Organic Feeding 101.

[Bears_win]

I have a question about my overall plant health. Just wanted to know what I could do to make plants as healthy as possible. I cant tell if the one on the right has a deficiency or not. Growing in Fox Farms Ocean Forest, I also pictured their dry amendments that I am using. I have been considering ordering Earth Dust this week and only using that going forward.

**Side note: The one on the left seems to be showing indica traits which I like and I want to take clones but I am having a hard time finding good places to take cuttings. It's just one big trunk-like stem with giant fan leaves.

Plants are about 8-9 weeks old from seed. I am open to any and all tips, Thanks!

They look healthy to me , I recommend:

1.Supplementing with Silica : i buy potassium silicate in crystal form and dilute it myself. 15$ for a pound and it will make gallons of silica.

2.Additional calcium/ magnesium. I’ll top dress with Oyester shells or amend with extra oyester shell flour.15 $ for a 40 lb bag will last you years.
Magnesium sulphate ( Epsom salts ) for mag. Agricultural grade epsom is 50$ for 50 pounds. I use at a rate of about 1/4 cup per 25 gallons

Or you can use a store bought cal/mag. It’s about 120$ / 5 gallons.

3.Experiment with a fermented plant juice ( pick whatever is Growing locally and naturally and ferment in a 5 gallon bucket with a 1/2 cup of blackstrap molasses and 1/2 teaspoon brewers yeast ) add 4 gallons water and stir daily in a cool area for 4 days.

Dilute with water 1 gallon ferment to 4 gallons h20 check pH and adjust if needed.

4.Add 1 tablespoon plant derived 12-0-0 nitrogen, raw brand is what I use. It’s about 15 bucks for 100grams.

These are super inexpensive amendments that I find really work for me.

Disclaimer :

I dont claim to be a pro, but I have used all of these methods and find it greens up your plants quick, prevents micronutrient deficiencies and is an inexpensive way to bolster your feeding and have fun ( especially #3)

 

[smokin away]

I had good intentions to plant all my outdoor plants on top of a crystal this year( yes I’m 100% serious) I enjoy rockhounding and had some obsidian, some chalcedony, and some smoky quartz I had found I did not do this however. Maybe next year.

Then strangely my friends ex wife who is a healer gets a call from a friend who’s husband owns a massive greenhouse complex in Monterrey. They want to set up a crystal system in one of the greenhouse that amplifies and increase the plants energy.

So people who are big in the game are exploring crystal ( let’s use the term energy) in their multimillion dollar setups.

I will make an effort to plant on top of different minerals in 2021 and report back ..

Also I realized you may be messing with me and my sarcasm meter is not tuned. In that case, enjoy a laugh.. I’m gonna click that link now

Thanks, I was curious and never read about it. Nice idea and worthy for drainage too

 

[living gardening]

Absolutely not true, a bladder full in a five gallon bucket is THE best fast acting nitrogen supplement.
If you ARE having a nitro def, you'll see a difference in about two to three days with urine.
Just make 100% SURE it is a nitro def though.
And maybe pop a couple mulitvitamins about four hrs prior too...
Neon-glow-in-the-dark urine...
From what I've researched, @ a dilute rate of 12/1 its roughly a 14-0-0 nutrient.
So sorta around the same as blood meal.

Agree, my wife is a nurse. She has informed that unless you got some shite wrong urine is sterile when it leaves you.
Peeing on compost piles and in the garden is common place old folk lore. Not so false. .

 

[portfolio]

video about organic . i guess the title says , reasons not to use chemicals on plants .

enjoy

 

[DrBuzzFarmer]

Gee, I wonder who tended the Primeval forests, before we cut them all down.
Must have been the dwarves and elves we hear so much about.
One thing this thread has taught me is that organic soil must be tended just like hydro.
This is 27 pages of nonsense.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Gee, I wonder who tended the Primeval forests, before we cut them all down.
Must have been the dwarves and elves we hear so much about.
One thing this thread has taught me is that organic soil must be tended just like hydro.
This is 27 pages of nonsense.

