm nutrients with fox farm soil. I use ffof or happy frog cause they are nutritious soils, and all I need to amend with is perlite. I use either because they feed for 30 days with no nutrients, just plain water. As for nutrients I do not use the fox farm nutrients. I use what I like, advanced nutrients and botanicare. I prefer to stick with all organic.

 

[sunny747]

I dont like too much confusion. I have never PH'd or PPM'd water. I find no difference between distilled and reverse osmosis water. I just add the nutrients to either. Also I do not use fox farm nutrients with fox farm soil. I use ffof or happy frog cause they are nutritious soils, and all I need to amend with is perlite. I use either because they feed for 30 days with no nutrients, just plain water. As for nutrients I do not use the fox farm nutrients. I use what I like, advanced nutrients and botanicare. I prefer to stick with all organic.

This says they have PHperfect technology and that i can throw out my PH pen. That'd be great! The price seems to be right. What do you think of this line of nutes?
http://advancednutrientsonline.com/proddetail.php?prod=m-g-b-php

 

[mr sunshine]

Use the fox farm at half strength till they get bigger...I would definitely ph ..

 

[sunny747]

Use the fox farm at half strength till they get bigger...I would definitely ph ..

I notice that when I use RO water my nutes drop the nute solution down below 5.0. Yes, it would seem that to adjust PH would be optimal.

 

[mr sunshine]

I notice that when I use RO water my nutes drop the nute solution down below 5.0. Yes, it would seem that to adjust PH would be optimal.

I always ph my indoor. ..I don't ph my outdoor. . But I should....the best growers I know all do....

 

[Smokenpassout]

I use advanced nutrients. I do not use their ph perfect stuff, so I cannot speak about grow, micro, bloom. I use organics, and have had good results. I use the two part Iguana Grow and Bloom as base nutrients. They work great. I also like the Organic B, and Nirvava as a bloom enhancer.

 

[budLIFE60]

I use moonshine mix organic soil recipe. It's a super soil that only needs water. No pH testing, no flushing, no added chemicals. Here's what I got on it

MOONSHINE MAN MIX

* I added some info here so some of you begginers can see its real easy to work with...you wont be discouraged. please read the thread and filter moonshineman if you want....overgrow the world!
Here is a quote from MSMan.....
"Lookin good....the mix is super simple...you can use it from seed to flower it just doesnt need the dry ferts (peace of mind) early on.....Watering is the Key to this mix...overwater and youll see all sorts of weird "nute def" poppin up....let it dry completely and the probs disappear......the Current mix goes a lil sumthin like this...
(bag of each)
Ocean Forest
Planting Mix (guano/castings)
Light Warrior
Black Gold
Coco Brick(small brick)
1 cup peace of mind (for flower)
2- 5 gal buckets worth of perilite....
And the LARGE Chunky Perilite...RULES....small perilite packs down over time ...the large perilite creates huge air pockets for the roots to grow through....over the last 3 yrs anytime I have gone back to the small diameter perilite my plants SUFFER and yeilds diminish.....You have to try the stuff to understand and even then you may not comprehend (like me) the benefits the large core peri makes.....great stuff....

I use a little simpler mix of this. It's the 3 bags off Fox farm soil, 8-10 ounces organic perlite, and 1 cup of piece of mind.

Hope this can help you!
Organics is the way to go

 

[sunny747]

I use moonshine mix organic soil recipe. It's a super soil that only needs water. No pH testing, no flushing, no added chemicals. Here's what I got on it

MOONSHINE MAN MIX

* I added some info here so some of you begginers can see its real easy to work with...you wont be discouraged. please read the thread and filter moonshineman if you want....overgrow the world!
Here is a quote from MSMan.....
"Lookin good....the mix is super simple...you can use it from seed to flower it just doesnt need the dry ferts (peace of mind) early on.....Watering is the Key to this mix...overwater and youll see all sorts of weird "nute def" poppin up....let it dry completely and the probs disappear......the Current mix goes a lil sumthin like this...
(bag of each)
Ocean Forest
Planting Mix (guano/castings)
Light Warrior
Black Gold
Coco Brick(small brick)
1 cup peace of mind (for flower)
2- 5 gal buckets worth of perilite....
And the LARGE Chunky Perilite...RULES....small perilite packs down over time ...the large perilite creates huge air pockets for the roots to grow through....over the last 3 yrs anytime I have gone back to the small diameter perilite my plants SUFFER and yeilds diminish.....You have to try the stuff to understand and even then you may not comprehend (like me) the benefits the large core peri makes.....great stuff....

I use a little simpler mix of this. It's the 3 bags off Fox farm soil, 8-10 ounces organic perlite, and 1 cup of piece of mind.

Hope this can help you!
Organics is the way to go

Yes, that helps. Thank you. I am reading up on this mix. I like the idea of a simpler mix.
When do you add the Piece of mind?

Say I started in Ocean Forest or Happy Frog in a solo cup then moved up to 1 gallon pot for veg then at week 5 ( I mainline so I spend quite a bit of time in veg) I switched to a 3-5 gallon pot. Would I mix a batch of Fox Farms with the Perlite and the Piece of Mind then for the 5 gallon pot or would I use the POM earlier on?

 

[sunny747]

I like the idea of an organic water-only mixes or supersoils. I have been reading about subcools recipe, but for 1 or two plants that's too much to put together. Especially in an apartment. I can't even describe how tired I am of dragging out a whole chemistry set every time I water and feed

 

[Smokenpassout]

Lol Im too lazy! Ocean forest mixed with perlite is all Im doing. It works great. Although thanks for rhe tip on the large course perlite. That is an investment I will make other than a bag of happy frog.