So you don't grow organically I take it?

 

[DrBuzzFarmer]

So you don't grow organically I take it?

For 30 or so years.
What I see in this thread is, by and large, not organic.
Let's consider another definition of organic:
"Involving organisms or the products of their life processes."

It's easy to take a hydro mindset into a more natural style of growing, and essentially end up with an 'organic' sort of hybrid growing system.
But organic soil that allows a plant to fully express it's genetic potential is Humic soil.
You cannot have that AND have a tea regimen.
You cannot have that while your pot is a compost pile.
You cannot have that if the components are not there.

All the amending, top dressing, and tea waterings in this thread make it impossible to have Humic soil.
This is a thread for hydro in dirt.
Not mad or anything, just saw a spade, and well, you know...

 

[PadawanWarrior]

For 30 or so years.
What I see in this thread is, by and large, not organic.
Let's consider another definition of organic:
"Involving organisms or the products of their life processes."

It's easy to take a hydro mindset into a more natural style of growing, and essentially end up with an 'organic' sort of hybrid growing system.
But organic soil that allows a plant to fully express it's genetic potential is Humic soil.
You cannot have that AND have a tea regimen.
You cannot have that while your pot is a compost pile.
You cannot have that if the components are not there.

All the amending, top dressing, and tea waterings in this thread make it impossible to have Humic soil.
This is a thread for hydro in dirt.
Not mad or anything, just saw a spade, and well, you know...

I think I misunderstood you. I think I get it now,

 

[FamMan]

For 30 or so years.
What I see in this thread is, by and large, not organic.
Let's consider another definition of organic:
"Involving organisms or the products of their life processes."

It's easy to take a hydro mindset into a more natural style of growing, and essentially end up with an 'organic' sort of hybrid growing system.
But organic soil that allows a plant to fully express it's genetic potential is Humic soil.
You cannot have that AND have a tea regimen.
You cannot have that while your pot is a compost pile.
You cannot have that if the components are not there.

All the amending, top dressing, and tea waterings in this thread make it impossible to have Humic soil.
This is a thread for hydro in dirt.
Not mad or anything, just saw a spade, and well, you know...

Why would tea watering prevent someone from having humic soil? I understand this isn't happening in nature but this is for the most part about indoor cultivation right? What would you do differently than all the "ammending, top dressing, and tea watering"?

 

[DrBuzzFarmer]

For 30 or so years.
What I see in this thread is, by and large, not organic.
Let's consider another definition of organic:
"Involving organisms or the products of their life processes."

It's easy to take a hydro mindset into a more natural style of growing, and essentially end up with an 'organic' sort of hybrid growing system.
But organic soil that allows a plant to fully express it's genetic potential is Humic soil.
You cannot have that AND have a tea regimen.
You cannot have that while your pot is a compost pile.
You cannot have that if the components are not there.

All the amending, top dressing, and tea waterings in this thread make it impossible to have Humic soil.
This is a thread for hydro in dirt.
Not mad or anything, just saw a spade, and well, you know...

Why would tea watering prevent someone from having humic soil? I understand this isn't happening in nature but this is for the most part about indoor cultivation right? What would you do differently than all the "ammending, top dressing, and tea watering"?

Glomalin.
The very reason Mycorrhizae is so important.
Not to mention a tea immediately upsets the balance of organisms in the soil.
It creates a system of bacterial blooms to replace a healthy ecosystem.
Teas become a necessary component of the growing style you have created.

The correct way to cultivate Humic soil conditions is to top dress finished compost regularly. Any amendments the grower deems necessary should be added to the compost pile to be broken down into plant available nutrients first.
There's no way to get around the microlife in the soil if you want to call it organic growing.

 

[FamMan]

Glomalin.
The very reason Mycorrhizae is so important.
Not to mention a tea immediately upsets the balance of organisms in the soil.
It creates a system of bacterial blooms to replace a healthy ecosystem.
Teas become a necessary component of the growing style you have created.

The correct way to cultivate Humic soil conditions is to top dress finished compost regularly. Any amendments the grower deems necessary should be added to the compost pile to be broken down into plant available nutrients first.
There's no way to get around the microlife in the soil if you want to call it organic growth.

Thanx for explaining that.(Runs to go look up Glomalon definition) I don't believe teas are necessary in my growing style. When I first read what you wrote I told myself it sounded very Dr. Elaine Ingham-ish. And I see you are a fan of hers. She has a brilliant mind. I have a few questions for ya.
Teas can't be fungal dominant and not create these bacterial blooms? What about extracts?
Container growing while using amendments, water-soluble nutrients, worms, and outsourced high quality humic inputs can't have 'microlife'? Isn't all that you are saying that needs to happen in the compost pile happening in my containers? Top dress, worms eat, things break down, and boom! Plant available nutes?

 

[DrBuzzFarmer]

Thanx for explaining that.(Runs to go look up Glomalon definition) I don't believe teas are necessary in my growing style. When I first read what you wrote I told myself it sounded very Dr. Elaine Ingham-ish. And I see you are a fan of hers. She has a brilliant mind. I have a few questions for ya.
Teas can't be fungal dominant and not create these bacterial blooms? What about extracts?
Container growing while using amendments, water-soluble nutrients, worms, and outsourced high quality humic inputs can't have 'microlife'? Isn't all that you are saying that needs to happen in the compost pile happening in my containers? Top dress, worms eat, things break down, and boom! Plant available nutes?

Teas CAN be fungal dominant. Chitin and Chitosan added to a good fish hydrolysate evens the bacterial/fungal balance. You would use such a tea to fortify your yard when the grass is thinning and looking unhealthy. But it's impossible to brew a tea without a bacterial bloom. That's the entire purpose of the tea making process.
That's just the thing. A tea is used to fix a broken system. It's a last ditch effort.
Because a tea immediately eats away at the Glomalin soaking the carbon of your soil. Glomalin literally makes the environment for ALL the microlife. It's the concrete holding the soil together.
The enzymes in most teas is a dose Nature NEVER supplies and is equivalent to bottled nutes.
A compost pile and growing medium have a different balance of soil life. A compost pile is like a job site, while the pot is like a home. No one wants to live in a construction site if given a choice.
The simple solution is to add your amendments at the construction site, not on your front lawn. Compost amendments and apply only finished compost to the pots.

 

[FamMan]

Teas CAN be fungal dominant. Chitin and Chitosan added to a good fish hydrolysate evens the bacterial/fungal balance. You would use such a tea to fortify your yard when the grass is thinning and looking unhealthy. But it's impossible to brew a tea without a bacterial bloom. That's the entire purpose of the tea making process.
That's just the thing. A tea is used to fix a broken system. It's a last ditch effort.
Because a tea immediately eats away at the Glomalin soaking the carbon of your soil. Glomalin literally makes the environment for ALL the microlife. It's the concrete holding the soil together.
The enzymes in most teas is a dose Nature NEVER supplies and is equivalent to bottled nutes.
A compost pile and growing medium have a different balance of soil life. A compost pile is like a job site, while the pot is like a home. No one wants to live in a construction site if given a choice.
The simple solution is to add your amendments at the construction site, not on your front lawn. Compost amendments and apply only finished compost to the pots.

I appreciate you sharing all of that. You have given me some food for thought. If I can ask one last question(although kinda off topic). Do you think the organic way you describe(feeding the compost) creates a higher quality product than someone top dressing, adding mycorrhizal, using teas, water soluble nutrients/minerals, and high-quality humic inputs?

 

[DrBuzzFarmer]

I appreciate you sharing all of that. You have given me some food for thought. If I can ask one last question(although kinda off topic). Do you think the organic way you describe(feeding the compost) creates a higher quality product than someone top dressing, adding mycorrhizal, using teas, water soluble nutrients/minerals, and high-quality humic inputs?

And that's the million dollar question.
The answer is yes. Though it will be argued endlessly.
The reason I say so is this:
There is a bacteria, fungi, or other organism that processes every element on the planet.
They will blow in on the wind to a compost pile; the local varieties which are hardy in your area. The microlife will crawl to the pile to do their job.
They need to find a place to live which suits their needs.
The Mycorrhizae fungus is creating Humic soil by excreting Glomalin from it's hyphae to soak the decomposed carbon.
The environment males it magic happen.
Without the environment, you are practicing hydro in soil, with naturally acquired amendments.
Teas and such destroy the Glomalin soaked carbon immediately, making it dirt again, rather than soil.
Further, it is the MINERALS which are depleted, or not existing, in most people's soilless growing mixes, and soil mixes themselves. Minerals are acquired by rock dusts. The bacteria which consume rock are the slowest to respond in the spectrum, yet they form a solid foundation upon which the entire spectrum can be supported.
To successfully fortify missing minerals from your soil can take years.
I am seeing exquisite results from beds I laid 10 years ago.
I can draw traits out of genetics that most people never see.
They are trouble free beds that get the majority of my fresh compost when I am not using it in the yard. All amending is done (other than rock dusts) in the compost pile. 3 years ago they were average beds. Then Mother Nature took over.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Happy soil, happy plants love it! my wife thinks I’m crazy that I pay more attention to my soil and it’s molecular make up than I do the plants sometimes. Great thread

 

[DrBuzzFarmer]

Happy soil, happy plants love it! my wife thinks I’m crazy that I pay more attention to my soil and it’s molecular make up than I do the plants sometimes. Great thread

Growing plants are the fruit of your labors tending the soil. The growing happens naturally, if we provide the puzzle pieces.
Minerals, organic matter, and moisture.
That's the secret recipe. Mother Nature will deliver the rest.
Any soil in the world, in the temperature zone to support life, needs those three basic things to grow plants. Those three things, and it's off to the races.
We are learning to grow the athletes of the plant world, so we need to pay attention to the science of what we are doing.

 

[FamMan]

And that's the million dollar question.
The answer is yes. Though it will be argued endlessly.
The reason I say so is this:
There is a bacteria, fungi, or other organism that processes every element on the planet.
They will blow in on the wind to a compost pile; the local varieties which are hardy in your area. The microlife will crawl to the pile to do their job.
They need to find a place to live which suits their needs.
The Mycorrhizae fungus is creating Humic soil by excreting Glomalin from it's hyphae to soak the decomposed carbon.
The environment males it magic happen.
Without the environment, you are practicing hydro in soil, with naturally acquired amendments.
Teas and such destroy the Glomalin soaked carbon immediately, making it dirt again, rather than soil.
Further, it is the MINERALS which are depleted, or not existing, in most people's soilless growing mixes, and soil mixes themselves. Minerals are acquired by rock dusts. The bacteria which consume rock are the slowest to respond in the spectrum, yet they form a solid foundation upon which the entire spectrum can be supported.
To successfully fortify missing minerals from your soil can take years.
I am seeing exquisite results from beds I laid 10 years ago.
I can draw traits out of genetics that most people never see.
They are trouble free beds that get the majority of my fresh compost when I am not using it in the yard. All amending is done (other than rock dusts) in the compost pile. 3 years ago they were average beds. Then Mother Nature took over.

Man I been checking this thread almost everyday hoping you would respond! Ty.

 

[DrBuzzFarmer]

Man I been checking this thread almost everyday hoping you would respond! Ty.

Sorry man.
I got 5 Golden Tiger in Earth Dust that I've amended. My cat has been grazing on them. She is as excited as me to have pure sativa growing again.
I've had to be proactive, and thus busy.
I try to come around when there's a quiet moment.

 

[myke]

Happy soil, happy plants love it! my wife thinks I’m crazy that I pay more attention to my soil and it’s molecular make up than I do the plants sometimes. Great thread

I talk to my soil daily like its my dog.

 

[DrBuzzFarmer]

I talk to my soil daily like its my dog.

It's a slippery slope.
Next, you be planting King Stropharia in the understory of your plants for the gnomes to sit on.